SISYPHUS PUBLICATIONS ONLINE
WELLNESS AND NUTRITION
Try
Bilberries In Your Diet For Long Term Eye Protection
Like
other anti-oxidants, plant flavonoids (or bioflavonoids) are important protectors against the cellular
damage and associated degenerative diseases caused by free radicals. Flavonoids are
also the compounds which give fruits and vegetables their colour, and the juice and skin of the bilberry, like that of
cranberries and elderberries, is particularly rich in a type known as anthocyanidins, which impart their distinctive blue pigment.
Recently
hailed by nutritionists as a “superfood”, European
bilberries are close European relations of the American blueberry and it is the
distinctive blue anthocyanoside pigment which is held
responsible for its beneficial effects.
The
body’s connective tissue, or collagen, depends heavily on this type of flavonoid, which is also particularly important in improving
blood circulation, strengthening capillary walls, and in facilitating the action
of vitamin C throughout the body.
The
pigment is also believed to act as an anti-bacterial agent, which is particularly effective in countering intestinal
problems, but it is from its effect on the circulation that most of the benefits
of bilberries are derived.
Most
famously, bilberries in the form of jam were used by British Royal Air Force
pilots during the Second World War as a means of improving night vision. And
this effect was generally accepted during the 1960s and 1970s. More modern research, however, is
inclined to reject the evidence as inconclusive, and does not accept the claims
of nutritional therapists that bilberry may also help alleviate everyday shortsightedness or myopia. It has been suggested, however, that
anthocyanasides may help with the production of
essential enzymes within the eye, which by increasing the output of energy may
improve the general functioning of the organ.
Bilberry’s
beneficial effects on the capillaries are also held to improve the circulation
of the blood within the eyes. The
central area of the eye’s retina, the macula, is made up of the light sensitive
cells, the health of which is essential to good vision. Behind these cells is a dense mass of
tiny capillaries which supply them with oxygenated blood and essential
nutrients. The maintenance of
the strength of these capillary walls is essential, and serious problems with
vision may arise if any weakening through disease or oxidative degeneration
leads to any leakage of blood into the retina itself.
Diabetics
are known to be particularly prone to these kind of eye problems; and as well as
possibly helping prevent the diabetic retinopathy which may follow on this
capillary damage within the eyes, bilberries are also credited with lowering the
high blood sugar which may have contributed to the problem in the first
place.
Bilberries’
anti-oxidant effect within the eyes is also a factor in combatting cataracts and age related macular degeneration
(AMD), a major cause of blindness in older adults.
Bilberry
supplements are readily available and often found in combination with lutein and zeaxanthin,
anti-oxidant carotenoids which are also thought to
have powerful beneficial effects within the eyes, and particularly in combatting the progressive loss of vision caused by
AMD.
Needless
to say opinions are strongly divided as to the effectiveness of these
preparations. The general opinion
of the medical and opthalmic professions may be
summarised as “case not proven”, at best, but nutritional therapists and
alternative practitioners swear by them.
Of course the attitude of the opthalmic
profession is not surprising given its record of hostility to the work of such
as Dr. Bates in seeking alternatives to artificial methods of correction (ie spectacles), and in its persistent rejection of the
compelling evidence in favour of more natural methods.
And
indeed there is an almost reflex tendency in orthodox medicine which seems
determined to meet anything which sits outside the conventional “wisdom” with
scepticism if not outright hostility.
Of course we should welcome rigorous scientific enquiry and an insistence
on the proper testing of evidence as a safeguard against the more extravagant
claims of those interested only in selling products of dubious value. But anecdotal evidence as well as direct
personal experience suggests that modern science doesn’t always get it
right.
And
when it comes to a food like bilberries there’s really no barrier to setting
personal experience against the abstract research. We’re talking about an entirely natural
food stuff, with a long history of human use, which can be obtained very
inexpensively, and which can do no harm in any quantities conceivably likely to
be ingested. If the claims made for
bilberries as a super food and anti-oxidant are even partly true the question
must be: why wouldn’t you try it?
So
although I normally I hate puns, this was one I couldn’t resist. In the case of adding bilberries to your
diet, the best approach may be, quite literally, to try it and
see.
Steve Smith
August
2007
Find out more about bilberries with liquid vitamins and minerals
