Green vegetable intake can cut glaucoma risk

“These findings could have important implications for POAG if the association of higher dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetable intake with a lower POAG risk is confirmed in observational or intervention studies”, researchers wrote. Jae H. Kang, Sc.D., of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues evaluated the association between dietary nitrate intake, derived mainly from green leafy vegetables, and POAG. In glaucoma scientists believe there is an impairment of blood flow to the optic nerve.

It found those who ate a nitrate-rich diet had lower levels of the rare condition, which involves chronic or acute sudden painful build-up of pressure in the eye. The men and women were all 40 or older.

The team of researchers has reviewed the health survey provided by the Nurse’s Health Study ad have determined that patients who consume many green leafed vegetables have 20 to 30 percent fewer chances of developing glaucoma.

The researchers looked at the participants’ dietary intake.

Earlier studies suggested that nitrate, which is presented in leafy green vegetables, is helpful in blood circulation so a group of scientists chose to see if it has any effects on the eye disease. The green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and kale are abundant in minerals and vitamins that help to fend off cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high cholesterol.

“These nutrients improve blood flow to the back of the eye in general, we feel, and that’s where we think the advantages come from”.

Leafy green vegetables have always been associated with health benefits because they are brimming with minerals, vitamins and fibers that protect the body from a range of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Those reporting greater consumption of leafy green vegetables resulting in higher nitrate intake were 20 to 30 percent less likely to develop POAG. JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online January 14, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2015.5601.

The findings make sense, said Dr. Rahul Pandit, an ophthalmologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, who reviewed the new research. The follow-up checks, made every two years, further cemented the concept that nitrate-based vegetables combat the onset of glaucoma, but further clinical studies made in a controlled environment must be conducted in order to provide a more conclusive result.