What macular degeneration is
The macula is the small central part of the retina that gives you sharp, straight ahead vision. It is what you use to read, recognize a face or thread a needle. Macular degeneration is the slow loss of that central vision, and age is the biggest risk factor eye doctors name. That is why so many women first hear the words in their sixties and seventies.
Eye doctors usually describe two forms. The dry form is the common one and tends to move slowly. The wet form, where fragile blood vessels leak under the retina, can move fast. If your central vision changes suddenly, or straight lines start to look wavy, see your eye doctor promptly. That is the standard advice, and nothing here replaces it.
On this episode a listener asked about a central vision degeneration of the macula with a long Latin name. He did not spend time on the name. He went straight to the cause he sees behind all of it.
His bottom line on the eyes
He has given the same answer on eyes for years, and he asks his audience to say it with him.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492Whenever I talk about your eyes, what's the bottom line? Circulation behind the eye. It's everything to the eye. It's everything to the lens. It's blood supply.
That framing matters. If the macula is starved of blood supply, then the question is not only what is happening in the eye. It is what is happening to the blood vessels everywhere, and the back of the eye is simply where some of the smallest ones live. He makes the same case for the rest of the body in how to improve circulation after 60.
What sugar does behind the eye
Once circulation is the bottom line, the next question is what damages it. His answer on this episode is direct.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492And that's why if you guys want to take care of your eyes, you need to start with getting rid of sugar because sugar is so destructive.
His point is that your body treats sugar in the blood as toxic. It works hard to keep only a tiny amount circulating at any time. When it cannot keep up, he says, the damage starts long before anyone is told they are diabetic.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492You're not going to get away with extra sugar in your bloodstream. You can't. It's so toxic. It starts to destroy capillaries.
Capillaries are the tiny vessels between your arteries and your veins. Behind the eye they are so narrow, he says, that red blood cells have to squeeze through one at a time. Those are the vessels he says sugar destroys fastest, and it is why he groups several eye conditions together.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492This is why diabetics have so much trouble with their eyes, with cataracts and macular degeneration and glaucoma. All of the above guys has to do with circulation behind the eye.
You do not need a diagnosis of diabetes for this to apply, in his view. He says many people have been diabetic for years without knowing it, because the body kept the blood sugar reading in range while the damage went on. If you want to know where your own numbers sit, he covers that in normal blood sugar for a woman over 60 and insulin resistance in women over 60.
"The best is that combination of Navitol and DHA."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492Glycation, the second hit
Damaged capillaries are the first thing he describes. The second is what sugar does to the blood itself. Hemoglobin is the protein inside your red blood cells that picks up oxygen in your lungs. Sugar sticks to it as well, and that is the process called glycation. It is also what an A1C test measures.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492It glycates it, it ages it, it hardens it. That's what happens to your eyes, guys.
So the back of the eye takes two hits. The vessels that feed it are being destroyed, and the red blood cells trying to get through them are stiffer and older than they should be. Less oxygen reaches the macula. That is his picture of how central vision is lost.
The first step he gives
If sugar is the cause, the first move follows from it, and he says it plainly.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492And so what is one of the best things you can do? Get rid of sugar.
He does not describe this as an extreme diet. Cutting out added sugar, he says, is smart and it is doable. He is not interested in the idea that moderation makes sugar alright, and he puts that message down to the food industry. For a woman over 60 who has just been told her macula is changing, this is the part of his answer that does not need a prescription or an appointment.
The combination he recommends
He then turns to supplements, and he admits he comes back to the same two every time.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492Eyes, degeneration. Eyes, and supplement wise, my combo of Navitol, which is pine bark extract and high DHA oil. I know I come back to the two things all the time, but I mean it because of the results that we get.
His reasons are about the blood vessels behind the eye. He wants to lubricate them, and he wants to raise nitric oxide there, which is the molecule that lets vessels open up. Navitol is his pine bark product for the nitric oxide side, and DHA is the omega 3 fat he wants high. He goes further into nitric oxide in nitric oxide for women over 60.
He says he has shown this combination to patients, optometrists, ophthalmologists and family doctors who would listen for years. When people tell him their eye doctor suggested something else, his answer is not that it is wrong.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1492Yeah, it's all right, but good, better, and the best. The best is that combination of Navitol and DHA.
Keep seeing your eye doctor and keep up any treatment they have you on. His plan sits alongside that: take the sugar out, protect the circulation, and add the Navitol and DHA combination.
Common questions
What causes macular degeneration after 60, in Dr. Martin's view?
He calls it a circulation problem behind the eye. His main culprit is sugar, which he says destroys the tiny capillaries that feed the eye and glycates red blood cells so they age and harden.
Does sugar affect your eyes?
He says yes, and that this is why diabetics have so much trouble with cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma. He also says many people are diabetic for years before they are told.
What supplements does Dr. Martin recommend for macular degeneration?
His combination is Navitol, which is pine bark extract, with high DHA oil. He calls it the best option, ahead of the alternatives eye doctors often suggest.
Should I still see my eye doctor?
Yes. Sudden changes in central vision or wavy straight lines need a prompt eye exam. His advice on sugar and supplements is about what you do alongside that care.
Half of his eye combination
Dr. Martin pairs high DHA oil with Navitol for the blood vessels behind the eye. Martin Clinic's DHA Upgraded is the high DHA half of that combination.
60-day money-back guarantee.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
