Today, we’re focusing on something that almost all of us take for granted until it’s gone, our eyesight. Now, your eyes are constantly under a salt from processed foods, inflammation, environmental toxins, and yes, even our modern obsession with screens. So let’s dive into the best foods, supplements, and lifestyle tweaks to keep your vision sharp well into your later years. Did you know the air inside your home could be up to 100 times more toxic than the air outside? Chemicals from your furniture and cleaning products invisible harmful particles from your stove and candles, mold spores floating through every room. These toxic invaders are silently linked to brain fog, fatigue, heart disease, and more. That’s why I created Total Air. From my new home wellness brand, HomeKind, Total Air uses a true surgical grade HEPA filter, the same standard I trusted in the operating room. Plus an activated carbon layer for chemicals and microban technology to stop mold and bacteria from spreading.

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Three layers of medical grade protection. One device. Clean air for you, your loved ones, even your pets. Go to homekind.com right now and use code Clean Air for 10% off on Total Air 180, HEPA 13 or 14. I built this to protect my family. Now it can protect yours too.

(01:43)
First of all, let’s talk about the eye gut connection. Now, most people don’t realize this, but the health of your eyes starts in your gut. Now, inflammation in the gut leads to systemic inflammation, which can damage delicate tissues in the retina and the macula. That’s why a plant-forward polyphenol-rich diet is one of the best foundations for protecting your vision. Now, many of my patients I see suffer from Sjogren’s syndrome, dry eye and dry mouth. Believe it or not, it is not an eye problem. It’s a leaky gut problem. Now, you’ve probably seen almost every day or night advertisements on TV for drops for dry eyes. One of them that’s very popular is Restasis. Now, these drugs are actually transplant drugs that I use as a transplant heart surgeon to block inflammation and have my patient accept that donor heart. This is not the treatment for Sjogren’s syndrome.

(02:55)
The treatment is to treat the problem that’s coming from the gut. So if you’re putting drops in your eyes, you won’t need them if you fix your gut. And in fact, we see this all the time. Once we heal leaky gut, amazingly, the Sjogren’s syndrome goes away, the dry eyes go away and all is good. Well, are there really good foods for your eye health? Yeah. Leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard are loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that accumulate in the retina and act like internal sunglasses. Please skip the spinach. Unfortunately, spinach has a number of mischievous lectins that a number of my very sensitive patients react to. How about avocados? Now, they’re not only full of healthy fats, but they also help your body absorb polyphenols that are critical for eye health. Pistachios. Now, pistachios are the richest source of melatonin.

(03:59)
And most of us think of melatonin as the thing that puts us to sleep, but melatonin is actually one of only two antioxidants that exist in the mitochondria. Now, your eye health depends on the mitochondria producing energy. And since melatonin is readily available in pistachios, pistachios are great for eye health. How about wild-caught salmon and sardines? Now, they’re rich in DHA, a long chain omega-3 fat that’s literally a building block of your retina. Now, really, any of the small fish are great for your eyes, like mackerel, anchovies, herring. Additionally, canned, clams, oysters, crabs are another way of helping your eyes. How about colorful berries and pomegranates? Now, these are all packed with polyphenols that fight oxidative stress. Now, as I tell my patients, you’re only as young as your blood vessels are flexible. So what happens at the capillary level is really important. We see that the more of these sort of polyphenols we get into patients, we can actually measure the flexibility of my patient’s blood vessels.

(05:18)
And the more flexibility in the capillaries in your eye, the better. Also, consuming foods that produce nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide is important for protecting the blood vessels as well. Onions, garlic, and cruciferous vegetables promote this microcirculation. In fact, I’ve seen an improvement in my prescription since I put myself on my eating protocol. My distance vision, I don’t need my glasses for vis- for distance vision anymore. Yeah, I still need them for up close, but my prescription gets better every year, uh, the older I get thanks to what I’m eating. Now, if you wanna add an extra layer of protection, here are some of my favorite supplements for the eyes. Now, the only supplement with a clinical trial to fix macular degeneration is humans is longevinex. And interestingly enough, it’s the supplement I’ve been taking the longest in fact. Now, it was developed by David Sinclair, who’s now at Harvard, and it contains some very important compounds, Resveratrol, Circetin, Lutein, and Zeaxanthin.

(06:29)
Now, these are all critical for filtering high energy blue light and protecting against age-related macular degeneration. How about astaxanthin? Now, this is a powerful antioxidant from algae. Think of it as sunglasses in a capsule. That’s why my product, PowerPhenol, has this among other eye health promoting ingredients. Timed release vitamin C. Now, we humans have a problem. Most animals make vitamin C. We are one of the few animals including New World Monkeys and Guinea pigs that do not manufacture vitamin C. Why is that important? Vitamin C helps protect the lens against cataract formation. Now, time release vitamin C is very, very important because we could take vitamin C, but because it’s water soluble, it’s gone in two or three hours. Time release vitamin C, on the other hand, will keep your vitamin C levels normal. That’s important among other things because vitamin C knits breaks in collagen and you want your collagen to be knitted back together.

(07:43)
Now, many years ago, there was a trial in smokers to take vitamin E because vitamin E should actually help protect your eyes, but they gave vitamin E to smokers and lo and behold, they found out that smokers who took vitamin E had an increase in lung cancer. Well, what’s with that? Well, while vitamin E is an antioxidant, unfortunately, you need vitamin C to repair vitamin E once it absorbs free radicals. And what had happened in these smokers is they had no vitamin C in their blood because it was being used up with the oxidative stress in smoking. So if you’re going to take a vitamin E for your eye health, please also take time to release vitamin C, but to avoid the vitamin E sold in drug stores.

(08:42)
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(09:42)
Now, vitamin E is actually 12 different compounds, tocopherols and tocotrienols. The vitamin E sold in drug stores is only on, and it’s actually the wrong isomere. So do not take the vitamin E that’s sold in drugstores. Zinc and copper. Now, it was found in the landmark AREDS-2 study to slow macular degeneration progression. Now, that’s very important, but they have to be a balanced in a perfect ratio. A lot of well-meaning people take zinc but don’t take copper. My recommendation is the maximum zinc that you should take is about 30 milligrams a day. Now, too much zinc can make your skin worse. It actually damages it. So like the wicked witch of the west said, “These things must be done delicately.” Phospholipids. Now, this supports retinal cell membranes. Now, I’m gonna spend a lot of time in my next book talking about the importance of phospholipids in our diet, but let me leave that subject for another day.

(10:56)
The important thing is most of our cell membranes are composed of phospholipids and phospholipids are incredibly important for the functioning of your retina. Where do you get phospholipids? The easiest place is krill oil. And when you’re buying krill oil, look at the back of the package and look at the amount of phospholipids per capsule. The more phospholipids, the better. And that’s the benefit of krill oil. Phospholipids are really absent from our diet and phospholipids are absolutely critical for the support of cell membranes, including the cell membranes in your retina. My advice, get some krill oil. Number four, please be aware of screen time. Now, there’s a very important eye exercise that I like to practice. Practice the 20 / 20 / 20 rule. Every 20 minutes, while you’re looking at a screen, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It really will help your eye adjust.

(12:13)
And since I spend a lot of time looking at a screen, typing my books on the screen, looking at research on a screen, you find that please look up, look across the room, look at things across the room for, you know, a half a minute and then go back to what you’re doing. 20 minutes at the screen, 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Now, the other thing you see all the time is I need drops to get the red eye out. Now, what about these over-the-counter red eye drops that promise wider eyes in seconds? Well, the problem is they work by constricting blood vessels in your eye. Now, over time, this can actually cause rebound redness. Your eyes end up even redder when the effect wears off. Now, instead, try preservative-free lubricating drops if you need relief. Or better yet, hydrate and cut down on inflammatory foods and overindulging an alcohol, which often drive dryness and redness in the first place.

(13:20)
Now, where is the red eye coming from? Your immune system is actually turned on due to a leaky gut. So the inflammation is what’s happening in your eyes that’s creating the redness. And one of the ways that actually happens with inflammation in the eyes, believe it or not, there is a small lectin called wheat germ agglutinin that can get through the wall of the gut without a leaky gut that has been shown to actually bind to the cornea and the outer surface of your eye that creates inflammation. So every time you’re scratching your eye and feeling dry eye, maybe you ought put away the healthy whole grain bread you’re eating and see what happens. Now, there are other trendy eye health topics out there. Let’s take on a few. Saffron extract. Now, emerging research shows that it may actually improve visual acuity in age-related macular degeneration.

(14:26)
It’s also been shown in a clinical trial to improve brain health better than Alzheimer’s drugs. Why? It turns out that saffron is actually one of the better mitochondrial uncouplers in the spic family. And anytime to a degree you can uncouple your mitochondria, you’ll actually improve mitogenesis, which makes more mitochondria. So there’s really good science behind why saffron might be an addition to eye health and for that matter, brain health. What about red light therapy? Now, some studies suggest brief exposure to deep red light in the morning can boost mitochondrial function in the retina. Now, early sunlight is red light therapy. Take an early morning walk and please don’t wear sunglasses for free red light therapy treatment. What about lifestyle habits for lifelong vision? Now, should you use sunglasses? Well, I’m sorry. Sunglasses actually make your eyes weaker. Your eye is supposed to react naturally to sunlight.

(15:39)
Think about it. If we were designed to have sunglasses, then we would have a shade over our eyes. We have irises that are natural sunglasses. If you wear sunglasses, your pupils dilate and more of the stuff that gets in there that you don’t want. So if you’re going outside and don’t want UV light, you want UV light blocking glasses instead of sunglasses. Next step, if you’re a smoker, please quit smoking. It’s still one of the biggest risk factors for macular degeneration. Next up, feed your microbiome because if you have a healthy gut, you will have healthy eyes. I see so many of my older patients who come to me with macular degeneration and assume that it’s just a part of getting older, but they’re surprised when we do their leaky gut tests and their microbiome tests. It’s their leaky gut and their wasteland of a microbiome that’s contributing to their macular degeneration.

(16:54)
And that when we fix that, stops the issue in their eyes. The bottom line is this, protecting your vision isn’t about a miracle pill or fancy glasses. It’s about nourishing your body with the right foods, giving your eyes proper antioxidant support and respecting your circadian rhythm. Do these things and your eyes will thank you for decades to come.

(17:23)
Now it’s time for the question of the week. This one comes from @LucyDN5Q over on YouTube on my episode about the benefits of polyphenol olive oil. They asked, “How about using the Perilla leaves if perilla oil is not readily available?” Well, Pyrilees are just fine, but it doesn’t have really any of the short chain omega-3 that perilla oil does. So sorry, yeah, enjoy them, but it’s not going to give you the benefit of perilla oil in blocking LPSs. A great question. Now it’s time for the review of the week. A review of the week comes from @ElfSearching over on YouTube on my episode about broccoli. They said, “I am a follower and have seen all of your videos repeatedly.” I’ve heard you before on so many other videos saying, “Cut your broccoli before cooking it, ” but never understood how until I saw this video.

(18:15)
I am steaming my cut broccoli with stems this minute to eat with wild Pacific Ocean salmon. Thanks, Dr. Gundry, for many informative videos that aren’t available anywhere else. Well, thank you. You know, this is why I do this. I learn from my patients, I learn from the experience of my patients, and I like to pass that information on to you for free.

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That’s a wrap on today’s episode. And before you go, I wanna leave you with one task. If anything you heard today made you think made you wanna dig deeper or gave you something you’re going to pass along to someone you care about, please take 15 seconds and leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I know that songs small, but those reviews are how Apple and Spotify decide which shows to surface to new listeners and this show only grows when people who’ve never heard of it suddenly find it. That person finding this podcast today could hear something that genuinely improves their life or the life of someone they love. Maybe even saves one. Everything I share here comes from my research when writing my next book and my clinics where I’ve been seeing patients six days a week for over 25 years working with nutrition and supplements as the primary treatment.

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This is real world medicine. Help me get it to more people and thank you. Truly thank you. I’m Dr. G and I’m always looking out for you.