Paleo and Myopia

[jakebsp]

Any thoughts on paleo and myopia? 

My myopia rehab therapist keeps telling me to get off all sugar and carbs, though I've been making very good progress even without (down almost two diopters in six months).  Experiences?

[Adora]

What have you done to get down 2, and what do you do in rehab?

[PaleoPhil]

You might be interested in this. Haven't noticed improvement yet myself, but he basically echoes what your therapist said about sugars: Improve eyesight – and throw away your glasses by Todd Becker

[jakebsp]

What have you done to get down 2, and what do you do in rehab?

Yes I think I found them through Todd.

How?  Would take a while to describe all of it.  First it was some strain awareness stuff, like not wearing glasses for half an hour in the morning, doing routine stuff.  Going outside for an hour, no glasses.  Things like that.  They said that a part of my myopia comes from ciliary muscle spasm, from reading too much.  "Pseudo myopia", that can be remedied fast.

So then it turned into peripheral vision exercises, and some different prescriptions.  One for working on the computer (combined with some close up focus exercises), after a month, I got new glasses a diopter lower than my original prescription.  A lot of outdoor practice focusing on distance objects.  Took a few weeks, then the new prescription was fully clear.

They added a bunch of diet stuff, more exercises, all very serious about how long to do, and establishing routines, and so on.  They are Austrians, very serious about things apparently.   

I'm leaving out like a dozen things, but you get the idea.  Now I'm down to -2.50 and almost ready for another prescription change.

They keep insisting on diet habits that are very much paleo, even if they just say 'no refined sugar, no simple carbs'.   Which I'm all about, minus when I lose my mind and have to eat every carb I can find.   

[jakebsp]

And a lot of things that are quasi common sense but really helpful:  http://www.myopiachallenge.com/day-17-close-up-a-limited-resource/

Main addition to Todd is awareness and more different exercise.  Faster progress, I think.

[PaleoPhil]

http://www.myopiachallenge.com

Thanks for the link. It looks like 6-7 of their employees are wearing eyeglasses:
They tend to be younger. Are they new or are there limitations to what can be achieved or ...? It's encouraging to see no eyeglasses on the oldest-looking folks.

Do you use plus lenses like Todd recommends?

[raw-al]

My wife and I have been doing sungazing for about 3 years. She went from 3.5 diopters to 1.5 in well less than 6 months. Her Glaucoma disappeared.

Mine went from about 1.2 to 1.0 or nothing.

We highly recommend it. The method we use is the one described here
http://solarhealing.com/process/

There are a number of sites on the topic but we think this is the best/safest/surest version.

I have posted about this a number of times here on this site.

You will also notice a decrease in hunger shortly after starting. In other words you will eat less.

It is free and easy!

[jakebsp]

http://www.myopiachallenge.com

Thanks for the link. It looks like 6-7 of their employees are wearing eyeglasses:
They tend to be younger. Are they new or are there limitations to what can be achieved or ...? It's encouraging to see no eyeglasses on the oldest-looking folks.

Do you use plus lenses like Todd recommends?

Funny, I asked the same question.  Apparently myopia is very common in Austria too, so it makes sense that employees came to work there who have it.  Alex says it can take years to get rid of glasses for higher myopia cases.  They are "work in progress" staff.

I use plus lenses.  Not to the degree Todd recommends (not hours per day), Alex says it would be the equivalent of doing four hours of cardio a day to lose weight.  Much shorter sessions.

I feel like I got bigger improvements from some other exercises, peripheral work and distance focus (same as what Todd recommends but not focused up close) in particular.  Or maybe it was the combination throughout the day. 

I do notice that if I go on a carb binge, or if I go out and party one night (drinking), the next day my vision is notably poorer.  Would have never noticed that on my regular prescription before, but they put us on this differential prescription where I can tell easily when my eyes aren't happy with what I did.

[PaleoPhil]

I do notice that if I go on a carb binge, or if I go out and party one night (drinking), the next day my vision is notably poorer.

Thanks for confirming that. I noticed that too, even with raw Paleo carbs (I know, the holy grail that it's a crime to report any negative effects from  ), but wasn't sure if I was imagining it.  The problem for me is, if I forego carby foods completely, then I start to get other negative effects, so it's a difficult balancing act.

Would have never noticed that on my regular prescription before, but they put us on this differential prescription where I can tell easily when my eyes aren't happy with what I did.

Interesting. Can you direct me to info about this type of eyeglasses?

[jakebsp]

Thanks for confirming that. I noticed that too, even with raw Paleo carbs (I know, the holy grail that it's a crime to report any negative effects from  ), but wasn't sure if I was imagining it.  The problem for me is, if I forego carby foods completely, then I start to get other negative effects, so it's a difficult balancing act.
Interesting. Can you direct me to info about this type of eyeglasses?

I was going to attach the forum link that explains it better than I could, but apparently it's not a public forum. 

Basically, I took two months of exercises to get rid of ciliary muscle spasm 'fake myopia'.  Between that, and the fact that I was way over-prescribed by my previous optometrist, lead to a new prescription quite a bit lower than the original one:

After the first two months my vision was already improving.  They had me do some tests at home with a Snellen chart under different conditions (before and after working on computer, before and after peripheral vision focus, and different lighting conditions).  With the results from all that, and adjustment from my previous astigmatism, they gave me a new prescription.

Originally I was at -4.00, the first round took me down to -3.00 (that was a lot of work but went by very fast).  I could see 20/20 with the -3.00.  The current one is -2.75 and -2.50, with which I'm exactly at a borderline.  I can see 20/20 with good lighting, if I don't spend all day on the computer, and if I don't drink or eat carbs. 

Otherwise, things get blurry.  Alex refers to it as taking away the no-guilt eye prosthetic, the strong glasses with which you see sharp no matter how much you abuse your eyes.

It's pretty genius how they do the whole thing.

If I'm 100% paleo for a while (takes me a month almost), I can read almost a whole extra Snellen line.  Pretty big difference. Just one or two nights of pizza and beers (happens, circle of friends) sets me back quite a bit.

[PaleoPhil]

So is the differential prescription -2.75 in one lense and -2.50 in the other, or one pair of eyeglasses at -2.75 and one at -2.50 or ... ?

[Adora]

My vision is worse in my right eye by either .5 or .25, I don't remember, but my perscription is for - 1.75 in both because it is the minimum driving requirement correction for me and I asked if she would correct both eyes the same so I didn't have to keep tract of left and right. So, both eyes are "under corrected" and the right is a little more under corrected than the left. What do you think? All I do at the moment is walk around with less than 20/20 correction, but it would be nice to improve my vision.

[jakebsp]

My vision is worse in my right eye by either .5 or .25, I don't remember, but my perscription is for - 1.75 in both because it is the minimum driving requirement correction for me and I asked if she would correct both eyes the same so I didn't have to keep tract of left and right. So, both eyes are "under corrected" and the right is a little more under corrected than the left. What do you think? All I do at the moment is walk around with less than 20/20 correction, but it would be nice to improve my vision.

I have no idea.     Ask Alex?  Don't mean to hijack, but I think there is a public board on their forum now. 

I have different strength for both eyes, but they're getting closer to being the same, using a few daily exercises for that.  Closer by -0.50 already, yeah!!!

[PaleoPhil]

So it sounds like you have a -2.75 Px in one lense and -2.50 in the other and you're trying to get them more equal, plus a different Px for computer work. Is the Px for computer work stronger? Do you have to buy each pair of eyeglasses as your vision improves, or do you rent them, or what?

I accidentally noticed when I looked at the blinds on a window with the sun shining through that my eyes visibly attempted to focus, like a zoom camera. I noticed it again when looking at filtered sun through tree branches/leaves, with the sun framed by branches and then quickly at nearby plants on the ground. The contrast between the dark blinds or branches and the filtered sunlight (full sun is too strong to produce the effect--it's instead just somewhat blinding) appears to produce this effect. I wonder if focusing/unfocusing the eyes repeatedly in this way would be a good exercise. Anyone know? If no one here knows, I'll ask at the other forum.

[jakebsp]

So it sounds like you have a -2.75 Px in one lense and -2.50 in the other and you're trying to get them more equal, plus a different Px for computer work. Is the Px for computer work stronger? Do you have to buy each pair of eyeglasses as your vision improves, or do you rent them, or what?

I accidentally noticed when I looked at the blinds on a window with the sun shining through that my eyes visibly attempted to focus, like a zoom camera. I noticed it again when looking at filtered sun through tree branches/leaves, with the sun framed by branches and then quickly at nearby plants on the ground. The contrast between the dark blinds or branches and the filtered sunlight (full sun is too strong to produce the effect--it's instead just somewhat blinding) appears to produce this effect. I wonder if focusing/unfocusing the eyes repeatedly in this way would be a good exercise. Anyone know? If no one here knows, I'll ask at the other forum.

I know what you mean.  I can do it at will now, change focus.  Took a few months but now I can look at something and play with the focus like manual mode on a camera.

Using that in exercises to improve distance focusing.  Super fun, actually.

I buy my glasses online, they list some resources.  $20-$40 with all the extras, no big deal.  Computer prescription is a tiny minus for me now, soon going for plus lenses.

[PaleoPhil]

I know what you mean.  I can do it at will now, change focus.  Took a few months but now I can look at something and play with the focus like manual mode on a camera.

Cool, what do you think most enabled you to acquire that ability?

I buy my glasses online, they list some resources.  $20-$40 with all the extras, no big deal.  Computer prescription is a tiny minus for me now, soon going for plus lenses.

Excellent; please share the link(s). What extras do you get? I now think that getting UV protection in my lenses was a mistake, given what I've learned about sunlight improving vision.

[jakebsp]

Cool, what do you think most enabled you to acquire that ability?
Excellent; please share the link(s). What extras do you get? I now think that getting UV protection in my lenses was a mistake, given what I've learned about sunlight improving vision.

I'm not sure.  Life is so super busy, mostly I just signed up, they e-mail exercises, I follow them.  Haven't taken the time to try to figure things out beyond just reading the instructions and adding them to what I do.  They said "you'll be able to manually focus in a few weeks" and sure enough, that's what happened. 

I have a blog so they gave me a free 60 days to try it, no requirements to review them or anything.  That's all it took for me to get a whole diopter down in prescription.  Maybe tell them that you are super active on some forums, they seemed pretty easy going about it.

[PaleoPhil]

I'm confused and not sure what you mean. Are you saying that you can't summarize one or more things that worked for you in  a sentence or two? I'm a simple, poor man. Magical words about "you'll be able to do this or that" without explanation are too challenging for my primitive mind. Thanks for trying. Maybe their instructions are too complicated for ordinary folk like me to understand? At least I can celebrate your success, however incomprehensible it is to me. Congrats Jake! Hip, hip, hoorah!

[jakebsp]

I'm confused and not sure what you mean. Are you saying that you can't summarize one or more things that worked for you in  a sentence or two? I'm a simple, poor man. Magical words about "you'll be able to do this or that" without explanation are too challenging for my primitive mind. Thanks for trying. Maybe their instructions are too complicated for ordinary folk like me to understand? At least I can celebrate your success, however incomprehensible it is to me. Congrats Jake! Hip, hip, hoorah!

I'm saying that there are too many compounding factors for me to tell you, in "one or two sentences", what aspects of the work caused my physiology to change so dramatically. 

I'm saying that I'm using their service to provide a result.  It's like ... my car doesn't run right.  I take it to the shop, they do a bunch of stuff, I drive it away, everything working properly.  I could ask for all the technical details, but the outcome is independent from my understanding of it.

Something about all the work allowed me to start actively tuning focus.  It's neat.  Alex, over there at the mad eye tuning scientist shop, might be a better source to explain the underlying principles.

Cheers!

[jakebsp]

Cool, what do you think most enabled you to acquire that ability?
Excellent; please share the link(s). What extras do you get? I now think that getting UV protection in my lenses was a mistake, given what I've learned about sunlight improving vision.

http://www.zennioptical.com/

[PaleoPhil]

I'm not sure I fully understand your post, but thanks for trying to explain.

I did email Alex and he said he could set me up with an account, but when I asked how, he didn't respond. When I went to the website, it required giving them my credit card info, which I'm not thrilled to do with any potential ongoing fee I'm not sure I want to pay for.

[eveheart]

I am following the 60-day myopia challenge, which includes a daily lesson and a forum for each lesson where I can ask specific questions and get somewhat personalized answers. I requested and received the online services at no charge.

The main thrust of my lessons so far is to stop over-correcting for myopia... meaning that my eyeglass prescription is designed to see at a distance, so anything I look at in a nearer range will be over-corrected. Elimination of over-correction is done by adding to the Rx, so my -4.00 for distance would use only a -1.50 for work at 20" (50cm), then using that correction to work just outside the clear range, say at 22".

The other exercises include varying the focal length by looking at various distances (to avoid same-distance eye strain) and peripheral vision work where I look without glasses at a distance and don't try to look at the central point but see all around it (my paraphrase).

That's been it so far (just over a week). I'm skeptical, but I'd be delighted to eliminate myopia.

[jessica]

has anyone mentioned those pin hole glasses that are supposed to help the eyes regain the ability to focus themselves?  i am probably the most blind here, i would like to blame that on opthologist always insisting that i have 20/10 vision, thus increasing the dependence of my eyes on glasses and also increasing my precription each year.  i also suffered two fractures to my left orbital and had some eye damage, mostly double vision but i did do physical therapy for my eye, which consisted of viewing the same object projected in front of me but pulled out of focus into two seperate objects and having to pull it back together with my eye muscles.  also just stretching my range of view, this was assisted by a board of lights where i had to hold my head still and click a button when i would see flashing lights around the board, many just barely in range.  another devise was a string with a big bead on it, that i would tie to something and hold in front of either eye, and then move the bead and try and focus on it as i moved it away from my face.  there are many similar exercises for making vision more precise, but one has to take care not to strain the eye muscles, which is definitely possible.  i remember after many sessions wondering why they would let me drive home, and having head aches.

[PaleoPhil]

has anyone mentioned those pin hole glasses that are supposed to help the eyes regain the ability to focus themselves?

Yes, Lex reported trying those decades ago without benefit, IIRC.

[Dorothy]

Yes, Lex reported trying those decades ago without benefit, IIRC.

They almost got me into a lot of trouble on a Manhattan street once - bumping into the kind of guy you don't want to bump into. Good thing that they made me look blind or crazy enough not to want to beat up!   They destroy your peripheral vision.

I used them with a video series that gave me great results - but I don't know if the glasses had anything to do with it or not.