Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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So, I've had dry eyes for a long time, at least going back 8 or so years. My Mom also always noticed that my eyes were bloodshot most of time - saying that I should play less computer games, but that's beside the point. I've noticed I had a problem with this when I started wearing contacts, and got Giant Papillomary Conjuctivitis twice, albeit a year and a half apart. Needless to say I stopped wearing contacts almost two years ago, but my eyes are still dry, and bloodshot.

I went dairy free for a month, but didn't really notice anything, but I think I will go dairy free for two months starting at the end of Sept, being that right now I have a good source of raw milk. The only non-paleo things I eat are cheese, and I drink milk, but other than that I'm orthodox paleo. I've also done some LCing, and try to keep my carb intake around 100g in the past, but now I'm not sure where it's at with the fruit and milk I'm taking in.

Anyone know of anything related to eye health/tear production that I should try?

Edit 9/18/11: I should have mentioned this earlier, but for my supplements I'm taking:

1g calcium (powdered oyster shells) morning
~1g Fish oil morning - just started adding a second dose in afternoon
50mg Zinc, morning
100mg Magnesium, morning

And I've been taking these for at least a year, so I don't think fish oil would help that much (I'm increasing my dose anyway).

edited Sep 18 2011 at 14:16

asked Sep 17 2011 at 19:50

Bristlebeard
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	Have you ruled out any environmental allergies? I've heard good things about eyebright herb for such inflammation. – Rockgrrl Sep 18 2011 at 1:05
	What would these be? I've had this problem in both the US, and in Germany, Living out in the country, and in the city, and also in all seasons. – Bristlebeard Sep 18 2011 at 14:10

Efaitch · Answer 1 · 2011-09-17 20:15:59Z UTC

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Do you include liver/offal in your diet? Vitamin A seems to be a big thing wrt eye health. Of course, remember your other fat soluble vitamins in association!

answered Sep 17 2011 at 20:15

Efaitch
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	I'm just starting to take cod liver oil, primarily to see if it makes a skin condition (Sebhorreic Dermatitis) better. I guess I'll see if that helps. – Bristlebeard Sep 18 2011 at 14:10
	And I eat a good amount of heart. I'm trying to incorporate more liver into my diet, but I'm not a big fan of the texture. I probably eat it twice a month. – Bristlebeard Sep 18 2011 at 14:18
	I make pate with liver as I'm not a fan of the texture - MDA has a post about how to include more offal in ones diet (on phone, will link later if I can). It was the relatively high vitamin A content that I thought would help :-) – Efaitch Sep 18 2011 at 14:37
	Yeah, the vit A level in cod liver oil is why I'm taking it. And I've also made pate in the past, as a way to eat liver. My friends think I sound pretentious when I complain about having to eat a couple pounds of pate in a week. – Bristlebeard Sep 18 2011 at 20:37
	So did anybody manage to improve their dry eye issues with increased liver/cod liver oil intake? – Paleohacker Jul 17 at 2:35

Rockgrrl · Answer 2 · 2011-09-18 00:58:43Z UTC

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Someone recently pointed me to this article: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=1077 Which mentions dry eyes as a symptom of glucose deficiency. Though it may not be the original cause of the problem it may be worth assessing whether you could do with a few extra yams.

answered Sep 18 2011 at 0:58

Rockgrrl
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I read that back when I was doing keto, but I don't think it's that much of an issue now, since I'm pretty sure I'm getting enough carbs nowadays. – Bristlebeard Sep 18 2011 at 14:19

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My mam has eye issues, including dry eyes. It's not because of a LC diet in her case. – Efaitch Sep 18 2011 at 14:38

Sue W · Answer 3 · 2011-09-17 20:21:00Z UTC

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I have chronic dry eye, diagnosed by an eye doc. I use Restasis, but I've also read and been told by docs that fish oil is very helpful. Good luck!

answered Sep 17 2011 at 20:21

Sue W
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Years of Dry Eye · Answer 4 · 2011-09-18 02:19:50Z UTC

I went dairy-free for two and a 1/2 months and it had no effect on my dry eyes at all.

Many people on dryeyezone.com have found that cutting sugar, caffeine and alcohol (similar to the Roseacea diet) helps. It doesn't work for everyone but it may be worth a try. Another thing people have had some luck with is the anti-yeast diet. I haven't tried it so can't speak to it's efficacy, although my understanding is that there are similarities to he Roseacea diet.

Are you using preservative-free eye drops? The preservatives found in many drops can actually cause dry eye so it's good to make the switch if you haven't already.

Fish & flaxseed oil, as recommended by previous posters helps a lot of people too.

Warm compresses are a good natural alternative to eye drops. Fill a sock with rice, throw in the microwave for about 30 seconds (you do not want it too warm), wrap with a wet, warm washcloth and cover your eyes for about 5-10 minutes.

Keep your lid margins clean by using sterile saline or lid scrubs to clean them daily. This will help prevent blepharitis and may make a difference in the dryness you experience. Do not use the type of saline for contact lenses. You want pure saline without additives; ask a pharmacist if you're not sure. Medline is one brand but there are others, as well. Some states require a prescription (no clue why) but not all.

Potential causes of dry eye include: Blepharitis, Sjogren's, various medications, low testosterone, inflammation & allergies, some question whether deficiencies in Vitamin A, D, Selenium & Omegas may cause dry eye.

James · Answer 5 · 2011-09-17 23:01:29Z UTC

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Omega 3's (Fish oil) is supposed to help greatly.

answered Sep 17 2011 at 23:01

James
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Namby Pamby · Answer 6 · 2011-09-18 03:28:22Z UTC

I actually have Sjogren's but my dry eyes get worse when I eat dairy. It's been confirmed through multiples trials of avoidance and reintroduction. I don't drink milk, so that's not relevant, but my eyes dry out with sour cream, Greek yogurt, and heavy cream/half and half. Cheese isn't as bad for me but I cut that out too.

Legumes also seem to have some effect. I haven't confirmed it yet with trials but those pink kidney beans seem to cause dryness.

majkinetor · Answer 7 · 2011-09-18 14:31:14Z UTC

You could try chamomile tea washing. You need high quality tea, not tea bags [with lots of buds]. You need sterile compress to apply it.

I had acutely that kind that constantly feel like there is something in my eye and thats what solved it in a day. Give it a try, it can't hurt.

Interestingly, it happend several month after starting low carb. Perhaps there is truth in what Paul@PHD says, but nothing changed after I started to eat more sugar - actually, it became worst.

Rich · Answer 8 · 2013-01-31 23:46:13Z UTC

This quote is interesting... the whole article is worth a quick read if you are suffering from dry eyes...

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/11/dangers-of-zero-carb-diets-ii-mucus-deficiency-and-gastrointestinal-cancers/

"Throughout my 2 years on this zero-carb diet, I had dry eyes and dry mouth. My eyes were bloodshot and irritated, and I had to give up wearing contact lenses. Through repeated experiments, I established that two factors contributed to the dry eyes – vitamin C deficiency and glucose deficiency. After I solved the vitamin C issue, I did perhaps 50 experiments over the following few years, increasing carbs which made the dry eyes go away and reducing them which made them immediately come back. This established unequivocally that it was a glucose deficiency alone that caused the dry eyes."

Curing Dry eyes with Paleo

8 Answers