Salad Days

You may have noticed that most of my salad recipes are vegetarian, with a good many of them tipping the vegan scale. There’s a good reason for this! Consumption of saturated fat (found in meat and dairy products) is responsible for all sorts of ailments, such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, etc. New research published in the Archives of Ophthalmology has added another disease to the list - “age-related” macular degeneration (AMD).

This disease is the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 60. It involves cell death in the macula of the eye, which has a high density of cone cells and is responsible for central vision.

Scientists investigated the relationship between fat intake and the presence of intermediate AMD four to seven years later in more than 1700 women and found that some fats may benefit eye health while others may be damaging. Saturated fats showed the greatest association with AMD – 60% increased odds of AMD in women who consumed the greatest amounts. Monounsaturated fats, which are present in nuts, seeds, and avocados, were associated with a lower prevalence of the disease.

So, next time you’re contemplating what to put on your salad - bacon or walnuts...sliced egg or avocado - let your eyes be your guide to picking healthful, plant-based fats instead of animal fats.

Read the full study: Parekh N et al. Association Between Dietary Fat Intake and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study (CAREDS). An Ancillary Study of the Women’s Health Initiative. Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(11):1483-1493.