Continue your regular appointments with your eye doctor to monitor your progress and rule out any eye disease obscured by the cataract formations such as glaucoma. Though anecdotally, some people have found success using cannabis products to reduce glaucoma, there are no definitive studies showing this is so. Your experiment will be your own. But continuing our med appointments to monitor progress we make using alternative regimes is always the recommended route (AND READ BELOW FOR ADDITONAL EYE EXAM DANGERS).
All discussions with Ray Peat notes and ideas are based on my own opinions and interpretations of my notes of him and what I have found useful for my own use as well as from feedback from many, many, many, many others.
This is not intended as advice, medical, legal or otherwise, and is to be used solely for educational purposes. See Program Agreement for further disclaimers and release of liability.
“Cataracts can disappear when the eye’s metabolic condition is corrected. A supply of energy is essential to maintain the transparent structure.
Lactic acid increases as carbon dioxide decreases, during a typical energy deficiency. Deficient thyroid, and the resulting excess of cortisol relative to pregnenolone and progesterone, define the energy deficiency.
Increased lactate relative to CO2 in the cell alters cell pH and electrical charge, causing swelling. Swelling and increased water content characterize the cataract.
High altitude is inversely related to cataracts, despite the known role of sunlight in causing cataracts; this is a strong confirmation of the protective role of carbon dioxide.”
“Among the interesting causes of cataracts: Tamoxifen and hypotonic fluids, sodium deficiency; toxicity of tryptophan; oxidants (metals, hydrogen peroxide, PUFA); diabetes, photosensitizers and sunlight; excess calcium, deficient magnesium. Excess cortisol. Radiation. Arachidonic and linoleic acids in other situations have been found to block cells’ regulation of their water content. Hypothyroidism tends to increase the activity of serotonin, estrogen, prolactin, calcium, and the tendency of tissues to retain water, and to decrease the level of ATP.
Among the factors that probably have a role in preventing cataracts: Thyroid, progesterone, pregnenolone, vitamin E, iodide, pyruvate. Increasing the carbon dioxide lowers the cell’s pH, and tends to resist swelling. Palmitic acid (a saturated fat that can be synthesized by our tissues) is normally oxidized by the lens. Calcium blockers experimentally prevent cataracts, suggesting that magnesium and thyroid (which also act to exclude calcium from cells) would have the same effect.
Thyroid hormone is essential for maintaining adequate carbon dioxide production, for minimizing lactic acid, cortisol and prolactin, for regulating calcium and magnesium, for avoiding hypotonicity of the body fluids, and for improving the ratio of palmitic acid to linoleic acid.” – from Peat Newsletter: The transparency of life: Cataracts as a model of age-related disease – Ray Peat, PhD.
Mentioned in Dr. Peat’s above quote, that some items that can affect cataract formation is “radiation”, please take note that many eye physicians (ophthalmologists) use “retina imaging” scans as part of routine and annual eye exams.
These retina imaging tests can seem as ordinary and harmless as dental x-rays (which are NOT harmless!).
One sits in front of a small machine box and places one eye at a time into an eye aperture where a short light burst takes a “digital photo of our eye” (THIS IS AN X-RAY).
BUT these eye imaging tests using “laser” light mapping to see the back of the eye, examine for detached retinas, glaucoma etc. ARE RADIATION devices. See the FDA’s website about radiation devices.
Radiation can CAUSE CATARACTS. So (similar to the dangers of mammograms) some of our “routine” eye exams can actually be culprits causing the very thing they are trying to find.
This is radiation that is not just “x-raying the eyes” (as if that were not bad enough), this is radiation that is going INTO OUR BRAIN since the eye is part of the brain.
In addition, do be aware that the ophthalmologic dilation drops (of which there are 6 or 7 different chemicals and brands that are used for eye dilation exams) can have severe side effects such as dizziness, HEART PALPITATIONS (A-fib tachycardia) and other damaging effects, including brain damage.
The drops are drugs that immediately enter our body and can even have negative interactions with other drugs/medicines/vitamins/herbs we are taking.
The “few hours of effects” that are told to us during our eye exams, can turn into a nightmare of permanent damage.
Many people decide to forgo any exams requiring eye dilation, or retina imaging exams unless absolutely necessary.
These two eye exam “tools” can be beyond damaging. Careful decisions should be made when these two “regular exam practices” are suggested for our eyes.
That said, my thoughts also are to never believe cataract surgery is inevitable, routine or expected.
And for sure, no matter how young or old you are, I think we should never have cataract surgery performed on a “good eye” just because the physician tells us that we might as well get it out of the way because it will later have a cataract too— since our insurance or Medicare covers it is not a reason.
And we need to remember to NEVER assume the surgery is harmless.
For example, just 6 years after cataract surgery, my 93 year old dad could no longer see well enough to drive and regularly complained about poor eyesight.
Though I can’t prove the following problem for my mom is related, the eye is acknowledged to be part of the brain.
But a few months after my mom had cataract surgery (and her left eye began to have droopy problems immediately after), she experienced a burst brain aneurism. And her eyesight became doubled. 6 years later, she is going blind in both eyes. And the medical professional eye specialists find nothing wrong, cannot say why the doubling or blindness is happening.
I regularly have family, friends and clients think cataract surgery is routine, have it finally performed only to experience major problems involving their eyes either immediately after the procedure or sooner than they thought.
The brain of course is affected by eye surgery, which I understand can even affect mental and emotional states and mood disorders.
The wearing of exceptionally dark, wrap around sunglasses becomes the norm for a good long while afterwards or ongoing and the otherwise enjoyment of nature and exercise can be negatively impacted. Pain is involved. Sometimes loss of sight.
Dr. Peat’s two Newsletters primarily about cataracts and covering his exploration and thoughts and links to studies supporting his ideas can be found here and here.
Keep in mind, cataracts usually form over long periods of time, years.
If we anyway have regular eye exams, we are told multiple times the progress of severity of our cataracts over the years.
We have a chance therefore to make other choices and decisions for ourselves.
We can give ourselves a few months, a few years of alternative things to do about our cataracts before we succumb to surgery.
Some other alternative things we can give attention is of course eating clean, real anti-inflammatory, real food that is appropriate for our human bodies.
Taking few, but selected supplements.
Stopping exposure to toxic and dangerous substances.
Stopping taking zinc and iron supplements (which Peat found can bring on sudden formation of cataracts).
Reducing our exposures to too much UV light. And paradoxically, living at high altitude can reduce cataract formations according to Peat.
Some have successfully used red light therapy or (lab made/professional) mushroom drops (I don’t know where to get those) on and in their eyes.
And we can protect our eyes from too much blue light by using blue-light-blocker glasses or prescription glasses and installing blue light shielding software on our computers and devices.
There is progesterone that can be helpful. And caffeine in moderation that can be useful.
Reducing anything that forms internal lactic acid can be a huge help.
And mindset around cataracts is huge. Our everyday thoughts and feelings about cataracts that run around our heads and are amplified by the medical eye professionals is unrelenting. We can say “cancel-cancel” every time we notice these thoughts in ourselves or coming from others, and begin to change our beliefs, that yes, we can be free and clear always of cataracts.
But here is the simple cheat-sheet from my notes and Peat’s Newsletters I understand to be suggested remedies of what to do to reduce or even eliminate cataract formations when they are the only eye problem.
1. Eliminate as completely as possible eating PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and EFA (essential fatty acids), linoleic acid fats and any other unsaturated fats. This means NOT eating vegetable oils, no hemp oils (INCLUDING FAMOUS “Hemp Oil CBD” products), chicken, pork, salmon and other fatty fish (all with high linoleic 6/omega 6 fats that even Mercola now discusses as inflammatory and dangerous), avocados are dangerous and should never be eaten. Read Peat’s Newsletter on Unsaturated Vegetable Oils: Toxic placed in its entirety at the bottom of the Dangerous Items list.
2. Use daily aspirin
3. Take daily, correct thyroid supplement
As a note, I listened somewhere to an online interview with Dr. Peat and the interviewer asked about what to do about cataracts. Peat talked about his brother being told he needed cataract surgery. Peat told his brother several things to do instead and said the brother only did one thing. Then went back to the eye doctor to check on the progress and the cataract formations were reversing so well the surgery was cancelled.
I later asked Peat what was the one thing his brother did:
“I think the only change was that he supplemented thyroid.” – Ray Peat, PhD.
