Eye Floaters Part II
Your eyes are connected to these organs. If these organs are not up to snuff, or has been removed, your eyes will suffer. Do you know which organs?
After 4 glorious months in California, all things must come to an end. The smoke from the two fires literally smoked us out! I am going to miss my morning ritual of Yoga outside on the house deck while Zazu kept a watchful eye for squirrels to chase (well, until his leash ran out). The air quality on the Fire app went from very unhealthy to Hazardous; it was time to leave. The picture above shows me on my yoga mat. Can you see the mountains in the far back? Now, look at the picture below, same view, all smoke. The picture on the left is the sun trying to break through the smoke.
Last week’s answer to the question do I wear glasses? I have been experiencing hyperopia or better known as farsightedness for a couple of months now. I am going to change this.
This week’s question,
Thanks to Kathie’s inquiry on what to do about eye floaters, last week we learned about the anatomy of the eye and its wonderful physiology and how this plays a role in eye floaters. I also asked for you all to let me know your eye colour if you suffer from eye floaters. Interestingly, brown eye color was the most with the other eye colors equal. It was not enough of a poll to say there may be something to brown eyes and eye floaters.
This week let’s talk about how digestion and the microbiome play a role in eye floaters. Next week I will share nutrients, herbs, and others that may help support healthy eyes and lesson those floaters.
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Let’s start with this image above from the Antioxidants Journal review, Vitreous Antioxidants, Degeneration, and Vitreo-Retinopathy: Exploring the Links. Look at all the nutrients involved in keeping the eye functioning. According to the review
The transparent vitreous body, which occupies about 80% of the eye's volume, is laden with numerous enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants that could protect the eye from oxidative stress and disease.
You are probably thinking, Karen, I take vitamins, and minerals and get lots of amino acids in my food and protein shakes. Why am I still suffering from eye floaters?
Great question. This is where digestion comes in. The simple answer is, as we age our digestion slows. We do not have as many enzymes, stomach acid becomes weak, our detoxification pathways are limited, and our nutrients are not getting absorbed and getting to the cells that need them. But, we can change this. And it starts with the gut.
I am starting here because most people just want the magic pill that is going to fix everything. It just doesn’t happen like that. Proteins when eaten are broken down into amino acids with the help of stomach acid, enzymes in the stomach, and small intestine and pancreas. As we age, stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes diminish. Add in an unhealthy diet, caffeine, alcohol, and stress it happens even earlier. In fact, as early as 15 years old. I can not tell you how many young clients I have seen with a lack of digestive enzymes and stomach acid. In fact, this study and this one found vitreous degeneration correlated with increased oxidative stress biomarkers and decreased proteolytic enzymes.
We create proteolytic enzymes, many come from the pancreas. Once the cleaving a part of proteins with the help of stomach acid and the enzyme pepsin the next step happens in the small intestine. Proteolytic enzymes (or pancreatic enzymes and brush broader enzymes) break down proteins into amino acids. These same enzymes also act like Pac-man-eating undigested protein in our blood and tissues (think about those fibers floating in your eyes).
Three things I recommend for each of my clients are a couple of tests. Ideally, if you want the big full picture all three would be beneficial. But, if you are on a budget, go for the first one.
Complete Metabolic Profile (CMP), folic acid, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D3 and urinary methylmalonic acid (MMA) Most of this is what your doctor orders except for some reason they exclude a couple of really important markers which I have listed above. Nutritionally speaking, we can see with regular serum markers, a picture of possible nutrient deficiencies and insufficient digestive process.
Get a stool test done. The nice thing about the Diagnostic Solutions GI MAP test is, it gives you not only a snapshot of your good/not-so-good bacteria, fungi, pathogens, and parasite, but a nice digestive panel including how it is impacting your immune system. Did you know that your gut microbiome is interacting with your eye microbiome? A stool test can help determine your digestive capabilities and how your microbiome may be impacting your eye health.
Finally, add in an OMX Metabolmics test by Diagnostic Solutions. This shows you nutrient deficiencies including a really nice amino acid profile. Our eyes are made up of proteins and amino acids as well as key nutrients. What if you are deficient in one or more of these and that is all you need to stop eye floaters?
Eye Microbiome
The conjunctiva and the cornea have a specific microbiome, the eyelid and eyelashes are a part of the skin microbiome The ocular microbiome has supporting bacteria (that could easily become overgrown to a pathogenic state), fungi, and viruses.
A 2021 Review of Literature looking at Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) found differences in taxonomical and functional profiles in the human microbiome, suggesting the microbiome is implicated in AMD onset and progression as well as a link between AMD and nutrition and diet.
Other studies confirm the presence of a gut-eye axis, strongly linking alterations in the microbiomes of the gut and the eye with disease states including infectious and inflammatory conditions. However, when it comes to the vitreous humor it seems to have an inherent antibacterial capacity to keep microbes out when in a healthy state.
Looking at rabbit-harvested vitreous humor previously infected with Staphylococcus epidermidis found Pseudomonas aerugnosa grew in all lab samples. Suggesting that the right bacterial infection can lead to opportunistic pathogenic bacteria possibly infecting the vitreous humor. Pseudomonas aerugnosa is a common pathogen found on the GI MAPs of clients I have worked with. It is also typically found in those who eat conventional foods and crops since it feeds off of glyphosate. What goes on in the gut can affect any part of the body. There is definitely an eye-gut axis.
Stop dumping your vitamins down the loo
If you are not digesting properly, it doesn’t matter how expensive or how many supplements you take, if you are not absorbing, every time you go to the loo, you are flushing it all unused down the toilet.
If digestion is not working optimally you made need Hydrochloric acid (HCl) + pepsin. HCl increases stomach acid to help break down food. In fact, this is where proteins begin their journey of being cleaved apart to be further broken down in the small intestine with the help of pancreatic enzymes. Then in the liver, the amino acids are then rebound into new protein structures. The vitreous is made up of numerous amino acids and proteins
Cysteine
Tyrosine
Crystallin
Uric acid
Albumin
Taurine
Enzymes are also made up of proteins and amino acids. It makes sense to start with how well you are absorbing. According to Review of Optometry
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the parts of the eys relate to internal organs. Eye floaters are consequences of several so-called “patterns of disharmony.” According to the meridians connecting eye floaters include weakness of the liver, heart, blood, spleen and gallbladder deficiency.
The supplement that I most recommend (and take as well), (get your free account and copy and paste the codes below for instant and fast checkout);
Thorne Betaine HCL & Pepsin Wellevate Item Code T15022
Integrative Therapeutics Betaine HCl Wellevate Item Code BET37
The bottle suggests taking 2 capsules with each meal. This should be a meal that contains animal protein. There is a proper protocol on how to take HCl tablets involves titrating up until you feel a burning or warming sensation. Once you feel the burning or warming sensation, back down by one capsule. This is your HCL load to properly digest your food.
If you are taking PPIs, antacids, acid blockers, or have an ulcer, Barrets Esophagus, it is not recommended to take any form of HCL unless working with a qualified health practitioner.
Typically if stomach acid is low, more than likely (but not always) there may be a problem with the right amount of pancreatic enzymes.
When there is sufficient stomach acid, this alerts the gallbladder and the pancreas. The gallbladder will release bile acids to help break down fats. The pancreas releases enzymes into the small intestine to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Did you know the stool test Elastase-1 (also found on the GI MAP test is a marker for pancreatic enzyme function? If the results are below 500, you are deficient in pancreatic enzyme function. If this is the case, you may need either a proteolytic enzyme formula or a pancreatic enzyme formula with or without hydrochloric acid.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bile detoxifies and eases the burden on the body. In the head, this has an influence on the brain, the eyes as well as the ears. It is important bile is flowing with ease.
If you are missing your gallbladder, this too will impact digestive enzymes and overall digestive health. You may need additional support from OX-bile.
If your stool test shows that you have microbial dysbiosis, bacteria and fungi may be releasing toxins that affect the liver and the ability to absorb and detoxify properly. This means the integrity of the eyes is also impacted.
When it comes to digestion one or more of these may help to balance your microbiome;
HCL + pepsin
Digestive enzymes
Pancreatic enzymes
Milk thistle
Probiotic
Ox-bile, if missing your gallbladder
The Kidneys
A part of the digestive process is our kidneys. The kidneys regulate blood and fluid pressure and facilitate the removal of waste our body creates. The Genitourinary system is considered the Phase III of the detoxification process.
According to the 2021 Journal of Review Of Optometry, The Eye/Kidney Connection;
The eye and the kidney share developmental, physiological and pathogenic pathways. Both the glomerulus and choroid have vascular networks that are similar in structure. The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) is found in both the kidney and in various ocular tissues.
There is a close connection between the bladder and kidney meridian and the eyes in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has been shown that stagnation in the bladder meridian may lead to infections in the head, in the sinuses, and eyes can lead to dysfunctions of the bladder and vice versa.
If our kidneys are not functioning optimally, this could also affect the eyes’ ability to stay healthy. It is just not the kidneys but the entire digestive function playing a role in the health of the eyes.
Next week, Part III, the last part, I promise. We take a look at nutrients, herbs and other remedies to help in the support of eye health and floaters.
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See you next week
~Karen