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The swear word that could help your eyesight
5th April 2009
• Here's a REALLY good reason why you should do
everything to strengthen your eyes
• The swear word that could help your eyesight
• Laughter really is the best medicine
If you are of a nervous disposition, I suggest you turn
away now...
Or at least scroll down to the next page.
Because what I'm about to tell you almost made me
faint when I heard it.
Okay, maybe I'm NOT the world's toughest man.
Even someone cracking their knuckles can make me
feel a little queasy.
But this is 1000 times worse than that. And it involves
my alltime 'notforthesqueamishfavourite'... the
eye.
Here's a REALLY good reason why you should
do everything to strengthen your eyes
I'm someone who's never worn contact lenses
because the thought of sticking a finger in my eye to
put them in leaves me cold.
But that's nothing compared to what's just happened
to my motherinlaw...
We've just picked her up from the Eye Hospital in
Bristol, where she had to undergo an operation to
repair a tear at the back of her eye.
This tear had filled with fluid, so first off the doctor
had to...
[WARNING: this is where it gets gruesome]
Okay, the doctor had to stick a needle in her eye
WHILE SHE WAS STILL AWAKE and drain the
fluid out.
Then her eye was operated on to mend the tear.
Now she has to lay face down for the next 10 days.
When we went to see her last night I quipped that we
could just prerecord a conversation, press the play
button, then tiptoe off to the pub for an hour.
But of course that would be wrong. Wouldn't it?
Yes, yes. Of COURSE it would. I'll stop recording
right now.
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Anyway, this latest episode in a long and proud line of
terrible eye stories (did I ever tell you about my friend
Sid who lost a contact lens down the back of his
eye?) proved to me, yet again, that doing everything
you can to look after and strengthen your eyes is one
of the most important things you can do.
Which is why I've come up with some brilliant natural
remedies to keep your eyes healthy:
The swear word that could help your eyesight
- Rooibos - this herb can only be found naturally
on the slopes of the Cedarberg mountains in the
Western Cape of South Africa.
Rooibos has powerful anti-oxidant properties,
mainly due to an ingredient called superoxide
dismutase.
Or SOD for short. (Okay, it's not really a swear
word by today's standards, but I was brought up
in an age where a loose 'blimey' would get you a
clip round the ear).
SOD is an enzyme in the body that has one sole
purpose - to locate and snuff out unstable oxygen
molecules (free radicals).
And free radicals are determined to damage
every part of your body - including your eyes.
It's like having The Terminator on your side,
helping you track down and exterminate the
enemy!
- Bilberry... ah yes, one of my old favourites gets
another mention, but it's well deserved.
Bilberry contains a certain flavonoid compound
called anthocyanosides, which run around
repairing cell damage caused by free radicals. But
it doesn't just patch things up after the event...
Bilberry has the power to build up the tiny blood
vessels that run through the eye, which in turn
helps get essential oxygen and nutrients into the
area. This helps prevent diseases of the retina,
eye haemorrhaging, cataracts and glaucoma - two
very common eye disorders in older people.
- Cancer Bush - this was originally used by the
Khoi San and Nama peoples of South Africa as a
treatment for cancers.
But recently it's been found to help in the fight
against other ailments including diabetes, thanks
to three active ingredients - canavanine, pinitol,
and the amino acid GABA. Farm workers in
South Africa still use cancer bush (also known as
Sutherlandia) to treat eye problems, by creating
an eye wash using the plant.
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And finally...
Laughter really is the best medicine
You know the best thing about visiting someone in
hospital...?
It's the laughter.
That may sound strange (and maybe it's down to
nerves), but whenever I visit hospital, I seem to make
more bad jokes and find more things funny than
normal.
And to me, that's the whole purpose of visiting
someone. Because if you make them laugh, you're
helping them in for more ways than simply passing
time.
Research shows that a good laugh can ease pain,
boost your immune system, and even help treat
serious illness such as cancer, by increasing a
powerful immune cell called NK, which directly
attack tumours.
Best of all, you don't have to do much to enjoy this
natural medicine...
Just put on a favourite comedy DVD and enjoy it.
Or in my family's case, tell me a story about eyes and
needles and laugh as I faint headfirst into a nurse
carrying a tray full of urine specimens.
That's it for today. I'll be back next week with more
tips and ideas.
Until then, look after yourself, get out in the sunshine
(we've had five or so hours down this way in the past
couple of days - that's half our yearly allowance
already), and enjoy the good life!
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