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Eating fish,
especially tuna fish, may protect against age-related
macular degeneration (AMD), which is a currently untreatable
disease that causes fuzziness, shadows or other distortions in the center
of vision.
Over several years, investigators questioned study
participants about their diets and calculated the types of fat and total
fat they ate.
Those who ate more fat overall increased their risk
of AMD, while those who ate fish reduced
their risk of developing the eye disease.
Diets containing saturated fats from animals and unsaturated
fats from vegetables were associated with modest increases in the risk
of developing AMD, although long-chain fats from fish,
especially tuna fish, actually reduced
the risk.
A specific fish
fat, called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may
help protect and promote healthy retinal function.
It is also concentrated in the retina of the eye.
DHA was modestly inversely related to AMD. The intake of fish, the food
source of DHA, was also inversely related.
American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition 2001;73:209-218
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