Link found between vision loss and red meat
A link has been found between eating too much red meat and vision loss.
Researchers from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) have found an association between red meat consumption and an increased risk of early age related macular degeneration (AMD).
The study examined the diets of 6,734 people across Melbourne aged between 58 and 69 years.
Report author Elaine Chong said there was an association between people who ate red meat more than 10 times a week and early AMD.
“Interestingly, about one quarter of our study population ate red meat at least 10 times a week; and the association with both early and late AMD was stronger for salami and continental sausage consumption than for fresh red meat.”
The study also found a decreased association with late AMD for people who ate more than three and a half serves of chicken a week.
Dr Chong said high meat intake had been associated with higher levels of N-nitroso compounds and heme iron which can result in oxidative damage and be toxic to
the retina.
One in seven people over the age of fifty are affected by the condition.
