More than half of the people in the United States currently wear glasses, and that’s a trend that’s moving upward.
Most eye doctors claim that there’s nothing that can be done to prevent this. They blame genetics, a flaw in the shape of a person’s eye, and a host of other reasons.
But what if this wasn’t true?
It seems rather convenient that the eye doctor prescribes glasses, and then the patient’s eyes “happen” to worsen each year, forcing them to go back to the eye doctor for a new pair.
The fact that the eye doctor is assured of more income each year is entirely coincidental, right?
Our Bodies Are Designed to Be Healthy – And That Includes Our Eyes
In the late 1960’s, Dr. Frances Young performed a study on how a group of Alaskan Eskimos were adapting to the American lifestyle.
This study was the perfect opportunity to test if the theory of genetic eye problems was true, because the parents of this group were illiterate and it was their children who were now receiving American education. Surely if needing glasses is genetic, both parents and children would have the same visual system.
The findings shocked the optometry industry and was banned from entering into optometrists course of study.
Only 2 out of every 130 adults had myopia (nearsightedness) and even those that had, had a very small refraction, meaning that their prescription wasn’t very strong.
On the other hand, of the children who were tested, a whopping 60% had some form of myopia ranging from weak to strong.
So what does that tell us? What were the parents doing differently than their children?
The Dangers of Near Point Stress
Alaska became part of the United States in 1959. After that time American education systems were put into place throughout the territory.
Dr. Young concluded that the fact that children now spent the majority of their time indoors, studying from books, can be directly correlated with their need to wear glasses.
Their parents lived the traditional Eskimo lifestyle which involved being outdoors hunting and fishing.
Is there a connection here?
Yes there is.
When you look at something 20 feet away or more, your eye is in a relaxed state. The muscle in the lens does not move.
But when you look at something less than 20 feet, the muscle is activated.
The closer the object is that you’re focusing on, the more your muscles stretch.
Now it’s fine for us to do this. Our eyes were designed to look at things closer than 20 feet.
But it’s when we spend 8+ hours a day with the eyes in that position that it can have a long-term effect on our vision.
Have you ever sat at a desk for an extended period of time, and when you sat up your muscles were stiff and sore?
That’s what happens to your eyes when they’re in this state of “near-point stress” for an extended period of time.
The Alaskan school children spent most of their day looking at close objects – unlike their parents did when they were their age – and the results were clear.
Add on that this was taking place during the younger years of the child’s life, when their brain and bodies are in a constant state of growth and change. Their bodies actually learn this type of behavior as normal.
The Good News is Not Only is this Preventable – It Can Be Fixed If One Already Has These Symptoms
I don’t want to knock our medical system, they’ve made tremendous advances in the past century that have saved millions of lives.
But the 2 places that they still come up short is in preventative medicine and proper nutrition.
Our bodies are designed to be healthy. But when we create stress in our bodies, eventually it will break down.
Let’s say that someone smokes and they develop a cough and lung disease. The cause of the symptoms are pretty clear, and everyone will tell them that the solution is to stop smoking.
But what if they eat processed food and develop acne? What’s the response? Is it “stop eating that garbage and eat fruits and vegetables instead?”
NO! It’s “here’s a cream and some pills to take that will cover up the symptoms of your acne.”
I’ve already discussed Jason Vale’s One Disease, One Solution premise. But I want to say that eye disorders (nearsightedness, farsightedness, etc) are symptoms of another problem.
When you go to the eye doctor and you can’t read the lines on the chart, your body is trying to tell you something – just like it’s trying to tell you something if you smoke and start coughing.
There are a number of reasons it could be doing this. It could be saying:
v That you’re stressed
v That you’re going through some type of emotional issue
v That you’re not getting the right nutrition
v That you’re spending too much time looking at something close
But the good news is that it is possible to restore your vision. There are supplements to take and eye exercises to do, and while it might certainly be easier to just ignore the problem and return to the eye doctor each year for a new pair of glasses, you owe it to yourself and your eyes to look for a better alternative.
Good luck! I’d love to hear your comments. Leave them below.
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