Supplements Are Necessary But Not Sufficient

004_OMDPodcast_8Things_2-Supplements

Carlyle

Welcome to the Organic MD podcast. My name is Carlyle Coash and I am here with Dr. Damon P. Miller II. Hello Dr. Miller.


Dr. Miller

Hey Carlyle, it is good to be hear.


Carlyle

We are continuing this series on macular degeneration, and specifically things that we can do around it. Today we are focusing on something you mentioned in the last session, which is really exploring supplements as one of the many things we can do.

One of the first things that your ophthalmologist may suggest or do is hand you a little packet of vitamins as they are hustling you out the door. They offer a consolation prize, one piece in an array of things you can do to help reverse the situation of degenerative eye disease.


Dr. Miller

At the beginning of each podcast, we will briefly repeat what we covered in our last sessions.

To start, the whole focus of this is for you to realize if you, or someone you love or know has one of these retinal diseases: macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, retinitis pigmentosa, cone rod dystrophy, etc., that there are things you can do to regain vision lost to these diseases. We know this to be true and we are here to tell you what we know about it, so you can do this for yourself or your loved ones.

This is not something your eye doctor is going to say, but it is something we help with all the time. The eye doctors tend to tell you, if they are compassionate and honest, they do not have anything to offer you. There is no drug or surgery. If they are operating more from a typical script, they might say there is nothing that can be done. If they do not have anything to offer you, there is nothing that can be done.

There are things that can be done.

More recently, one thing the eye doctors do offer after making the diagnosis, like Carlyle was saying, is recommend taking certain vitamins – a brand called, Ocuvite. This is done routinely now because of the ARED Studies. The Age Related Eye Disease Studies is trying to codify what has been seen in research since the 1940s and 50s.

A huge body of hundreds and hundreds of peer reviewed papers, looked at what supplements, vitamins, other herbs, etc., that we could do to try and help people with these degenerative eye diseases. The ARED Studies have found, if this is the only intervention you do is take vitamins and supplements, will slow the progression of the disease. These are progressive diseases – they never get better over time, but they do get worse.

There is no single vitamin, supplement, or combination of the two that has shown to stop the progression of or reverse the diseases. I stand by that statement. I will say it again, “Vitamins and supplements will slow the progression, but they will not stop the progression of the diseases. They will not reverse the diseases and they do not lead to the recovery of vision that is lasting.” You need to do more.

We will be discussing this topic over the next sessions. Today is our second of the eight-part series, and we will be talking about the things you can do. We want to be clear that supplements are necessary, but they are not sufficient.

One important thing to keep in mind as we are laying out the program, where you can expect regeneration of some of the most complex tissues in the body – the retinal tissues. We are going to help you regenerate these, but you need the raw materials. These building blocks, like taurine, DHA, omega-3 Fatty acid, and lutein, will help rebuild retinal cells.

You will need things that are going to block some of the inflammation that can occur. There are supplements that will, in a mild way, restore normal blood flow, and protect the health and integrity of the blood vessels. We also have some very specialized supplements that can actually help with regeneration. Different forms of therapies, like Improcitine, will be discussed too.

This is a complex subject that we are going to devote an entire podcast to. Episode six is when we will go over the tools and supplements that can safely support regeneration and backed by peer reviewed research. Again, supplements are necessary…they are not sufficient. We are going to talk about specifics of these later.

Basically, we recommend the things I named earlier: taurine, lutein, and DHA. It is a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals, which matches some of the things that were in the ARED Studies. There are some specialized supplements that improve some adult stem cells, which helps with regeneration of anything that breaks in your body. In the beginning, there may also be some probiotics to support gut health because everybody has a bit of an unhealthy gut.

We would like to note that we do not like any of the one pill from one bottle, be it a multi-vitamin or mineral. We find the supplements the ophthalmologists give out do not work very well and we will have more specifics on particular recommendations, like brands. We do not manufacture anything, but we do have brands we like.

The simple thing about supplements that people tend to think is, “This pill is going to help me.” Carlyle and I have talked about this type of mindset before.


Carlyle

It is so powerful when you become invested in your own knowledge and curiosity. This could be applied to an array of things. Taking the time to learn what is in the supplement you are getting. Can you be more precise and really evaluate it?

Dr. Miller, I appreciate that you have really taken the time to look at all of these different supplements and find the ones that are the most effective over the years. You need the self-knowledge of being aware. You can do your own research by taking the top level of information that you are given and do a little further exploration. It does not mean weeks and weeks taking an intense deep dive.

I remember the talks you have done around healthy oils and many people think if you take fish oil, you will get everything you need from the it. This is true, but the source of that fish oil is important. You pointed out the things that are beneficial in fish oil is not because the fish naturally have it. The fish get the nutrients from the food they eat, like kelp, that have all these great nutrients in them. This is stored in the fat of their body and we get the benefits when we eat the fish.

A farm raised fish is given, what you called, Purina Fish Chow, and does not give them any adequate nutrients. Yes, this is a fish and therefore, fish oil, but does it actually have the nutrients we need?

We need to take the time to learn how we get these nutrients. Ask questions like, “Why is this version D3 better than that one?” or, “Why is it that one can work and the other one does not?”. Dr. Miller, you have done a majority of the work for people, but I also encourage people to always be curious, look at labels, and do a little research.

What we have talked about today is not a cure. There is still an underlying issue because it is a degenerative disease that is connected to something deeper, in terms of genetics. You still need to do these things to help manage and treat the issue so that it does not manifest as strongly. It does not necessarily mean that you are going to be cured of it. I think it is important to know that it does not have this as an end result.


Dr. Miller

What you are saying there is true of most things that challenge our health – we are managing it, not trying to cure it. In the first podcast, I mentioned if you have one of these degenerative retinal diseases, like macular degeneration (the most common), Stargardt’s, RP (retinitis pigmentosa), than you have an underlying genetic problem that predisposed you to it. There are many people who have this abnormal gene and lived to be 90 to 100 years old and never have an eye problem. Your genes are not your destiny.

If you do have a gene that predisposed you to it, you need to try to keep yourself healthy enough so that gene never gets a chance to express itself. In a sense, you are managing your health in your favor to fend off chronic disease and degenerations. This is true if we are talking about cancer, an infectious disease, an autoimmune disease, diabetes, a heart disease, etc. I think about Nature’s rules of order, you are what you eat.


Carlyle

That is right. If you start eating Purina fish chow, it is probably not going to help you.


Dr. Miller

No, it will not and that would be a podcast on its own.

I think we have milked this one for all its worth. I want to just leave you with one thing, supplements are an important part of taking care of your eye health, but they are not sufficient.

In our next sessions, we are going to be helping you learn about what you can do to reverse vision loss that has occurred because of degenerative eye diseases, like macular degeneration, Stargardt’s, and retinitis pigmentosa.

Thank you. We will see you again in about a week.


Carlyle

Have a great day.


Dr. Miller

Thanks. Bye-bye.