The pinnacle of my worst gut symptoms happened to intersect with a scary diagnosis 15 years ago of early onset macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss among those 50 and older. I was 35 at the time, and my ophthalmologist told me that by now, I would be legally blind.
I didn’t connect the dots between my eye health and gut symptoms—severe heartburn, food allergies and intolerances, bloating, and abdominal pain. However, researchers are finding that the gut-eye relationship comes down to the gut microbiome.
The gut microbiome is the community of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our gut to help us digest food and convert it into metabolites that protect our health. An imbalance of potentially pathogenic microbes can throw our entire body—eyes included—out of homeostasis and introduce systemic inflammation.
I didn’t understand this connection back then. However, I knew I needed to eat a more healthy diet. I gave up gluten and began eating mostly whole foods and practicing intermittent fasting. My gut health instantly improved. And my ophthalmologist hasn’t mentioned macular degeneration to me again.
Of course, it makes sense that diet could help the gut-eye axis, as the food we eat influences our gut microbiome—and apparently protects our eyes, too. Read on for research about what eye diseases are affected by the gut and how you could improve your gut and eye health.
