A fresh study out of Australia suggests that eating at least one serving of oranges per day can reduce one ’s likelihood of developingage - related macular degeneration(AMD )   –   an incurable , increasingly blinding disease –   thanks to the yield ’s high content of chemical substance calledflavonoids .

So , should you go out and corrupt an intact crateful of citrus ? in all likelihood , but it ’s a bit complicated .

There are two shape of AMD , referred to as smashed and ironic , that both slowly destroy the eye ’s light - tender retina via unlike mechanism . Mild cases of juiceless AMD are quite common in people more than 50 year honest-to-goodness and typically have little impact . More severe cases of both types are the leading cause of ocular impairment in adults , impacting upwards of196 million people worldwide .   Given that there are presently no efficient treatments to restore the vision loss it induce , finding out what lifestyle element avail protect against the disease is a high priority for eye doctor .

Many past investigations have shown that consuming a diet ample in antioxidant and anti - inflammatory substance reduces the chance of AMD , and several particularly beneficial speck have been distinguish : vitamin A , vitamin C , zeaxanthin , and xanthophyll .

The authors of the current newspaper publisher , put out inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , look for to examine the poorly understood voltage of flavonoids because this class of plant - produced compounds also appears to have stiff complimentary - radical scavenging and inflammation - reversing properties .

To do so , they turn to apreviously pick up datasetof health and life style information for 2,037 Australian adults , aged 49 or above , who were followed for 15 age . Subjects had been try for signs of AMD at the cogitation onset , year five , yr 10 , and year 15 , and every yr they complete questionnaire about how often they squander unlike types of food .

After correct their statistical depth psychology for guinea pig ’ consumption of other antioxidants , similarly protective omega fatty acids , and the front of genetic variations associated with increased jeopardy of AMD , the author found that jeopardy of any course of AMD last down significantly as overall flavanoid intake go up , a finding that could further explain the established data link between general yield and vegetable consumption and AMD protection .

But the effect was peculiarly renowned in those who consumed foods rich in two type of flavanoid –   flavonol and flavanone .   When subsequently investigating what flavonol and flavanone - fertile foods the AMD - loose subjects were squander , one stood out dramatically .

Compared with participants who did not consume any orange , those who reported consuming at least one serve of orange per workweek were 58 percent less potential to develop AMD , they wrote .

“ The data shows that flavonoids found in orange appear to help protect against the disease , " lead author Bamini Gopinath say in astatement .

" importantly , the data did not show a relationship between other food sources protecting the eyes against the disease . "

However , as is oblige to happen with this eccentric of bailiwick , there are several primal limitation that must make us consider the results with a bit of skepticism . To begin with , study report each years - Charles Frederick Worth of intellectual nourishment consumption in just one annual sight –   a data collection method that is pretty inaccurate given the inconsistency of most masses ’s diets . Furthermore , their calculations of flavonoid intake from dietary source were drawn from standardized values reported for American foods , a reference that does not take into account inherent natural variation or dispute in US and Australian garden truck .

In conclusion , are oranges and other citrus fruits going to help keep your eyesight ? Considering these results and the fact that they also contain tons of vitamin C , the grounds looks good . But wipe out any variety of antioxidant - pack fruit and vegetables will   most likely do the trick too .