The cartoon character Popeye loved his spinach and spinach may have been more than a muscle builder.
A recent study has found that eating leafy greens, such as spinach, which are high in nitrates, could help reduce your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. Spinach, lettuce, cabbage and beetroot all examples of vegetables that are high in nitrates.
More than 2,000 Australian adults over the age of 49 were interviewed  by researchers at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and then followed over a 15-year period. Researchers found that participants who ate between 100 to 142 mgs of vegetables every day had a 35% lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration compared to those who ate less than 69 mgs of vegetable nitrates daily.
This is the first study that has shown a link between nitrate consumption and macular degeneration and researchers hope to confirm these findings and do encourage people to increase their consumption of leafy greens.*
Doctor-formulated AREDS 2 for Macular Degeneration
