Cataract 

Cataract is one of the more common eye diseases. It means waterfall and deals with the opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye on the assumption that the condition is caused by the humor of the brain covering the pupil. Light travels through the crystalline lens into the eye. This lens is situated just beyond iris or the coloured portion of the eye. When you suffer from cataract, the lens becomes opaque and the entrance of light into the eye is obstructed. When no light rays can enter the opacity of the lens, you go blind.

You cannot avoid cataract in the old age. After 50 years our lens tends to become opaque to some degree. But when this opacity is high, you need to undergo surgery. The condition progresses intermittently. The degree to which both the eyes are affected is not identical. Once the cataract matures, you need to remove it surgically. As the cataract matures, the vision decreases considerably. Hence get your vision checked regularly and change the glasses accordingly. Otherwise, you may fall and injure yourself. This results in the emotional stress in the old people.

Symptoms of Cataract:

• Blurred vision
• Difficult to focus on things
• Double visions or spots or both in the advanced stage
• Can see better in the twilight than in the broad daylight as light can get around the more widely-dilated pupil in the dark
• Objects and persons seem like a blob of light in the more advanced stage
• Grayish white discoloration in the pupil

Causes of Cataract :

• Other eye defects. The major factors leading to opacity of the lens are : stagnation of the fluid current in the lens due to blood condition; deterioration in the nutrition of the lens which reduces the vitality and resistance of the delicate lens fibers; formation of the deposits between the lens fibers of acids and salts which irritate the lens tissues and exert an increasing pressure on its delicate fibers and destroys them slowly; disintegration of the lens fibers that cloud the entire lens if proper precautions are not taken.
• Poisons in the blood due to faulty diet and wrong style of living. The toxins spread throughout the body to deposit themselves in the available weak spots. Lens is affected if it has become weak through excessive strain, excessive use of eye and local irritation. As the time passes, the situation worsens, resulting in formation of cataract.
• Stress and strain
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• Sugar and salt
• Smoking
• Certain diseases like gastro-intestinal or gallbladder problems, diabetes, vitamin C deficiency, fatty acid intolerance, radiation and side effects of medications
• Poor nutrition is the prime cause in all types of cataract including senile or ageing cataract

Cataract is one of the most difficult conditions to cure. Nothing except surgery can cure it. But if your cataract is in the early stage, using natural means will definitely eliminate the problem. It will also prevent the worsening of the problem.

Natural Cure for Cataract :

Start your treatment by cleansing the body thoroughly of the toxins. Go on a fast for 3-4 days on orange juice and water. Take a warm water enema daily at the time of fasting. Then start on a very restricted diet for the next 2 weeks. Your breakfast should be made of oranges or grapes or any other juicy fruit available. Eat salads of raw vegetables available in season with olive oil and lemon juice dressing and soaked raisins, figs or dates for lunch. Steamed vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, drum sticks, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, turnips (steamed in their own juice) and some nuts or fruits like apples, pears and grapes should form your evening meals. There should be no potatoes, bread or any other food item in your menu.

When you complete this diet, you can then go on a full well-balanced diet of seeds, nuts and whole grain cereals, vegetables and fruits. Eat fresh fruits, nuts and milk for breakfast; steamed vegetables, whole wheat chappatis and a glass of butter milk for lunch and a bowl of raw vegetable salad and sprouts for dinner. Repeat this short fast followed by the restricted diet every 3 months after you begin the treatment, till the condition clears. Cleanse your bowels daily with the warm water enema during the fast and later on if necessary.

Avoid white bread, sugar, cream, refined cereals, rice, boiled potatoes, puddings and pies, strong tea and coffee, alcohol, condiments, pickles, sauces, and the other digestive aids.

If you follow proper nutritional treatment, you can reverse the cataract successfully in 6 months to a year.

Aniseed is an excellent cure for cataract. Take 6 grams of aniseed in the morning and the evening. You can also mix the equal quantities of aniseed powder and coriander powder with brown sugar. Take 12 grams of this mixture in the morning and the evening. Grind 7 kernels of almond and half a gram of pepper together in water and drink it after sifting and sweetening the mixture with sugar candy. This mixture helps your eyes to retain their vigour.

Carrots play an important role in treatment of cataract. Eat plenty of raw carrots daily or take 2 glasses of carrot juice daily, one each in the morning and evening. You can also use unprocessed honey to treat cataract. Put a few drops of honey in the eyes. Instilling 2 drops of castor oil in the eyes before going to bed has been found to be tremendously useful in this disease.

Spinach is a rich source of beta-carotene which then becomes vitamin A in the body. Hence spinach is one of the best home remedy for treatment of cataract. Research has shown that people consuming a large amount of beta-carotene were only 40% likely to develop cataract. Hence insure that you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Follow the various methods of relaxing and strengthening the eyes along with a proper diet.

Take Epsom salt bath twice a week. Go for fresh air and gentle outdoor exercises like walking. Avoid exposure to heat and light.