How to naturally whiten eyes

We all notice how young people have spectacularly white eyes, and how each passing year seems to make them a touch more yellow.

There is a chemical reason behind this, and “yellowing” of the eyes can be ameliorated.

Why our eyes change colour with age

A chemical reaction called The Maillard Reaction is responsible for this decolouration. This reaction happens when heat is applied to food, and glucose binds to proteins, forming abnormally tight complexes called advanced glycoxidation end products (AGEs).

This reaction is what gives food its flavour, colour, and texture. For example, the Maillard reaction is what is responsible for plain bread becoming golden-brown toast.

A build-up of AGEs leads to the lens crystallines (the lens situated behind the iris) to become progressively yellow-brown pigmented with age, a result of the Maillard reaction.1

The following foods need the Maillard reaction in order to become their edible forms:

• Toasted bread
• Malted barley as in malt whiskey or beer
• Roasted or seared meat
• Roasted coffee

So, eating too much food containing advanced glycoxinated end-products accelerates the process of our white eyes becoming yellow.

How to naturally whiten your eyes:

• Cut back on refined carbs, and eat more whole grains.
• Do not over-cook your food. Raw, steamed, and boiled is always better than fried and barbecued.
• Choose whiskey and beer less often.
• Cut back on coffee slowly.
• Make sure that every meal has at least 50% raw vegetables and fruits.

Sources:

1. F. Tessier, “Structure and Mechanism of Formation of Human Lens Fluorophore LM-1,” J Biol Chem 274(30):20796-20804 (July 23, 1999)
2. Victoria Boutenko, Author
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction