An orange a day can keep you from getting this lethal disease

News24xx.com - There has been an old saying in English that says 'one apple a day can keep doctors away'. Now, researchers say oranges can also be in the category of healthy fruits, with new research showing those who eat regular oranges can reduce the risk of developing eye diseases called 'macular degeneration'.

Macular degeneration is the name for a group of retinal-related diseases that cause rapid visual loss. According to the Macular Disease Foundation, this can lead to blindness, and affects one in seven people over the age of 50.

Research conducted by the Westmead Institute for Medical Research analyzed the eating patterns of 2000 Australians over the age of 50 years over the past 15 years. The researchers looked at the diet in relation to the risk of vision-related illnesses. From the entire study of their diet, the consumption of oranges gave a big influence.

The principal investigator of the project, Bamini Gopinath, who works at the University of Sydney said those who ate one or two oranges daily has a 60 percent less chance of having a 'macular degeneration'.

Dr. Gopinath said it was surprising that the cause not because oranges contain vitamin C, but the possible cause is because oranges contain flavonoids. "In our analysis, we ruled out the Vitamin C factor, and the relationship remained" said Dr. Gopinath.

"So, we know that this has nothing to do with Vitamin C in oranges, we speculate that this might be because of flavonoids or something else, because this study is only based on observations, it is still difficult to determine what actually a contributing factoris."

 

 

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