Study: Antioxidant-rich Diet Can Help Prevent Glaucoma

Increasing antioxidant activity through a balanced diet can potentially reduce the risk of glaucoma. A high-DOBS diet typically includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and dietary fiber. Photo: Getty Images. Oxidative stress and its impact on glaucoma have been reviewed by previous studies, but prior literature has never looked at an individual’s antioxidant status in relation to their ocular disease. Using data from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers from China conducted an experiment to find the relationship between a measure called Dietary Oxidative Balance Score (DOBS) and disease progression.A patient’s DOBS determines their antioxidant state. It ranks both the antioxidants and pro-oxidants in any given person’s diet. With a higher DOBS, there is more antioxidant activity. For this study, the researchers analyzed survey data from 2005 to 2008 that included DOBS information. According to the survey, 4,909 subjects above the age of 20 provided glaucoma information and had been graded for their antioxidant status.“What was known before was that antioxidants combat free radicals in the body and reduce oxidative stress, thereby theoretically lowering the risk of glaucoma by protecting retinal ganglion cells,” wrote the authors in their paper published in Eye. Since this is understood, they focused their study around whether a higher antioxidant-rich diet would benefit patients at risk for glaucoma.As previously mentioned, higher DOBS leads to more antioxidant activity, and the researchers found that the higher scores did impact the risk of glaucoma. They discovered that the risk of disease decreased by 4% with every point increase to patients’ DOBS. Furthermore, subject data were divided into four groups (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4), with Q1 subjects having the lowest DOBS and Q4 subjects having the highest. When determining a correlation between DOBS and self-reported glaucoma, the researchers found a negative correlation in Q4 subjects compared to Q1 subjects.Although they established that the risk of glaucoma can be reduced at high levels of antioxidants, the researchers noted some limitations. They did not find a direct causal link from DOBS to glaucoma, they included only an adult population, their data on disease history was self-reported and they could not account for all possible variables that may affect a patient’s DOBS or glaucoma.“In summary, maintaining oxidative balance is vital for preventing glaucoma,” concluded the authors. “Future research should delve deeper into the impact of these nutrients and oxidative balance on disease prevention and treatment.”Click here for the journal source. Yang Y, Zhang H, Wu X, et al. Antioxidant-rich diets and glaucoma prevention: Insights from dietary oxidative balance scores in NHANES 2005-2008. Eye. July 8, 2025. [Epub ahead of print].