Dr. Grossman’s Blog

Here are some practical things you can do about floaters, those small dark shapes that seem to float through your field of vision.

They may look like dots, squiggles, strands or any of a hundred other shapes. Though annoying, floaters are harmless, and there are ways to prevent them through proper diet.

Warning: If you suddenly become aware of new spots in your vision, see your eye doctor right away to rule out serious problems.

Maintain a healthy diet:

1. The Vision Diet – recommended in Natural Eye Care: An Encyclopedia on CD, authored by Marc Grossman, O.D., L.Ac. and Michael Edson, MS, L.Ac. This CD covers 29 major eye conditions including Floaters with specific nutrient, diet, exercise and juicing instructions by eye condition, plus much more.
2. Daily juicing of vegetables and fruits (preferably organic). Our floater recipe is some combination of the following: garlic, parsley, beets, carrots, celery, parsnip, apple, raspberries (not too much fruit). Also see more info on juicing..
3. Supplement your diet with a good multivitamin such as One Plus Multivitamin Formula and/or and organic green drink daily such as Nanogreens
4. For protein, emphasize fish, soy (in moderation), almonds, sunflower seed and sesame seeds. avoid meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products and most other nuts.
5. Eat brown rice and other whole grains instead of refined and processed grains (such as white bread and pasta).
6. Limit your intake of citrus fruit, particularly those high in vitamin C such as tangerines, kiwi fruit, oranges, lemons, papayas and pineapples.
7. Use unsulfered molasses and fruit juices for sweetening instead of white sugar, chocolate or honey.
8. Drink rice, almond or soy milk, herb tea or unsweetened, diluted from fruit juices instead of coffee, tea, alcohol and dairy drinks.
9. Steam or bake foods instead of frying them.
10. Eat lots of vegetables, but avoid the nightshade family(e.g., tomatoes, green peppers, white potatoes and eggplant).
11. Minimize your use of salt.
12. Try to manage your stress. Take up Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, walks in nature, or prayer on a daily basis.

Complementary Treatment and Recommended Vitamins, Supplements, Herbs & Other Nutritional Products

Essential: ReVision Formula- for overall eye health

Essential: Advanced Eye & Vision Support Formula – Whole Food Formula ($37.95 per bottle regular or $27.95 per bottle on automatic delivery).

Very Important: Floater Homeopathic Pellets

Very Important: Hyaluronic Acid 70 mg 60 vcapsules

Important: Clear Focus a liquid based sublingual formula containing Bilberry, Lutein, Ginkgo Biloba and Zeaxanthin.

Important: Milk Thistle Liquid Extract 2oz

Self Help:

Finally, you’ll find the experience of a woman who recovered from floaters and vitreous detachment to be quite interesting.

Most floaters are the result of bits of cells that remain in the vitreous humor after birth and float around when the vitreous becomes more liquified later in life.

Over 50% of people over 70 years of age report seeing floaters. Most floaters are age-related. The vitreous humor thickens and clumps as we age, and floaters result from the clumped vitreous gel.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, floaters are an indicatoin of congestion in the liver, kidney and colon. Nutrients can eliminate congestion in these organs in order to keep the vitreous of the eye clear from these annoying specks, as well as to help strengthen the retinal tissue and integrity of the blood vessels.

Read more about why eye floaters develop and what you can do about them, as well as other causes of spots and dots in the eyes along with some cautions. Specific nutrients recommended are the chinese herbal classic formula Rambling Powder (Xiao Yao San) and Advanced Eye & Vision Support Formula, a proprietary formula of European Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), South American Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), European Eyebright Herb (Euphrasia off.), European Horsetail Herb (Equisetum arv.), European Pine Bark (Pinus pinaster), South American Barberry Bark (Berberis vulgaris), Chinese Gingko Biloba Leaf, Lutein (3.5mg), Zeaxanthin (6mg) from Marigold (Tagetes erecta), Alpha Lipoic Acid (naturally-derived), Grape Seed Extract (pesticide-free), South American Piper Nigrum Seed, Grade A Japanese Chlorella (C. pyrenoidosa), Wild Blue Green Algae (Aphan. flos-aquae), European Vegetable Extracts (Carrot, Broccoli), European Propolis Extract(pesticide-free), Medicinal Mushroom Extracts (raw & fermented mycelial extracts), Reishi (Hericium erin.), Coriolus versicolor; Japanese Marine Coral Minerals, Stabilized Rice Bran, and Plant Enzymes.