A healthy, nutrient-rich diet can help minimize risk factors for countless health conditions, and macular degeneration is an example that certainly proves the rule. This condition, the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, affects more than 10 million Americans according to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF). And not only will diet help minimize the risk of macular degeneration, but also according to the National Eye Institute, an increased daily intake of certain key nutrients is the primary treatment for the condition.

What Causes It?

Proper nutrition is essential to eye health. According to the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, definitive proof of this came in the form of two large studies -- the original published in 2001 and the follow-up published in 2013 -- sponsored by the National Eye Institute, which studied the effects of antioxidant supplement treatment in more than 3,500 patients with macular degeneration over the period of a six-year study. Those who took the supplement were less likely to experience symptom progression and increased vision loss than those in the placebo group.

What Is Macular Degeneration?

According to the AMDF, this condition, which strikes more people than cataracts and glaucoma combined, is a progressive deterioration of the macula, a layer of the retina that controls the ability to focus central vision in the eye. The macula regulates our ability to perform many day to day functions, including the ability to read, drive a car, recognize faces and colors, and see details on the objects around us.

Dry macular degeneration, the most common form of the disease, is a slowly progressing illness that results from the breakdown or deterioration of the macula. There is another form of the illness, called wet macular degeneration, that results from abnormal blood vessel growth behind the retina, which can cause blood and fluid to leak into the area, interrupting the vision process.