EPISODE 102
Optimizing Eye Health with Dr. Rani Banik
“Even people on the healthiest of diets are simply not getting enough of the essential eye health nutrients.” – Dr. Rani Banik
Whether it’s for yourself, your children, or older parents who might be dealing with issues like macular degeneration or glaucoma, many people are worried about their eyes and don’t know where to turn for guidance. On top of that, trying to identify natural solutions for preventing and treating eye conditions can be tricky.
Today I’m excited to be joined by Dr. Rani Banik, who wrote her recent book, Beyond Carrots: Best Foods For Eye Health A to Z, with those particular issues in mind. Going through medical school, she received a minimal amount of education in nutrition. After training in functional medicine and recognizing the huge impact of nutrition, she was motivated to create a resource for colleagues and patients all about optimizing eye health.
In this episode, Dr. Rani and I discuss how to approach nutrition in a way that supports eye health, the key nutrients to be aware of, why you might need an eye health supplement, natural solutions to improve eye health, the significance of gut health, eye health resources you can access, and more. Enjoy the episode!
About Dr. Rani Banik
Dr. Rani Banik is America’s Integrative Eye Doctor. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained neuro-ophthalmologist with additional Integrative and Functional Medicine training. Dr. Rani focuses on the root cause of eye diseases, and uses integrative strategies for conditions such as dry eye, thyroid eye disease, macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, and other autoimmune diseases of the visual system. She also has a special interest in migraine with visual symptoms, multiple sclerosis, and eye stroke. Her treatments are based on nutrition, botanicals, lifestyle modification, essential oils, and supplements.
During this episode, you’ll learn:
- Dr. Rani’s motivation for writing Beyond Carrots
- How Beyond Carrots will benefit people regardless of where you are with your eye health
- The three categories of eye nutrients: mitochondrial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory
- Why macular carotenoids are crucial antioxidants for eye health
- Benefits of selenium for thyroid eye disease and your general eye health
- Sources of bioflavonoids and what research shows about how they can support your eye health
- How leaky eye syndrome develops and its causes and symptoms
- Why maintaining a balanced ratio of omega six to omega three is crucial
- The other key nutrients to track and boost for optimal thyroid health
- The importance of testing at intervals to inform supplementation choices
- Dr. Rani’s supplement recommendations
- The positive effects of early morning sun exposure
- Nutrient-rich foods to include in your diet
- How the treatment landscape is changing for patients with thyroid eye disease
Connect with Dr. Rani Banik
- Dr. Rani Banik’s Website | RudraniBanikMD.com
- Dr. Rani Banik’s Book | Beyond Carrots: Best Foods For Eye Health A to Z
- Dr. Rani Banik on Instagram @Dr.RaniBanik
- Dr. Rani Banik on YouTube
- Free Webinars
Mentioned in this episode
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