STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the U.S., is said to be a disease associated with aging but Dr. Chris Knobbe believes it’s mostly related to diet
- Nine years of extensive research and investigation has led Knobbe to conclude that AMD is driven by nutrient deficiencies and toxicity, caused by processed foods
- In 1900, the top four causes of death were infectious in nature; by 2010, this had all changed, with chronic diseases replacing infectious diseases as the top killers
- The four primary components that make up processed foods that are, in turn, contributing to chronic diseases like AMD are sugar, industrially processed seed oils, refined flour and trans fats; industrially processed seed oils are clearly the worst offender
- According to Knobbe, there were only 50 cases of AMD described across the globe between 1851 and 1930; this skyrocketed to an estimated 196 million cases in 2020
- Knobbe believes that by following an ancestral diet, rich in grass fed meat and poultry, pastured dairy, wild-caught fish, vegetables, nuts and seeds, the majority of AMD cases would disappear
