The Nutritional Teamwork Approach: Prevention and Regression of Cataracts in Rats

We have taken advantage of a newly assimilated principle in nutrition: no nutrient by itself should be expected to prevent or cure any disease; nutrients as such always work cooperatively in metabolism as a team. By feeding galactose-containing diets to young rats, cataracts are regularly produced. When, however, we furnished galactose-fed animals with what may be considered a well balanced, full team of nutrients, cataract prevention was accomplished. On four galactose-containing diets supplied with a full team of nutrients, not a single cataract developed in 24 rats (48 eyes). On four diets using the same dietary galactose challenge, accompanied with inadequate nutritional teams, 47 out of 48 eyes developed cataracts. Diets of intermediate quality induced the development of intermediate numbers of cataracts. Cataracts once formed were regressed slowly and incompletely by shifting the animals to a diet similar to that which had previously been found to protect against cataract formation. The significance of these findings for nutritional research and for attacks on the problems of human cataracts and other ailments is discussed.