Can You Reverse Myopia? (Nearsightedness) • Jake Steiner

[@Biohackerslab]

Summarised show notes & links here 👉www.biohackerslab.com/ep91-jake-steiner/ [00:20] - Introducing, Jake Steiner, the founder of the website endmyopia.org where he shares information that helped him reverse his severe short-sightedness back to 20/20 vision. [00:39] - What is myopia, short-sightedness or near-sightedness and what causes it? It is not a mysterious condition that can only be treated with glasses; Jake explains it is a refractive state i.e. your eyes adjusting to the environment. [02:15] - Google scholar is a great resource; by searching Near-induced transient myopia (NITM) or pseudo myopia, you will get countless studies discussing this phenomenon. Also, searching lens-induced myopia also generates articles showing how lenses you wear actually make it worse. [03:16] - Jake explains why blaming genetics doesn't make sense. He explains pseudo myopia; how a muscle in the eye controls a curved lens in the front of your eye to focus on objects you are looking at. [05:40] - How is lens induced myopia different to pseudo-myopia? Jake summarises how the lenses we are prescribed to fix myopia work against us and have been proven to actually lead to stronger prescription glasses over time. [09:45] - Dioptric is a term used to measure how strong your prescription is (the minus number). It is a measure of how far you can see before there is blur; Jake talks more about this on his website. [10:30] - Short-sightedness does not always develop at the same rate for both eyes because of something called ocular dominance. Is it possible to even this out? [14:11] - Through training we can improve our focus by adjust the length of the eye-ball over time. Jake explains that the elongation and shortening of the eye is no longer a debate as it has been scientifically validated as a biological fact. [15:57] - Jake explains astigmatism; when some parts of your vision have more myopia than others. The measurement can be subjective and correcting with lenses can create lens induced astigmatism. [17:28] - Tips on how we can try improve our vision without relying on glasses. Jake recommends, for parents with kids especially, checking with the doctor to see if there is an underlying medical condition first. If it is purely myopia, measure your eyesight and create data points to see what affects measurements (Biohackers lab tip: Jake provides an eye-chart and explains how to do this on his website). [21:36] - While changing diets won’t reverse myopia, insulin spikes can affect visual acuity. Jake recommends first looking at the science and then experimenting to see what makes a difference for you. Try stuff and measure the impact. [24:34] - The two factors affecting myopia are the muscle spasm and eye ball shape. So, how do we start making changes? First address the ciliary spasm. Jake shares tips on relaxing the muscle before moving on to the next stage - improving your eye-sight. [29:03] - How does using devices and reading at night before bed impact the ciliary muscle, does it remain in a spasm? It can depend on individual biology, so it is a good idea to check for yourself to see if it is something that needs to be addressed. (Biohackers lab tip: Use blue light blocking software like Iris and wear the glasses that filter blue light to help your eyes too). [30:15] - Most likely it is beneficial to have less lit rooms/environment at night before bed to allow these eye muscles to relax. Also, to be successful at fixing myopia it is important that changes you make fit into your lifestyle habits with little tweaks. [32:50] - The sun gazing concept. The Bates method is the originator of this idea, but Jake explains it does not address causality. However, it can be relaxing for the ciliary muscle and must be done at sunset only. [35:23] - One of the biggest problems today with myopia is screen addiction; this is a big underlying issue. The length of time individuals need away from the screen varies. Jake shares easy ways we can break up the length of time in front of the screen. [39:36] - A large majority of people are in front of the screen all day as part of their job. Jake shares how to go about making lifestyle changes to make eye-sight improvement possible, e.g. hobbies away from the screen can help. [41:59] - Sometimes we can subconsciously get too close to the screen. We need to work out the ergonomically comfortable distance from the screen and be patient with ourselves while we are working on breaking bad habits. [44:20] - We can challenge ourselves using games, such as the licence plate game in traffic. Kids can be a great inspiration for this and keep you accountable! [45:35] - Are supplements for the eyes a good idea? Jake made a video discussing why they don't work to fix myopia on their own. In general, if you have deficiencies, address these: get a blood test to figure out what needs fixing. [47:44] - There are supplements people take for muscle craps, magnesium for example. These could possibly be helpful for eye muscles, however, Jake reiterates that deficiencies will manifest elsewhere, as well. [51:27] - Jake explains how he has collected feedback information from a large group of people over a long time to see what was effective. So far, he has no useful information on the trampoline exercise. However, a lot of people have success with random things that tend to boil down to less screen time. [54:21] - Challenging the eyes improves the vision and a lot of people seem to have had success in improving theirs by doing this using various mechanisms. Jake explains why he doesn't recommend this method and why he is a fan of changing your lifestyle instead. [56:50] - What are the benefits for older individuals in doing this? Jake shares some examples of older people taking up a wide range of things later in life. [1:00:01] - How long after we implement changes before we see some positive changes? There is an upfront learning curve, so Jake recommends the best way to start is with his 7-day email guide. He then has a lot of free resources on his website (which he is in the process of organising!). [1:03:52] - To follow Jake and find out more, he has an Instagram, Facebook group, a forum and KZbin channel (but he says don’t follow him, listen to audio only as he wants you to spend less time looking at the screen!). Also, there is his website of course. [1:05:46] - We wrap up with a question from Jake on behalf of his listeners for Gary: What was his experience like with the carnivore diet experiment he did? Gary has a 30-day video daily vlog on KZbin on what happened to him.

[@otiebrown9999]

Jake has my vote of scientific confidence. It is completely possible to work yourself from 20/50 to 20/20. That is a refractive change from -1 Diopter to 0.0 Diopters. But it does take a year to get there. Refractive state - must be self measured.

[@annnnn9074]

Really enjoyed the interview,. My favourite exercise is to close my right eye while walking and read car license plates - my left eye used to read at 5 to 10 paces now a year later I pickout license plates at 18 to 25 paces

[@fernforest5295]

Gary, great interview, I’m so glad you had Jake on. Having discovered the Endmyopia website last year I’ve been able to begin my own myopia reversal and help my myopic son as well. The large Endmyopia FB group has regular posts by members achieving vision gains with Jake’s method, some have made KZbin videos of their progress also. Very encouraging and supportive group.

[@Finger_Lock_]

So, did you see(literally) any progress? :)

[@lf7065]

So, how old was he when he implemented this? Can someone who's been myopic since age 7 still reverse it at age 53, now being severely myopic? Just to share, I recently changed my diet to a keto lifestyle, and as my blood sugars have come down, my vision has definitely improved! Less blurry!

[@lf7065]

@horuhe3288 Great idea! Thank you!

[@w1975b]

It seems magnesium would be an important nutrient, because without it, muscles literally can not relax. And deficiency causes muscle spasms, cramps. Still watching video, so this may be mentioned. btw, most people are deficient in multiple nutrients, including magnesium.

[@SherryBaby60]

Thank you. I have had basically the same rx for 40 years and I attribute it to only wearing glasses when I need to (rarely). My doc doesn't think it has anything to do with it 😎

[@KetOMAD]

2:45 "The lenses you wear to fix your short-sightedness actually cause more of it."

[@otiebrown9999]

In science for all fundamental eyes, totally proven.

[@markdawson9094]

My worry is about glaucoma. Has any link been found between the eyeball-lengthening of prescription glasses and glaucoma?

[@anab0lic]

Interesting, i wonder how some activitys like paintballing, clay pigeon shooting, archery etc might accelerate the improvements via stressing the eye muscles more intensely at longer ranges.

[@w1975b]

seeing far away actually releases/relaxes the muscles around the eyes which must contract to allow us seeing up close

[@samrousculp4306]

Thats true

[@nicpic1985]

I feel so much better, I have been raising concern for years about whether glasses actually make vision worse and being brushed off by opticians. All the extra vain rebels at school who did not wear their glasses had stabilised vision whilst compliant glasses wearing me just got worse.

[@camel-uj4yp]

Idk i always i thought jake talks mumbo jumbo, but now i feel hes kinda right

[@blackbirdsinging6264]

Mistake number one most people make- Trusting the Medical establishment! Imo.Research the science of every issue you have yourself!

[@srinivasreddynallareddy4321]

My age is 19, I am suffering from myopia with-4.0 eye sight.please tell me what should I do? When should i do ? How should i do?

[@Abi-un4uk]

Can someone please summarise what he said?

[@otiebrown9999]

He said that at 20/50, myopia can be prevented.

[@blackbirdsinging6264]

Bates method can be useful,I still do it every day.I didnt need glasses until mid 40s but wasnt happy wearing them,it didnt feel like a satisfactory solution and humans historically did ok so sight problems speak more to environmental factors rather than some biological insufficiency.

[@lashes2884]

Lol I got lenskart ad on this vid😂😂😂

[@sandrinehuyghe3291]

Bonj es ce que vous pouvez traduire en français merci

[@keralee]

Dang...my fave hobbies make it worse. Beading, knitting, handcrafts. :(( Wish i didn't hate sports.

[@AbigailPoirier]

Crocheting, reading, sewing...same here! Except I do love riding my motorcycle, and that should be helpful.

[@SherryBaby60]

I have a thought about this. Don't focus so hard / continually that you cause the muscle spasm. I think relaxing the eye and allowing a small amount of blur might be beneficial.

[@tranced6]

So if focusing on objects at a distance and being outside are the main factors for improving eyesight , why wouldn’t sungazing work? You’re literally looking at a object that’s extremely far away while being outside.