Myopia and Refined Carbs: Reading Isn't the Culprit

Your Ancestors Had Better Eyes—But Not Because They Didn't Read

Look at vision data from people on the paleo diet, and you'd think our forebears enjoyed far sharper sight than we do. Today, all manner of vision problems plague us from early youth. The popular assumption? Too much reading. But the real culprit might be sitting on your dinner plate.

What Makes a Food "Refined"?

Refined foods have been stripped of almost everything valuable—mainly to extend shelf life and improve appearance. Nothing good about that trade-off.

Myopia Isn't Caused by Reading

Notice how many children wear glasses today? Short-sightedness—medically called myopia—has exploded. In the past 200 years, rates in developed nations have skyrocketed. In the US, myopia affects roughly 25–35% of people of European descent. In East Asia, that figure climbs to nearly 50%.

The conventional wisdom says children develop myopia because they read too much. The evidence seemed obvious: in societies without formal schooling systems—places where children didn't read books—myopia affected only about 2% of the population. Meanwhile, studies showed that one in three urban, school-attending children developed myopia. Naturally, people connected the dots: reading causes short-sightedness.

For decades, glasses became a symbol of intelligence. Mid-twentieth century films always cast smart kids in spectacles.

Then the anomalies started appearing.

Researchers found countries where myopia stayed low despite mandatory education. Conversely, myopia spread among children in communities that had never adopted formal schooling or a Western lifestyle. Suddenly, reading couldn't explain why short-sightedness rates remained suppressed in societies that had copied the West's lifestyle—but not its food.

Myopia Isn't Inherited

Here's what research revealed: when hunter-gatherer populations moved to cities, myopia rates exploded within a single generation. That's too fast for genetic mutation. It rules out inheritance entirely.

Our ancestors were hunters and foragers. That life demanded sharp distance vision for survival. In fact, every mammal and bird is either far-sighted or has normal vision—they see clearly beyond six metres. Myopia is rare in the animal world, and for good reason: it's an evolutionary liability.

Think about it. If a short-sighted human couldn't correct their vision with glasses and had to live like their ancestors did, they wouldn't last long. In the animal kingdom, distance vision is essential: spotting predators, finding food, sensing danger, recognizing kin. A gene that causes myopia would be fatal. Natural selection would eliminate it immediately.

That's why myopia can't be a genetic defect.

What Changed, Then?

The timing is too precise to ignore. Myopia surged not when reading became common, but when industrialised diets replaced whole foods. When refined carbohydrates, processed sugars, and nutrient-depleted staples became daily fare, vision problems followed.

Your eyes evolved for a world of vegetables, fruits, fish, and whole grains. Feed them refined carbs and seed oils instead—decade after decade—and the structure of your eye begins to change. The eyeball elongates. Distance vision blurs.

It's not about how much you read. It's about what you eat.

If you're already dealing with myopia, the Flow3 procedure or ICB lens replacement can correct it permanently. But the lesson for parents is clear: protect your children's diet first. The rest may follow naturally.

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