You may have heard that blindness is on the rise in the U.S. But you might not know that diabetes is now the leading cause of it.

Diabetes causes a cluster of eye disease problems including retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts. Almost a quarter of all diabetics develop retinopathy… and the latest research shows that diabetics are twice as likely to fall victim to glaucoma.

The good news is that one solution can combat all diabetic eye diseases (DED). That’s because DED is caused by unstable blood sugars in the body. And if you can control your blood sugar, you can have healthier vision.

You can do this with one all-natural remedy. Medicine men in China and Japan have used it for centuries to treat DED… and now U.S. scientists are confirming the benefits of this plant extract.

The latest findings come from Dr. J. Michael Wyss. He heads up research for the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

He’s put this plant extract to the scientific test… and published his findings in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

“Our findings show that (this extract) helps to lower blood pressure,” says Dr. Wyss. “But the greatest effect we found was its ability to regulate sugar in the blood.”

And he says that’s the critical key to combating DED.

So just what is this Asian herb? Read on to discover what it is… where you can get it… and how much you need to take to protect yourself from DED.

Putting Ancient Remedies to the Test

Dr. Wyss and his research team studied this plant extract in the lab. And they tested its effect on lab rats.

One group of rats were fed a diet that included the extract. While another group went without. After two months researchers compared the two groups of rats.

The rats in the extract group had lower blood sugar and insulin levels. And there were no side effects.

So how does it work? Dr. Wyss says high blood sugar increases the risk of DED. In diabetics it causes the lens of the eye to swell. And that swelling affects their ability to see.

But this plant extract regulates glucose by steering it to where your body needs it most. It helps your body transport glucose to your muscles, and away from fat cells and blood vessels.

It also contains an isoflavone that thins the blood and improves blood flow. This reduces lens swelling and excess fluid in the eye. Reduced fluid in the eye decreases fluid pressure… and that also prevents DED.

So just what is this ancient remedy?

Bringing the Remedy Home

While it originates in Asia, it now grows freely in some parts of the U.S.

In fact, if you live in the Southeast, this fast-growing vine may be just outside your window. It covers over 10 million acres and it’s even considered a pest weed. But medically… this plant is no pest.

It’s called kudzu. And the vital isoflavone it contains is called puerarin.

Puerarin is so powerful that the Chinese use it as an eye drop solution for DED. And they have a total effective rate of over 70 percent.

Now the research team believe it may offer doctors a safe and effective alternative to conventional DED drugs. They also believe it may be used in conjunction with those drugs… allowing doctors to reduce the dosage of risky DED drugs.

“Puerarin may be a strong complement to medications,” says study co-author Dr. Jeevan Prasain. “Physicians may be able to lower dosages of drugs making them more tolerable.”

Dr. Murray is on the Board of Regents of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. He’s spent the last 30 years investigating natural remedies.

He’s seen the research and believes that natural remedies like kudzu root offer real solutions to DED problems.

“I have found that cataract formation (can) be stopped,” says Dr. Murray. He even believes “that in early cataract formation the cataract can be reversed.”

And other experts support their findings. The Harvard Medical School also studied the kudzu. They looked at mice and found that kudzu helps control symptoms of high blood pressure and diabetes.

So how do you get kudzu? And how much do you need?

It’s a popular dietary supplement and top herb in China. And it’s quickly growing in the U.S. You can get it in a pill or powder form.

The recommended dosage is between 400-500 mg daily. If you want to take it in powdered form you should look for unsulfured root powder with a brown coloring. You should take 9-15 g each day of powdered kudzu in divided doses.

This month’s issue of the Natural Health Dossier newsletter comes out today. In it, you’ll learn about a vision problem that’s growing at an alarming rate. Yet one nutritional scientist explains that it hardly existed in ancient times. And our research shows these eye problems are a product of the modern environment we live in.

Conventional “corrections” like eyeglasses only treat the problem… and can even make your vision worse. But we’ve uncovered three simple solutions that you need to protect your eyes and keep your vision sharp forever.

If you are not a paid subscriber, learn about the benefits of becoming one now.

To your best health,

Michael Jelinek,

Managing Editor, NHD “Health Watch”