Is Inflammation Speeding Up Your AMD? How Food Can Calm It Down

If you’ve been diagnosed with macular degeneration (AMD), you’ve likely heard about inflammation — but what exactly does that mean? And how is it linked to your eyes?

Let’s take a closer look at how inflammation affects AMD, how food plays a major role, and which foods can either fuel inflammation… or calm it right down.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is your body’s natural healing response. When you get a cut or an infection, inflammation helps you fight off the problem and heal. That’s a good thing.

But when inflammation becomes chronic — always active in the background — it can start to cause harm.

In AMD, inflammation plays a role in damaging photoreceptor cells, encouraging abnormal blood vessel growth (in wet AMD), and increasing oxidative stress. In short, more inflammation = faster progression.

It’s one of the key processes we want to calm — and your daily diet has a big influence on that.

Where is this inflammation coming from?

Many factors play a role — like stress, poor sleep, inactivity or pollution. But a major source is the food we eat every day.

Some foods naturally calm inflammation. Others do the opposite — quietly fuelling it. Let’s take a closer look.

Foods that fuel inflammation (and what to watch out for)

Ultra-processed foods

These are foods that have been heavily manufactured with ingredients you wouldn’t typically use in your kitchen cupboard — like emulsifiers, sweeteners, preservatives, and stabilisers. Examples include:

• Sweetened yoghurts

• Breakfast cereals

• Processed meats

• Snack bars, biscuits, crisps

• Ready meals and packaged convenience foods

They often contain refined grains, added sugars, seed oils, and chemical additives — all of which contribute to inflammation in the body.

Refined carbohydrates and sugar

These foods are quickly broken down into glucose, causing sharp spikes in blood sugar.

When this happens regularly, it can lead to increased inflammation in the body, as well as insulin resistance — both of which are linked to faster progression of AMD. They’re also stripped of fibre and nutrients, meaning they don’t offer much in return. Examples include:

• White bread

• Pasta

• White rice

• Cakes, biscuits, sugary drinks

  
  

Grains

Grains like wheat, oats, corn, and barley are often referred to as ‘healthy whole grains’ but can be inflammatory for many people. They can irritate the gut lining and contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation.

Vegetable and seed oils

Sunflower, rapeseed (canola), corn, and soybean oils are commonly used in processed foods, takeaways, and restaurant cooking.

These oils are high in omega-6 fats, which aren’t harmful in themselves — in fact, we do need small amounts — but they need to be balanced with omega-3s. The problem is that most modern diets contain far too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3, which can tip the body into a more inflammatory state. On top of that, these oils are easily damaged by heat and light, making them prone to oxidation — and oxidised oils are known to promote inflammation.

Excess alcohol

Alcohol causes oxidative stress, puts strain on the liver, affects blood sugar and can disrupt the gut barrier — all of which can add to your body’s inflammatory load.

Foods that calm inflammation and support your eyes

Now for the good news! Some foods actively help to reduce inflammation, protect your retina, and support healing in the body. Here are the key groups:

Omega-3 fats

These powerful fats help reduce inflammation and support the health of blood vessels in the retina.

Found in:

• Sardines

• Mackerel

• Salmon

• Anchovies

Tip: aim for 2 servings of oily fish per week.

Polyphenol-rich foods

Polyphenols are natural plant compounds that help calm inflammation and protect against cell damage.

Found in:

• Berries (especially dark varieties like blueberries and blackberries)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Green tea

• Dark chocolate (85%+)

• Colourful herbs and spices

Antioxidant-rich plant foods

These foods are full of nutrients that protect your cells from damage and help cool inflammation.

Include:

• Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and rocket

• Colourful fruits and vegetables – red cabbage, peppers, beetroot, carrots, berries

• Spices like turmeric, ginger, rosemary and garlic

  
  

Fibre

Fibre feeds the good bacteria in your gut — and a healthy gut helps regulate inflammation.

Great sources:

• Vegetables

• Fruit

• Nuts and seeds

• Fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut

  
  

High-quality protein

Your body needs protein to repair and rebuild tissue — and to support immune balance and reduce cravings that lead to inflammatory eating. Aim to include:

• Eggs

• Poultry

• Seafood

• Grass-fed meat

• Organic, pasture-raised, or wild where possible. Animal protein from intensively farmed sources can be more inflammatory due to poor feed and living conditions — so go for quality when you can.

Final Thoughts

Chronic inflammation doesn’t always get recognised — but many people can feel it. It might show up as joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, or changes in digestion, skin, or mood. And in conditions like AMD, we see its effects in the eyes.

The good news? You have the power to calm it down — starting with what you eat.

You don’t need to get everything perfect. Just start where you are. Maybe that’s switching to extra virgin olive oil, eating oily fish this week, or adding a few more colourful veg to your plate.

Every small shift counts — and your body will thank you for it.

Want a personalised plan to help calm inflammation and protect your vision? Or maybe you know what to do but can’t seem to make the changes. 

Book a free discovery call here and let’s talk about the right steps for you.