A lot of people rely on a cup of coffee in the morning to keep their sleepy eyes open, but new research suggests that a morning cup of joe might actually play a role in keeping your eyes healthy. 
 
 Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a team of food scientists reports that coffee may play a role in preventing deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes. 
 
 At the heart of this theory is chlorogenic acid, or CLA, which is a strong antioxidant shown to prevent retinal degeneration in mice. The retina is a thin layer of eye tissue that's covered with millions of light-sensitive cells. Retina tissue is highly metabolically active, and it needs lots of oxygen, which can make it prone to oxidative stress. A lack of oxygen and limited production of free radicals leads to tissue damage and loss of eyesight. 
 
 Wanting to test the oxidative properties of CLA, a team of researchers from Cornell University and the Functional Food Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology devised an experiment. They treated mice eyes with nitric oxide, which causes oxidative stress and free radicals, leading to retinal degeneration. Mice in the test group that were treated with CLA developed no retinal generation, the researchers said. 
 
 "Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what benefit we can get from that," lead study author Chang Y. Lee, a food science professor at Cornell, said in a statement. 
 
 Lee said the study highlights the beneficial health effects of natural foods, like coffee. 
 
 CLA is absorbed in the human digestive system, and the next step of the research will be to determine if CLA ingested from coffee is delivered directly to retinas. If it does, physicians may one day be able to prescribe a cup of coffee to prevent retinal damage. ||||| ITHACA, NY - An antioxidant found in coffee may prevent deteriorating eyesight and blindness, according to food scientists at Cornell University. 
 
 A Cornell study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that chlorogenic acid, a strong antioxidant contained in coffee, prevents retinal degeneration in mice. 
 
 The retina is a thin tissue layer on the inside, back wall of the eye with millions of light-sensitive cells and other nerve cells that receive and organize visual information. It is also one of the most metabolically active tissues, demanding high levels of oxygen. The lack of oxygen and production of free radicals leads to tissue damage and loss of sight, according to the study. 
 
 In the study, mice eyes were treated with nitric oxide, which creates oxidative stress and free radicals, leading to retinal degeneration. Mice pretreated with chlorogenic acid developed no retinal damage. 
 
 Cornell said the next step for this research is to determine whether drinking coffee facilitates chlorogenic acid to cross a membrane known as the blood-retinal barrier. If drinking coffee proves to deliver chlorogenic acid directly into the retina, doctors may one day recommend an appropriate brew to prevent retinal damage. 
 
 The study is "important in understanding functional foods, that is, natural foods that provide beneficial health effects," Chang Y. Lee, professor of food science and the study's senior author, said in a news release. "Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what benefit we can get from that." 
 
 Raw coffee is, on average, just 1 percent caffeine, but contains 7 to 9 percent chlorogenic acid, the study said. 
 
 Previous studies have suggested coffee may also cut the risk of such chronic diseases as Parkinson's, prostate cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and age-related cognitive declines. 
 
 You can contact health writer James T. Mulder at jmulder@syracuse.com or (315) 470-2245. Follow him on Twitter @JamesTMulder. 
 
 
 
 ||||| A coffee a day could help keep eye diseases at bay. 
 
 That’s according to a joint study out of South Korea and the U.S., which concluded that powerful antioxidants found in coffee can play a role in preventing age-related eye diseases and the degeneration of eyesight. 
 
 For their research, scientists looked at the impact of chlorogenic acid or CLA, a strong antioxidant that has been shown to prevent retinal degeneration in mice. 
 
 To conduct their experiment, mice were treated with nitric oxide, which creates oxidative stress and free radicals and leads to retinal degeneration. 
 
 Those that were pretreated with CLA developed no sign of retinal damage. 
 
 The retina is a thin tissue located on the back wall of the eye that receives and organizes visual information, researchers explain. 
 
 It’s also one of the most metabolically active tissues and requires high levels of oxygen. Without it, the tissue is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress and prone to the production of free radicals, which leads to tissue damage and loss of sight. 
 
 However, it’s not yet known whether drinking coffee delivers CLA directly to the retina, researchers stress. 
 
 Future studies could lead to the development of a special brew customized for retinal support, or CLA delivery via eye drops. 
 
 The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, is the latest to vaunt the nutritional merits of coffee. 
 
 Another large scale, U.S.-led study published recently in the journal European Association for the Study of Diabetes found that people who drank three or more cups of coffee a day had the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes — 37 percent lower than those who consumed one cup or less per day. 
 
 Scientists looked at the coffee consumption patterns of 95,000 women and 28,000 men.
– Add this to the good-for-you, bad-for-you debate over coffee: A new study out of Cornell suggests that it might help keep your eyes healthy, reports Syracuse.com. Specifically, an antioxidant in coffee called chlorogenic acid, or CLA, staves off retinal degeneration in mice, reports Nature World News. In humans, that malady is brought on by glaucoma, aging, and diabetes. "Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what benefit we can get from that," says lead author Chang Y. Lee of Cornell. Mice that had been treated with CLA showed no sign of retinal damage even after being exposed to nitric oxide, which speeds up the degenerative process. The next step is to determine whether coffee delivers CLA directly to the retina, reports AFP. If so, scientists might be able to tailor a specific brew for the eyes. (Click to read about another recent study that found coffee's reputation for dehydration is exaggerated.)