The two things in the diet which are considered to be most harmful to health are sugar and salt. Foods with high salt content increase the risk of blood pressure and heart-related problems, while sugar increases the risk of many other chronic diseases including diabetes. But do you know that eating things with high sugar content can also hurt your eyes?
Health experts say that eating sugar increases the risk of diabetes, and there has been a lot of discussion about this. It can also badly affect sensitive organs like the eyes, but it is not paid attention to this. Not only this, excessive consumption of sweet things can also lead to loss of eyesight.
Consuming too much sugar can be harmful
Health experts say that most of us are consuming more sugar than the prescribed amount every day. The average American consumes up to 61 pounds (27 kg) of processed sugar per year. Excess sugar can cause serious damage to your overall health, including your eyes. Studies have linked sugar to several serious eye conditions and diseases.
Excess sugar consumption causes blood sugar to rise, which can damage the nerves of the eyes and also increase the risk of inflammation, which increases the risk of many eye-related diseases.
Risk of diabetic retinopathy due to excess sugar
In several studies, scientists have clarified that excess sugar (white sugar, sweet beverages, and foods) increases the risk of diabetic retinopathy over time. Diabetic retinopathy is a complication in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. If it is not treated or sugar levels often remain uncontrolled, it can cause vision loss or blindness.
In diabetic retinopathy, due to increased sugar levels in the blood, the delicate small blood vessels in the retina start getting damaged. In some people, it also causes bleeding and scarring inside the eye.
You can be a victim of glaucoma
The risk of another eye-related disease - glaucoma - also increases significantly in those who consume more sugar. Due to high blood sugar and uncontrolled levels of insulin, the blood vessels of the eyes can become narrow due to which fluid also starts forming. If this problem is not taken care of in time, then as a result, the risk of glaucoma also increases.
In the case of glaucoma, the fluid formed in the eyes starts increasing the pressure in the inner part, which can lead to the risk of damage to the optic nerves.
What do doctors say?
Health experts say, whether you have diabetes or not, it is important to keep the amount of sugar in the diet under control. Apart from sugar, there is also a risk of increasing sugar levels and eye problems due to sweet drinks, cold drinks, and sports drinks. Adults should avoid consuming more than 25-30 grams of sugar or other sweet things per day. Along with this, it is important to keep getting annual eye checkups done so that one can be safe from any kind of eye-related problem.
(PC: ISTOCK)
