How Your Diet Can Affect Your Eye Health

Vitamin HealthMacular Degeneration, Ocular Nutrition

We’re beginning to see how our diets affect our bodies more than just how much our waistline, but also in respect to our eye health!


At Viteyes, we understand how diet can impact our eyes, which is why we’ve formulated a vision supplements to help support your vision. Take a moment with us today and explore how your diet can impact your eye health. 


How A Modern Diet Affects Our Eyes


A modern diet or the standard American diet (SAD) is exactly what most think it is — carb, sugar, and processed-food heavy —it’s a way of eating that is impacting the lives of a majority of Americans. In the wake of the obesity crisis, heart disease, and type two diabetes, the way we eat can even cause harm to our eyes. Let’s look at how they’re related. 


Diabetes and Vision


Type two diabetes is a disease that impacts your blood sugar levels and causes glucose levels to rise abnormally and dangerously high. There are many health concerns that type two diabetes is attributed to, amongst them is diabetic retinopathy.


If you have type two diabetes and you experience blurry vision, spots, floaters, see a dark or empty space in the center of your vision, and have a difficult time seeing at night you may have diabetic retinopathy.


High blood sugar levels can cause fluid to collect within the lens of your eye that controls eye functions such as focusing. Over time, this impacts the curvature of the lens, resulting in blurred vision. The more you’re able to manage your blood sugar levels, the more you can ward off or slow the effcts on your eyes of diabetic retinopathy. 


How can you use your diet to combat diabetes?


It’s important to evaluate your diet and make proper changes to better support your health, and in the case of type two diabetes, your blood sugar levels. Support your vision by creating healthy eating habits that steer clear from the standard American diet, and instead embrace whole foods abundant in a variety of colorful veggies, some fruit, protein, and healthy fats.  


Hypertension And Vision


When you go in for your routine eye exam you may notice that the eye doctor will take your blood pressure? Why is this? After all, you’re not there for a physical! Believe it or not, a person’s blood pressure can tell you a lot and can point out health issues that go beyond the eyes. 


When a person has high blood pressure, eye doctors are able to identify this even without taking a patient’s blood pressure. Blood vessels in the retina appear stiff and hardened and some blood vessels may even leak, both causing vision impairments. So, how can you avoid hypertension? You guessed it, by changing up your diet!


The American Heart Association recommends cutting processed foods and adding in more of the good stuff, all while ditching the table salt.  


Age-Related Macular Degeneration And Vision 


Not only can high blood sugar levels contribute to diabetic retinopathy, but it may also play a role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is one of the leading causes of vision loss in older Americans and as its name indicates it’s related to aging, but research also indicates component may be related to our diets and consuming excess refined carbohydrates. 


So, again, it goes back to our diets. When we cultivate healthy eating choices, we better stabilize our blood sugar levels, thus promoting a healthy vision!  


What you eat can impact your vision and when we eat a diet that’s high in processed foods laden in sugar, carbs, and unhealthy fats, it influences the health of your eyes and can increase your risk for type two diabetes, hypertension, and age-related macular degeneration. 


Support Your Vision With Eye Vitamins


Sometimes we need a bridge — a little extra support — when we’re navigating our health and wellness, and that is exactly where eye vitamins can help! While it’s important to eat healthy foods, there are times when it may not always be enough, especially when we face vision impairments.  


Support your eyes with a vision supplement that helps keep Life in Sight™!


For more information about the eye vitamins we carry or for additional eye resources, connect with us today!