A High-Sugar Diet Can Contribute to Cataracts and Glaucoma

If you're like most people, yours is a high-sugar diet.

By eating a lot of sugar and/or sugary products (baked goods, frosted cereals, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages), you run the risk of developing diabetes, which has been shown to increase the risk of developing cataracts and glaucoma due to poor blood circulation.

Since the eyes need more oxygen and nutrients than any other part of the body except the brain, any reduction in supply can result in damage and disease.

There are two sugar-related processes that a high-sugar diet contributes to.

The first is called glycosylation. Excess sugar molecules attach to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. This makes it more difficult for the blood cells to deliver the oxygen necessary for metabolic processes to occur.

The second, and more long-term problem, is vascular. When blood sugar levels fluctuate, they shock the mural cells (wall cells) in capillaries (tiny blood vessels).

These capillaries gradually weaken and narrow, which results in a breakdown of the entire vascular system. Blood flow may be reduced, and in areas prone to leakage, bleeding may occur.


Reduce Your High-Sugar Diet

Foods high in complex carbohydrates can help you lower your blood sugar level and keep it on an even keel.

Complex carbs are carbohydrates that do not immediately break down to glucose, the fuel that your body uses for metabolic processes. These carbs break down to more complex sugars, which then reduce to glucose over a stretch of time.

The result is a time-release system for glucose. You won’t receive the “sugar high” you can get from a chocolate bar or other sugar-laden product, but you won’t suffer through the “sugar crash” either, and you won’t be shocking your capillaries.

Foods like whole wheat bread (instead of white bread) and brown rice (instead of white rice) will provide you with these complex carbs.

If you have a sweet tooth, try stevia. It is hundreds of times as sweet as sugar, and has no calories. It will not affect your blood sugar levels, while satisfying your craving for that sugar taste, and it will help you reduce your high-sugar diet and protect your eyesight.