World Food Day 2024: Is processed food impacting your eye sight?

Processed foods are convenient meals with exciting taste. They save us from hassle of preparation and can be consumed readily. They are easy-to-make, high of flavours, and filling too. But at the same time, they are gigh in calories, unhealthy fat, and use a lot of preservatives. And if experts are to be believed all these can be deceptive, particularly when it comes to your eye health and overall health too. Here is how processed foods can negatively affect your vision:

Nutritional Neglect
The healthy vision depends on proper nutrition intake and vitamins like A, C, and E are important to maintain optimal eye health and prevent vision-related issues. Vitamin A promotes healthy eye function and helps avoid night blindness. Processed foods generally lack basic nutrients that are essential for proper functioning of eyes.


Omega-3 Deficiency
Omega- 3 fatty acids are essential for optimal eye health and processed foods often lack healthy fats like these. For issues like dry eyes and age-related macular degeneration Omega- 3 is essential. Consider incorporating fatty fish, walnuts, or flaxseeds into your diet to obtain Omega-3 from natural resources.


Also Read: 8 Simple foods that can help in improving eye health

Inflammation Station
Preservatives and Additives are commonly found in processed foods which enhances both the taste and shelf life of the processed foods but these can trigger a chronic inflammation in the body. Glaucoma and cataracts have been linked to prolonged inflammation.


Hypertension and Diabetes Risks
Processed foods have high quantities of processed sugars, sodium, lipids, cholesterol. It can cause predispose a person to hypertension and diabetes. These conditions increase the risk of developing multiple retinal diseases like diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusions.

Contributed by: Dr. Uday Tekchandani Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr Agarwals Eye Hospital, Wadala, Mumbai

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