Eat Your Way to Healthier Eyes: Diabetes Edition

Few diseases have had as strong a global impact as type 2 diabetes, with 830 million known cases as recently as 2022 and likely more undiagnosed. Since this chronic illness develops in the bloodstream, the damage it can do reaches nearly everywhere, eventually reaching everything from your brain to your lower extremities. 

This illness also has consequences if it reaches your eyes, leading to several possible problems, including diabetic retinopathy. However, to avoid these issues, you can make some lifestyle modifications, including being careful about what you eat. Let’s explore how diabetes affects your vision, the issues you can face as a result, and how dietary changes can help.

If you live in the Pelham Gardens area of the Bronx and you need help managing the effects of diabetes on your eyes, the team of doctors at Bronx Eye Associates can help.

How diabetes affects your eyes

Diabetes wreaks havoc on your bloodstream through a process called hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), where your blood is filled with too much glucose (a form of sugar). When this damage reaches your eyes, it can lead to several medical problems:

• Cataracts: happen when the lens of your eye becomes clouded and obscures your vision

• Macular edema: hyperglycemia can cause your eyes to swell, making what you see look blurrier

• Glaucoma: pressure buildup in your eyes can damage blood vessels and nerves, causing vision changes that can become severe

• Diabetic retinopathy: blood vessel damage can cause them to weaken, and you develop abnormal ones that leak and worsen vision

Possible complications

Vision changes frequently happen when diabetes starts affecting your eyes, along with blurred vision. If treated or managed in time, many of these symptoms can be alleviated. However, over time, vision loss can become permanent, and eventually, some diabetic eye diseases cause blindness. In fact, diabetic retinopathy is America’s leading cause of blindness.

Dietary changes to improve health

The most effective way to prevent the worst complications of diabetic eye diseases is to treat the underlying diabetes through lifestyle and dietary changes, along with medical treatments to keep insulin levels in check (insulin regulates the amount of blood sugar in your body). 

Food often plays a major role in developing hyperglycemia, so try these dietary changes to help reduce blood sugar:

Foods to avoid

Foods and drinks high in sugar, saturated fats, trans fats, and various simple carbohydrates increase the risk of diabetes. Lowering the amount of things like candy, ice cream, cakes, fast foods, prepackaged foods, white bread, white pasta, white rice, fried foods, sweet cereals, sugary drinks, and red meat can help.

Foods to eat

To balance your diet, focus on including more foods rich in healthy nutrients and fiber, such as vegetables, beans, legumes, fruit, whole grains, and dairy. Examples of these foods include broccoli, carrots, greens, peppers, lentils, black beans, kidney beans, apples, strawberries, avocado, cherries, grapefruit, wild rice, quinoa, cornmeal, millet, and barley.

Lowering the impact of diabetes on your eyes means making some long-term changes, and a healthier diet is a vital part of that change. To find more ways to keep eyes safe from the complications of diabetic eye disease, make an appointment with the medical team at Bronx Eye Associates today.