Eyes, Blood Vessels and Sugar

As an eye doctor, I spend a lot of my day looking at my patients’ retinal blood vessels.  We do this with a Dilated Eye Exam or by using Optomap technology.  An Optomap is an excellent method of assessing blood vessels as this technology provides a panoramic view of the retina.  (www.optos.com)

Allow me to connect some dots:

1.   Eyes have some of the tiniest blood vessels in the human body

2.   Diabetes affects blood vessels.  The blood vessels most affected are the smallest blood vessels.

3.   That’s why Diabetes is a leading cause of permanent vision loss in the United States.

So cutting back on sugar is a good way to protect your eyesight.  From personal experience — the more sugar you eat, the more enticing sweets become.  Gradually decrease how much sugar you eat on a daily basis and you may find overly sweet foods just don’t taste that great anymore.  Really.

You may even end up eating less processed food as  foods that shouldn’t have a sweet taste — like spaghetti sauce, soup, frozen dinners, restaurant meals– start to taste sweet to you.

The easiest way to a healthier diet is to enjoy healthy food.  It’s easy to reduce sugar in your diet when you don’t think it tastes as great as it used to.  Eat less sugar and after a few months you won’t miss it. 

A special dessert to celebrate a special event is a great pleasure for many people.   But making excessive sweets a part of your daily life increases the risk of Diabetes–  and diminishes the the grand wonder of that perfect celebratory dessert on a special day.   Make your every day life healthier and your celebrations more special by eating sweets during celebratory events and not on a daily basis.  

