Healthy diet can lower cataract risk
Apart from being good for heart and bones, following a healthy diet can also protect eyes against developing cataract, the most common cause of visual impairment.
Previous studies had linked following a poor diet, smoking, being obese, having brown eyes, being nearsighted (myopia), and having a high pulse pressure with an increased risk of developing cataract.
According to a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, women who follow recommended dietary guidelines are placed at a 37 percent lower risk of developing nuclear cataracts.
Consuming foods such as fruits, grains, milk, meat, beans, fish and eggs that are rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals but low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium lowers the cataract risk in women.
The amount of dietary fat is believed to have the greatest effect in this regard.
Taking multivitamin supplements, on the other hand, does not affect one’s chance of developing cataract, the study found.
“Results from this study indicate that healthy diets, which reflect adherence to the US dietary guidelines at the time of entry in the ... study, are more strongly related to the lower occurrence of nuclear cataracts than any other modifiable risk factor or protective factor studied in this sample of women,” said lead researcher Julie A. Mares.
She added that adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes following a healthy diet, stopping smoking and avoiding obesity can lower the need for and economic burden of cataract surgery, which accounts for approximately 60 percent of vision-related Medicare expenditures.
Surce: presstv.ir
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