Sugar Addiction Could Lead to Macular Degeneration

As my book SUGAR SHOCK! reveals, eating too many sweets and refined carbs leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and many other illnesses.

But did you know that a diet high in sugary foods can also make you blind?

Yes, high-sugar diets can significantly contribute to vision impairment. In particular, you can get  Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which is now the # 1 cause for vision loss in the United States.

The following is a post that was contributed by LensShopper.com.

Sugar Addiction Could Trigger Macular Degeneration by Anders Wedin, OD.

Research shows that excessive sugar consumption is a contributing factor to AMD. At Tufts University, 4,000 people between 55 and 80 years old were studied to test the alleged connection. The results strongly indicated that high blood sugar levels increased the risk of AMD.

I’m betting you don’t really know about AMD. Well, it’s a very serious eye disease that often develops over a longer period of time, but you rarely show symptoms in its early stages.

This disease affects the macula of the eye, which is the part that controls your central vision — you know, the part that you need to read books, watch TV, or drive.

Every year, more than 200,000 Americans get AMD — or about 30 % of Americans over age 75. Not all reported cases lead to complete blindness, but advanced level AMD patients will experience blurriness and blind spots right in the center field of vision.

To date, according to experts, AMD has no outright cure.

However, many foods that can help decrease the risk and slow the progression of AMD.

The reason we contacted Connie and her Sugar Shock Blog is because the most important action you can take to avoid Macular Degeneration is to stop eating high sugary foods altogether.

Other foods that can help include vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and leafy greens; salmon and other kinds of fish; liver (though not too much); whole grains and walnuts.

In other words, to reduce your risk AMD, dump your sugar addiction!

Anders Wedin, OD is the in-house optometrist at LensShopper.com, a consumer guide to buying contact lenses and general eye care information.

Note from Connie: I hope this provides you with some more motivation to kick sugar. Not only could you lose weight, get more energy, manage your diabetes if you overcome your sugar addiction, but you also could prevent becoming blind in later life.