Likely Foods That Will Damage Your Eye
Virginia Woolf once said that you cannot think effectively, love properly, sleep efficiently if you have not had a proper meal.
It is a proven fact, however, that whatever goes into your mouth as food plays a significant role in your health status. A large number of us may have an idea of what food is good for our eyes, but we may not be aware of the sorts of food that could readily shatter our eyes when consumed. So, for your benefit, I have compiled in this article, ten foods that you must avoid if you plan on keeping your eyes healthy.
The human eye is vascular, which means we must keep the blood circulating in and out of the eyes to keep it functional. Healthy eyesight is achieved by eating right and making sure your diet is healthy. Nevertheless, if you are in the business of finding out these unhealthy foods you must avoid, then you only need to read through this article. Below are foods you should be avoiding to maintain your good eyesight.
Condiments and Dressing
Most of us cannot eat diets if they are not prepared with some particular flavors. A popular way of putting these flavors into meals is by adding certain condiments such as barbecue sauce, mustard, and ketchup, salsa, Indian relish, etc. However, and quite unfortunately, most of these condiments are loaded with salt and sugar. They are also very high in fat.
You may need to avoid such foods as they do not just hurt the eyes, but they also affect the overall well-being of the body. Alright, so you are wondering what you could use in the stead of these condiments, right? Well, you could go for natural vegetables and toppings that contain vitamin C and other vitamins. The vitamins in these natural flavors can enhance your health and keep your eyes healthy as well. So, when next you are considering adding flavor to your food, think of the natural forms of flavors.
White or Plain Colored Foods
A lot of us consume white foods daily, I mean the white bread, tequilas, etc. These foods, however, do not add value to our health as they consist mainly of carbohydrates. If you are addicted to this sort of food, or it appears you have no options when it comes to dieting, make sure to add the right amount of greens and whole grains. These whole grains and greens will improve the nutritional values of these plain white foods.
Fatty Meats
It is relatively easy to buy red meats from the stores. In fact, most people prefer going for this type of meat because of its affordability and great taste. You may have been consuming this meat, believing it is healthy and safe, but shocking, they are packed with a lot of preservatives and salt. However, when you consume meals with these meats, they tend to affect your health negatively.
A piece of good advice to you, though; get lean meats like turkey and salmon, which contains zinc and protein. Go also for meats that are rich in Omega 3.
Margarine
A lot of people confuse butter for margarine and vice versa. Margarine today is often preferred by many to butter. However, what most margarine consumers do not know is that it contains a lot of trans fat, chemicals, and oxidized fats. These can affect the cholesterol in the body adversely. Consuming these unhealthy fats can also mutate the cells in your body and thus resulting in inflammation. Why don’t you try coconut or avocado instead the next time? Avocado and coconut do not accumulate trans-fat in your body and are in their natural form.
Processed Meats
If you want to sustain your health and your eyesight, then you should stay away from processed meat. All of these meats, including sausage, processed lunch meats, and so on, are very high in salt. In fact, beef has the most top salt content, among other diets. Research reveals that it has about 0.6g per pound. Now, this number will only increase once the meat is processed.
When the salt level in your diet is high, the kidneys try to balance the vital minerals like sodium and potassium. And this may lead to water retention. When your system gets to this phrase, your eyes begin to puff up and swells as well. On the other hand, high salt increases blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause an increase in eye pressure, and thus leading to eye disease. Some sources even claim that high blood sodium can increase the chance of cataract in the eye. Spinach curry and a filling chickpea may be a better option.
Unsaturated Fats
Though they are delicious, consuming too much junk foods could be rather disastrous to the health. Instead of foods like cookies, French fries, and potato chips, which are high on unsaturated fats, consider natural options. Natural foods like fresh fruits, low-fat and non-dairy products, and lean meats that rich in health and unsaturated fats.
Table Sauces and Dressings
When you think of unhealthy food, table sauces may not come to mind, but they are really packed with salt and sugar. Adding these salt-filled sauces and dressings to your fresh salad or fresh foods would only remove your diet’s nutritional values. Overeating sugar in the food we consume affects our health adversely. Dressings that are low in glucose, such as natural balsamic vinegar is a better alternative.
Fried Foods
Almost everyone considers fried foods as a sweet treat. Yet, fried foods contain a lot of fatty oils. These fats come in through the cooking process. Nevertheless, these fatty oils are not suitable for the eyes in any way. You may find yourself going to a joint where these fries are sold, especially at nights when you may not have enough time to start cooking. However, eating these fries too often may cause complications in your body as the oil in it might build up in the body, thereby clogging up your arteries. This may yield to you experiencing high blood pressure, which can invariably result in the development of severe eye problems. Eye problems such as hypertensive retinopathy.
On the other hand, these foods have proven to raise the level of cholesterol. And too much cholesterol in the body system can lead to a high risk of heart attack, clogging up the arteries, and consequentially, stroke and vision loss. Unlike what many believe these days, studies have shown that it is the type of fat consumed and not the number of fats that could cause damage to the body.
Avoid these junk foods like chips, crisps, etc. they contain the wrong kind of oil. Take healthier fats like the Omega 3 fatty oils-these are the oil commonly found in fish. You could easily combine these with all the other healthy foods earlier mentioned in other to sustain excellent eyesight and overall health.
Sweetened Drinks
It is a common practice to people these days to drink an ice-cold drink with dinner or other sugary, carbonated beverages to get relief from the scorching sun. While some can even take more than three of these drinks in a single day, there is, however, a little twist to this. It is no doubt very hygienic to take beverages sweetened with natural sugar. However, drinks like high fructose corn syrup should be avoided in your diet. Drinking large amounts of sugary drinks has been linked to obesity. Subsequently, it can result in an increase in type 2 diabetes. Of course, diabetes has a lot of adverse effects on the eyes. You can add fruits into your water for natural healthy flavors instead or drink herbal teas made from natural fruits if you want.
Ready Meals
Somehow, the prepared meals we get from stores usually seem very tasty and delicious. However, notwithstanding how delicious they may be, they are not suitable for our health. To increase their shelf life, preservatives are added, and that includes savory foods too. And since the sugar content in these foods is very high, it could result in diabetes, which affects the eyes. The fat content in these ready meals, on the other hand, is also high and could yield to increase in the body’s bad cholesterol.
Prepare your homemade recipes and freezing them in small portions. This may be a better option, especially when you may not have enough time to cook your own food during the week.
Though sometimes, we throw caution to the wind and are not careful about what goes into our mouths, we must remember that whatever we eat is connected to our eyesight.
So,
The next time you think of eating your favorite meal, check and double-check that it is a healthy pack. Be sure to take the ones that are in-line with your health.
