Eat right to prevent cataract: Expert Advice

Cataract is a problem that each of us has seen elders of our family coping with but what we never knew was that the secret of preventing cataract lies in our own kitchen. Experts from across the world have definite reasons that provide insights that tell us what food to eat to prevent or delay onset of cataract.

Cataract which is a vision – impairing cloudiness in the eye’s lens is common in older adults but the condition can be prevented before it reaches that point. The latest research on cataracts suggests three ways in which women in their fifties may reduce their risk.

• Take a supplement of a least 362 mg of vitamin C every day.
• Eat plenty of brightly colored fruits and vegetables rich in the plants chemicals known as carotenoids.

Carotenoids prevent the less common but especially troublesome posterior sub scapular type of cataract. These cataracts affect vision more than other types because the opacity (cloudiness) is located further back in the lens. Women who eat a diet rich in carotenoids are less likely to suffer form this type of cataract - as long as they are non- smokers. Smoking and diabetes are the two biggest risk factors for cataracts.

According to Dr. Ajay Sharma, leading ophthalmologist and Chief Medical Director, Eye-Q, “Vitamin C, carotenoids and folate (a B vitamin also shown to reduce cataract risk) have something in common. They’re all antioxidants meaning that they reduce the damage that occurs as a result of normal chemical reactions in the body’s cells. Such oxidative damage may contribute to cataracts. Vitamin C also seems to retard the clumping of protein in the lens that creates the opacity.”