Cataracts: Carbohydrates could increase your risk

Thu 24th January 2008

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world. The UN’s World Health Organisation estimates between 16 to 20 million people worldwide are currently blind as a result of this condition. Proteins in the eye’s lens unravel, tangle and accumulate pigments that cloud the lens and eventually lead to blindness. The normal process of ageing can make the lens harden and turn cloudy making them more common in older people.

Now, scientists have found a way you can help prevent the formation of cortical cataracts which forms in the lens cortex and gradually extend its spokes from the outside of the lens to the centre.

New research suggests that the higher the carbohydrate intake, the greater the risk an elderly woman will develop this kind of cataract.


Carbohydrates are linked to a higher risk of cataracts
Scientists working for the Agricultural Research Service, the US government’s scientific agency, found that women in the study whose average carbohydrate intake was between 200 and 268 grams per day were 2.5 times more likely to get cortical cataracts than the women whose intake was between 101 and 185 grams per day.

The US recommended dietary allowance for daily carbohydrate intake for adults and children is 130 grams, which is based on how much glucose the brain needs. Carbohydrates are mainly sugars and starches that the body breaks down into glucose, a simple sugar that feeds the body’s cells.

The scientists suggest that a high carbohydrate diet could potentially increase the lens proteins exposure to glucose.

If you have to eat carbohydrates, stick to carbohydrates with a low GI
The drawback to this study is that while it demonstrates a need to reduce carbohydrates in your diet, it doesn’t identify which type of carbohydrate to avoid, simple or complex.

Simple carbohydrates contain naturally occurring sugars, such as those found in fruit and can rapidly be converted into glucose. Complex carbohydrates are present in most grain products, and are digested at a much slower rate.

A good general plan to follow is to limit overall carbohydrate intake. And when you do eat carbohydrates, it is best to stick to carbohydrates with a low GI (glycaemic index) and ones high in fibre.

The scientists are currently unaware if these findings could be generalised to men and other age groups. “But the mechanisms underlying cataract development have not been known to vary by sex or socio-economic status.”

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