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How junk food can lead to blindness
We all know that one person who eats Taco Bell Chalupas every day for lunch and TombStone frozen pizza every night for dinner but still wears a size two skinny jean.
Or that person whose idea of a diet is ordering a Filet-O-Fish instead of a Big Mac, so they’re eating fewer calories.
But here’s the problem with this approach to eating…
Even if junk food doesn’t make you fat or you’re eating a “healthy” number of calories every day, surviving solely on processed food has serious consequences that go beyond weight.
In fact, a new medical case study shows that if you take your junk food diet far enough, it could take something very precious from you — your sight.
The boy who went blind from junk food
A recent case study published by researchers from the University of Bristol proved surviving on junk food alone could be very bad for your sight.
The case study followed the health struggles of a teenage boy who first visited doctors when he was 14 because he was feeling unusually tired. At the time, the teen shared his unusual diet with doctors…
Since elementary school, he’d survived on a diet of French fries, Pringles, white bread and processed ham and sausage. But he had a normal BMI and didn’t look malnourished. Doctors did discover, however, that he had low B12 levels and anemia. So, they gave him B12 injections and diet advice and sent him on his way.
A year later, the poor kid started losing his hearing and vision. But doctors couldn’t find an obvious cause. His bloodwork was normal. By the time he was 17, he was blind. At that point, doctors found that he had low B12 levels again. He also had low copper, selenium and vitamin D levels. He had high zinc levels and his bone density was bad too.
Related: 6 steps to snap your junk food addiction
Unfortunately, by the time doctors identified all these nutritional deficiencies, his blindness was already permanent. He had developed something called nutritional optic neuropathy.
Nutritional optic neuropathy happens when nutrient deficiencies cause the optic nerve to malfunction. This disorder can happen to people who don’t absorb nutrients properly due to bowel issues or medication. But it rarely happens from the diet in the Western world, because we have so much food. It’s easy to get enough nutrients. Unless of course, you’re eating foods that don’t contain many nutrients like French fries, Pringles and white bread.
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Bulk up on B12 (and other nutrients) to keep your sight
Now, according to researchers, this teen probably lost his sight because he wasn’t getting enough B12. B12 deficiency can cause nutritional optic neuropathy. But it rarely happens to people who are eating meat because meat contains B12. That may be why doctors didn’t connect this teen’s vision loss to B12 deficiency soon enough to save his sight.
This boy’s story is a powerful reminder that diverse diets are healthy diets. Limiting yourself to three beige foods and a few slices of salami here and there clearly won’t put you on the fast track to health. But eating lots of colorful fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and maybe the occasional can of Pringles will.
It’s also in-your-face-evidence of the importance of B12. If you eat meat, dairy and eggs, you probably get plenty of B12. But if you’re vegan, you’ll need to take a supplement or eat foods fortified with B12 like plant milks and breakfast cereals. And get your B12 levels checked occasionally, to make sure you’re getting enough. People with bowel diseases should check their B12 levels too.
Sources:
By Jenny Smiechowski
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