Can Weight Loss Help Improve Your Eye Health?
Our vision, health, and body weight may have more to do with each other than we think. While seemingly impacting different organs, studies have shown that eye disease and obesity are significantly associated with each other. Researchers note that obesity is known to be associated with numerous ocular conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and dry eye disease.
Researchers also emphasise that obesity is associated with systemic metabolic changes that can influence ocular health. Increased levels of adipose tissue, which is common in obesity, produce various inflammatory cytokines that affect ocular tissues, leading to disease progression.
As such, it’s important to consider healthy weight loss strategies that not only help alleviate the symptoms and health risks associated with obesity and being overweight but help prevent critical eye conditions as well.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at the relationship between weight loss and eye health and share some tips for caring for both:
Weight loss and eye health
Generally, maintaining a healthy weight is associated with having good health. Aside from ocular diseases and other eye conditions, being overweight or obese increases health risks like type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.
In terms of ocular health, the increased risk of type 2 diabetes may lead to diabetic retinopathy, which is damage to the retina caused by high blood sugar levels. Being overweight may also cause floppy eyelid syndrome, which leads to malposition of the eyelids. This can cause redness, irritation, and even corneal ulcers.
As such, many researchers have focused on weight reduction strategies to help manage eye diseases and conditions. In the case of diabetic retinopathy, for example, researchers found that even slight reductions in obesity can have great metabolic effects, helping control the underlying diabetes.
Today, these weight loss strategies include intermittent fasting, carbohydrate reduction, bariatric surgery, exercise, and GLO1-RA treatment. Researchers note that while these can significantly benefit glycemic control, they also have benefits on ocular health and the retina.
Weight loss tips for eye health
Another crucial weight loss strategy is through healthy lifestyle changes. Our daily lifestyle is crucial for sustainably losing weight and improving overall vision, as these small changes help foster a healthier relationship with food and your body.
Today, modern weight loss programs focus on cultivating healthier habits and approaching lifestyle changes holistically. Instead of enforcing restrictive diets that can be unhealthy, these programs consider what you eat, the amount of activity you do, how much sleep you get, and more.
Some weight loss programs are also catered towards those seeking help for specific cases, such as type 2 diabetes. This can help if you’re concerned about developing ocular conditions like diabetic retinopathy.
Other lifestyle changes, as discussed in our previous post on preventing glaucoma, include getting a routine eye exam, reducing and managing your stress, and abandoning unhealthy habits like smoking. These are crucial not only for our vision care but for weight reduction or management as well. Many studies have indicated, for example, a link between stress and unhealthy eating habits, which can impact not only your weight but your eye health as well.
Similarly, getting a routine checkup can help not only detect general eye health issues early on but also point to weight-related concerns like type 2 diabetes. You can easily set an appointment for an eye exam with us to help prevent any serious eye concerns as well as check for any other health conditions.
Ultimately, it’s important to take good care of your body and weight to maintain good eye health. At the very least, adopting healthier lifestyle behaviours and habits can maintain a good quality of life, vision, and general physical health.
This article is intended to promote understanding of and knowledge about general eye health topics.
It should not be used as a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your health care professional prior to incorporating this as part of your health regimen.
Dr Nicholas Altuneg
For over two decades, my greatest passion has been helping people of all ages live improved lives through better vision. At Eyes by Design, vision is so much more than being able to see clearly or read small letters from far away; it determines your perceptions and reactions every second of the day.
Read more about Dr Nick
