Eating beetroot, spinach can prevent eye disease

Want to keep your peepers in top shape? Eat beetroot and spinach. Yes, you have heard it right! Read on to know more about the research.

If you have been avoiding to include spinach and beetroot in your diet then you are doing it all wrong! According to a study, eating vegetable nitrates which are found mainly in green leafy vegetables and beetroot, can cut down the risk of developing early-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which can be termed as an eye disease resulting into vision loss.

In the study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, reportedly, researchers at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research had interviewed more than 2,000 Australian adults over the age of 49 and followed them for a 15-year period.

Reportedly, the researchers observed that those who consumed between 100 to 142 mg of vegetable nitrates per day, had a 35 per cent lower risk of suffering from early AMD compared to people who ate less than 69 mg of vegetable nitrates every day. This research is an eye opener for all.

Reportedly, according to the lead researcher Bamini Gopinath, the connection between vegetable nitrates and macular degeneration could have important implications. According to him, for the first time, the effects of dietary nitrates on macular degeneration risk have been considered. It was discovered that people who ate 100 to 142 mg of vegetable nitrates per day, had a lower risk of developing early signs of macular degeneration than people who ate fewer nitrates. So, eating beetroot and spinach can be beneficial for your eyes.

Reportedly, the research didn't carry any additional benefits for people who exceeded 142mgs of dietary nitrate every day. It also did not show about links between vegetable nitrates and late-stage AMD, or between non-vegetable nitrates and AMD risk. So, you can try to eat spinach and beetroot daily and notice the difference by yourself.