Health problems in the Black community are wide and vast. Though, key leading diseases like diabetes remain a huge health concern among the Black population. Time and time again statistics have shown that Black people have higher rates of diabetes than other races such as Hispanics and Caucasians. Unfortunately, many of those cases result in death.
It’s always best to have a primary care doctor handy when dealing with diabetes, especially when it comes to combating symptoms. Many signs of the chronic disease include skin problems, varicose veins, and swollen ankles. In worst cases, diabetes can affect our eyes, leaving us to develop the common yellow eyes that are often seen in the Black community.
Usually referred to as diabetic retinopathy, the chronic illness can cause the blood vessels of our eyes to bleed or even leak yellow fluid into our eyes, thus leading to the appearance of yellow eyes. In the early stages, the symptom can cause floaters and blurred vision. If left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can even lead to permanent blindness.
RELATED: Diabetic Retinopathy: 10 Things Diabetics Must Know To Protect Their Vision
Luckily, there are ways to prevent diabetic retinopathy. Here are 7 home remedies to prevent the development of the eye disease:
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1. Walk Your Butt Off Like There’s No Tomorrow
Exercising can be a pain for a lot of people but studies have shown that even walking for several minutes a day can improve our health, especially when it comes to diabetics.
It’s recommended that a person with the chronic disease walk at least 150 minutes a week. Walking alone helps with blood circulation and prevents blood vessels in the eye from breaking.
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2. Eat Your Veggies
Additionally, changing our diet can help greatly. Eating more fruits and veggies and less processed or fried foods can reduce risk factors like high blood pressure.
Consuming whole grain foods, legumes, and leaner meats like fish can also promote a healthier diet. As the old saying goes, ‘an apple a day, keeps the doctor away.’ More importantly, eating foods such as these can lower our blood pressure.
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3. Get Your Vitamin A On
Another way to prevent diabetic retinopathy is to consume as much Vitamin A as possible. It helps protect the surface of the eyes and improves our night vision.
Additionally, vitamin A can be found in several foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale and cantaloupe. If you really want to get your vitamin A on, take supplements from your local grocery store.
4. Herbal Medicine’s Best Kept Secret: Ginkgo Biloba
Other supplements include Ginkgo Biloba or Maidenhair, a famous herbal medicine known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
The supplement can reduce blood sugar levels and improve our sensitivity to insulin. Furthermore, Ginkgo Biloba improves blood circulation in the body and helps promote healthy eyes.
5. Drink That Water . . . Even If It’s Tasteless
Dieting, exercising and taking supplements can be a pain, much like forcing ourselves to drink water all day. It may be tasteless but at the end of the day, water has massive health benefits.
Drinking water especially helps with lowering our blood pressure and improves blood flow. Furthermore, it can reduce your glucose levels by decreasing the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. Even better, water can even reverse prediabetes and prevent the start of type 2. Doctors recommend that people living with diabetes drink at least 8 bottles of water a day.
6. Put Out That Cigarette
On top of improving our health through dieting and exercise, people need to also avoid smoking. Using tobacco can cause all sorts of nasty problems to develop in our bodies, especially if we’re at risk of developing diabetes. In short, smoking isn’t doing anyone any favors.
7. Throw Out All Your Beer
Smoking has an entire laundry list of problems attached to it. In addition to lighting up, drinking an excessive amount of alcohol can cause severe health concerns down the road. Often leading to liver problems and alcoholic hepatitis, it can lead to the appearance of yellow eyes as well.
In fact, alcohol consumption can slow down the communication sensors from the brain to the eyes, resulting in impaired vision, seeing doubles, and the inability to see colors. In relation to diabetic retinopathy, it can help speed up the process of developing the eye disease, going from mild to worse.
Taking these steps alone can help us tackle or manage the chronic eye disease on our own, without spending our money on doctor visits and pricey treatments. Though, should you start developing severe symptoms associated with diabetic retinopathy be sure to consult a doctor immediately.
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