National Prosecco Day (13th August) sees millions of Brits downing the fizzy drink with little regard to the effect it can have on their eyesight.
Bottles of the drink are flying off the shelf as Britain consumes more bottles of the Italian sparkling wine than anywhere else in the world, prosecco has now overtaken champagne as the UK’s most popular drink*.
Prosecco contains one teaspoon of sugar (4 grams) and with the average Brit having four glasses of the bubbly drink in one sitting**, leading eye care experts Optical Express are warning about the effect it has on eyes.
Stephen Hannan, Clinical Services Director at Optical Express said: “Prosecco is the go-to drink for many Brits and over the summer more and more of us will be drinking it at weddings, summer parties and picnics.
“While we certainly want everyone to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and celebrate with drinks in the sunshine, we do advise drinking them in moderation as well as attending regular eye test appointments.
“Alcoholic drinks consumed in high quantities can seriously affect your vision and lead to long term eye conditions. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can cause slower pupil reactions resulting in temporarily blurred vision, while long term excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to a number of sight threatening eye conditions.
Consuming excessive amounts of sugar can lead to health conditions such as diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy can develop causing visual impairment through resultant damage to the back of the eye.
“Too much sugar can also lead to the development of cataracts, one of the leading causes of blindness in the UK and even age-related macular degeneration where the retina dramatically deteriorates causing blurred vision and visual distortion.”
Optical Express has revealed the top 10 summer drinks containing the most sugar:
- Freakshake – 150g of sugar
- Pimms – 25.3g of sugar
- Gin and Tonic – 18g of sugar
- Milkshake – 18g of sugar
- Cosmopolitan cocktail – 16g of sugar
- Cider – 15g of sugar
- Iced latte – 11g of sugar
- Coca Cola – 11g of sugar
- Strawberry Daiquiri – 6g of sugar
- Glass of wine – 0.8g of sugar
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*https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/05/brits-quaff-a-third-of-all-prosecco-produced/
**https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcoholic-drinks-units/units-and-calories-in-prosecco/
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