Alcohol, though harmful, is beneficial when taken moderately. It’s a drug use in treating anxiety and it act by depressing the brain to induce sleep. Also, it reduces the risk of developing heart diseases.


But, what then is the moderate level?


According to the 2015-2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, up to one drink for women and up to 2 drinks for men of adult drinking age for a single day can be regarded as a moderate level. However, no recommendation was given that people who don’t drink should start drinking for any reason.


Heavy alcohol consumption seen in those addicted to alcohol poses a lot of harmful effects on their body. These effects range from nutritional deficiency to death.


This article provides you the details of how heavy alcohol consumption lead to impaired eyesight (Night Blindness)


For proper understanding, the effect will be covered under 3 sections:
o Vitamin A and Eyesight
o Alcohol and Vitamin A
o The Harmful Effect


PS: Vitamin A and Retinol mean the same thing. They may be used interchangeably in this article.


Vitamin A and Eyesight
Vitamin A, also known as Retinol, belongs to the family of vitamins called Fat-Soluble Vitamins. It plays an essential role in the function of the eye (vision). It is also needed for healthy skin, growth of bone, reproduction, etc.


Vitamin A can be gotten from carrot, green vegetables, eggs, cod liver oil, etc.


Lack of vitamin A in diet affects the function of the eye. This is usually seen as night blindness.


WHO classified night blindness as a public health problem affecting about one-third of children aged 6 to 59 months. The cause of this is the lack of vitamin A in those children’s diet. But that seen in a drinker is as a result of the harmful effect of heavy alcohol consumption.


Alcohol and Vitamin A/Retinol
Alcohol and Retinol are similar because they belong to the same family (base on their chemical structure). Before retinol can be able to promote vision, it needs to be broken down into the form that the body can use. This is done by a certain molecule called Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH).


Alcohol dehydrogenase, as the name implies, also likes to breakdown alcohol because:
1. The breakdown of alcohol is more easier than that of vitamin A.
2. Continuous heavy alcohol consumption makes ADH to like alcohol more than retinol.


Therefore, ADH customized itself to breakdown alcohol alone leaving retinol unchanged. This makes retinol to be unavailable for the body to use.


The Harmful Effect
Since retinol is no longer converted to its useful form, its role in vision will be cut off (this is the cause of night blindness seen in drinkers). Other effects are: dry eyes, decreased muscle strength, delayed growth, fertility problems, etc.


Also, when the level of unchanged retinol is above the limit that the body can take, it begins to exert toxic effect on the liver. This contributes to liver failure that usually affect heavy drinkers.


In conclusion, like the common saying, “Too much of anything kill”; this is exactly the case of alcohol. When taken too much, the body likes it more than vitamin A thereby making vitamin A unavailable to perform its normal functions.


I strongly recommend total abstinence from alcohol. This is because a little drink can hook you up which can later move on to addiction.
But if you must drink alcohol, I will suggest you follow the guidelines given above.


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