# Picky eating can make you go blind. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631 "2019-09-03T16:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/1 "2019-09-03T16:31:59Z")
[Link](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/health/poor-diet-blindness-scli-intl/index.html) Turns out our parents were worried about the wrong thing. It’s picky eating that can make you go blind, not masturbation. “Eat your cheeseburger or you’ll go blind!” For those who are link-averse, a medical journal described a youth whose very picky diet resulted in permanent blindness due to B12 deficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/2 "2019-09-03T17:05:44Z")
Miss Finicky, otherwise know as the lil’wrekker has picked and fussed about eating since she was weaned. I tried every Mom trick in the book. But she sees well. Just had her eyes checked this summer. Perfect vision. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/3 "2019-09-03T17:16:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Link](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/health/poor-diet-blindness-scli-intl/index.html) > > Turns out our parents were worried about the wrong thing. It’s picky eating that can make you go blind, not masturbation. > > “Eat your cheeseburger or you’ll go blind!” > > For those who are link-averse, a medical journal described a youth whose very picky diet resulted in permanent blindness due to B12 deficiency. Other doctors are questioning the cause of the condition, esp since vitamin B12 deficiency is not usually seen in meat-eaters. There could have been genetics at work. There’s not enough information released to be able to say. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/4 "2019-09-03T19:49:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Link](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/health/poor-diet-blindness-scli-intl/index.html) > > Turns out our parents were worried about the wrong thing. It’s picky eating that can make you go blind, not masturbation. > > “Eat your cheeseburger or you’ll go blind!” > > For those who are link-averse, a medical journal described a youth whose very picky diet resulted in permanent blindness due to B12 deficiency. I am not convinced the original hypothesis has been entirely ruled out. We really need to run a random double-blind (dang, there’s that word again) experiment. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/5 "2019-09-03T20:22:43Z")
I take it that the doctors were satisfied with the kids honesty regarding the frequency with which he… you know… Otherwise, the data is flawed! ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/6 "2019-09-04T00:14:46Z")
My wife has threatened to stab our sil in the eye with a fork if she doesn’t stop going through the restaurant menu 12 times, out loud, then grilling the server about just what ingredient x is in dish y in each of her “top 3 choices,” sighing loudly that the restaurant (that she picked) just doesn’t seem to have what she really feels like, then observe loudly that food makes her constipated. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/7 "2019-09-04T00:25:10Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > My wife has threatened to stab our sil in the eye with a fork if she doesn’t stop going through the restaurant menu 12 times, out loud, then grilling the server about just what ingredient x is in dish y in each of her “top 3 choices,” sighing loudly that the restaurant (that she picked) just doesn’t seem to have what she really feels like, then observe loudly that food makes her constipated. Man, oh man. I might pass up eating out with said SIL. Unless she’s paying. Then I can put up with lots of stoopid stuff. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/8 "2019-09-04T01:00:32Z")
Isn’t it Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness? A quick Wiki perusal says B12 def causes vision problems but didn’t specifically say blindness. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/9 "2019-09-04T08:50:49Z")
He was probably vitamin A deficient on that diet, too. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/10 "2019-09-04T11:28:06Z")
My diet isn’t much different to that. I’m perfectly fine and a month from 50yrs. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/11 "2019-09-04T14:37:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > He was probably vitamin A deficient on that diet, too. I bet his blood pressure was sky high, too. That can contribute to blindness. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/12 "2019-09-04T15:11:50Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Man, oh man. I might pass up eating out with said SIL. Unless she’s paying. Then I can put up with lots of stoopid stuff. No, she doesn’t pay. She does give free advice on nutrition in regard to other people’s dinner choices, including mentioning she heard a radio show that said cod fish has worms, so while she would ordinarily order fish and chips, this place served cod, and “just so you know, if you order it, there might be worms.” I wish I was making this up, though I admit, as problems go, this ain’t much. It just makes it harder to get together with family, which is kinda important because her kids (university undergrads) are great but have issues and rely on the rest of us more than they might otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/13 "2019-09-04T16:40:19Z")
I feed cod roe to some of my aquarium fish, and they seem fine. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/14 "2019-09-04T16:53:13Z")
^^fish tank caviar. Ymmmmm! ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/15 "2019-09-04T18:06:11Z")
The headline made it sound like he only ate Pringles and French fries. Talk about sensationalism. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/16 "2019-09-04T18:13:58Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > The headline made it sound like he only ate Pringles and French fries. Talk about sensationalism. had me worried at first as well, but the screen reader assured me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/17 "2019-09-04T18:34:30Z")
The article makes some huge leaps. One is accepting a single self-report as a good enough basis for a case report. Another is reporting it as “chips/fries and bread” when he ate processed meat as well. calling this diet “junk food,” which it isn’t–it is a highly deficient diet, but not junk food. Another is making a huge leap, even if the case is accurate, to blaming it on diet (the article does include a caveat about genetics in some versions). And another is then sounding a bizarrely generalized alarm about junk food (which this isn’t) and vegan diets (unless the person takes a B12 supplement). Note also that the subject received B12 injections. I can’t access the actual case report from home, but if it’s anywhere near as slipshod as the summary, the editor of the journal should be ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/18 "2019-09-04T18:53:08Z")
When I was a grad student, one of the undergrad workers in our lab wouldn’t eat any fruits or vegetables. Basically cheese and meat and junky snacks. He was feeling poorly and decided to go to the doctor. Diagnosis: scurvy. Scurvy! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/19 "2019-09-04T19:05:34Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > When I was a grad student, one of the undergrad workers in our lab wouldn’t eat any fruits or vegetables. Basically cheese and meat and junky snacks. He was feeling poorly and decided to go to the doctor. Diagnosis: scurvy. Scurvy! If what you wrote here were this case report, you would then go on to screech that people eating keto might ZOMG get scurvy! unless they’re taking a Vitamin C supplement. I also want to talk like a pirate now in order to use “scurvy” as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631/20 "2019-09-04T19:19:23Z")
Save it up for September 19th, Talk Like A Pirate Day. Arrrr! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picky-eating-can-make-you-go-blind/839631.md?page=2)