Instant coffee can cause blindness, says report

For most of us, an instant cup of coffee is the morning pick-me-up of choice. But a new research from Hubei University of Medicine in China indicates this easy drink may have a secret threat to your sight, especially for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Is your instant coffee habit damaging your eyesight? New research sparks fears

Published in Food Science & Nutrition, the study examined a large genetic dataset of more than 5,00,000 people and used sophisticated genetic correlation and Mendelian randomisation to investigate the association between coffee intake and AMD. The results showed a statistically significant genetic causal link exclusively between instant coffee consumption and the risk of dry AMD, the more prevalent form of the vision-stealing disease.

Incidentally, ground coffee and decaffeinated coffee had no such correlation, suggesting that the potential negative impact is specific to instant products. The study emphasised that an increase in the standard deviation of instant coffee intake was equivalent to a significantly higher risk of dry AMD.

AMD is one of the world’s leading causes of vision loss in older adults, with around 196 million people affected in 2020. AMD destroys the macula, the macula being the central retina, and this produces distorted vision that gradually gets worse and makes everyday tasks such as reading or seeing faces very challenging. Though it doesn't lead to complete blindness, its permanence makes it more important to take preventative action.

Scientists theorise that byproducts, additives or chemicals like acrylamide and oxidised lipids in instant coffee, which are found primarily in instant coffee, could be responsible for this increased risk. Based on these results, the study recommends that people with a genetic susceptibility to AMD or with incipient AMD switch to ground coffee in order to preserve their eyesight.

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