Which nutritional etiology is associated with cataract formation?

• A. Vitamin A deficiency
• B. Protein deficiencies
• C. Calcium deficiency
• D. Carbohydrate overload

Answer: (B)

The main idea is how nutrition affects the lens proteins that keep the eye clear. The lens relies on a very high, tightly organized mix of crystallin proteins to stay transparent. When protein intake is deficient, the body’s supply of amino acids drops, which can impair the synthesis and maintenance of these lens proteins and weaken antioxidant defenses. The result is proteins that misfold, aggregate, or become oxidized, leading to opacities—cataracts.

Vitamin A deficiency mainly harms surface ocular tissues and night vision rather than causing lens opacities. Calcium deficiency isn’t a classic driver of cataract development. Carbohydrate overload can contribute to cataracts via diabetes-related mechanisms (like sorbitol buildup in the lens), but that’s a metabolic disorder effect rather than a direct nutritional deficiency. The link between cataracts and lens protein integrity makes protein deficiencies the most straightforward nutritional etiology.