Plants Containing Lutein and Zeaxanthin May Protect Eyesight

AMD is the main cause of blindness among elderly people in the USA. Currently, there is no cure for AMD. Treatment exists which slows down AMD progression, hence prevention is vital if you want to protect your eyesight into old age.

18/08/06 Women under 75 who consume plants that contain lutein and zeaxanthin, yellow pigments, may have a lower risk of developing the eye disease age-related macular generation (AMD), say researchers from the University of Wisconsin, and the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study (CAREDS) Research Study Group.

AMD is the main cause of blindness among elderly people in the USA. Currently, there is no cure for AMD. Treatment exists which slows down AMD progression, hence prevention is vital if you want to protect your eyesight into old age.

The team looked at 1,787 women in Wisconsin and Oregon. The women were aged 50-79. The researchers wanted to assess the effects of dietary lutein plus zeaxanthin. They recruited women from the Women's Health Initiative who had the highest and lowest intakes of lutein and zeaxanthin. All the women had blood samples taken to assess their levels of carotenoids, color photos were taken of their retinas to determine whether AMD was present, and if it was, how far it had progressed. The women also filled out a questionnaire to evaluate what their diets were like 15 years before the study began.

They found that women under 75 who had been consuming carotenoids steadily over a 15 year period, did not have previous AMD or chronic disease, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or hypertension, had a lower risk of intermediate-stage AMD.

However, no noteworthy difference was seen in the overall group of women or when comparing lutein and zeaxanthin levels in the blood to AMD occurrence. There was a slight association between dietary lutein plus zeaxanthin and advanced-stage AMD in all the women and in women younger than age 75 years.

The absence of an association between carotenoids intake and AMD in the overall study could be due to several factors - the older women in the study perhaps consumed more fruit or vegetables during their lifetimes than older adults who were no longer alive. The authors stressed that many nutrients may work together to provide protection from AMD - the study may not have measured other dietary deficits that may influence risk.

Suzen M. Moeller, team leader, wrote "This exploratory observation is consistent with a broad body of evidence from observational and experimental studies that suggests that these carotenoids may protect against AMD. Still, given the numerous analyses performed in this study, our results could be due to chance. More conclusive evidence from long-term prospective studies and clinical trials is needed to determine whether the intake of macular carotenoids themselves, or as markers of broader dietary patterns, can protect against intermediate AMD or delay progression in individuals who have early stages of the disease."

These foods contain lutein and zeaxanthin:

-- Eggs
-- Kale
-- Spinach
-- Turnip
-- Greens
-- Collard greens
-- Romaine lettuce
-- Broccoli
-- Zucchini
-- Corn
-- Garden peas
-- Brussels sprouts