Carotenoids for eye health
While the eye health benefits of lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation has been extensively reported in the scientific literature, a paper published in the journal Eye extended our understanding by reporting that sustained supplementation with the macular carotenoids can lead to greater augmentation of macular pigment and improve contrast sensitivity.
The study used different formulations of lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin in people with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with results showing that all of the combinations significantly improved macular pigment in the participants.
“We report that the inclusion of meso-zeaxanthin in a supplement formulation seems to confer benefits in terms of macular pigment augmentation and in terms of enhanced contrast sensitivity in subjects with early AMD,” wrote the authors, led by Kwadwo Akuffo, a postgraduate research student at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland.
“An important and novel finding rests on the observation that sustained supplementation with the macular carotenoids seems necessary to maximally augment macular pigment and to optimize contrast sensitivity over a 3-year period in patients with early AMD.”
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