Plant Compounds Support Eye Health

Carotenoids are plant-based molecules, consumption of which associate with an array of health effects in humans – most notably, potential antioxidant activity. Kwadwo Akuffo, from the Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland), and colleagues enrolled 87 men and women with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a study in which the subjects received either: 20 mg lutein/0.88 zeanthin daily; 10 mg meso-zeanthin/10mg lutein/2 mg zeanthin daily; or 17 mg meso-zeanthin/3 mg lutein/2 mg zeanthin daily.  Subjects continued the supplementation for 3 years.  The participants who took 17 mg meso-zeanthin/3 mg lutein/2 mg zeanthin daily showed the greatest increases in macular pigmentation as well as improvement in contrast sensitivity. The study authors write that: “In early [age-related macular degeneration], [macular pigment] can be augmented with a variety of supplements, although the inclusion of [meso-zeanthin] may confer benefits in terms of panprofile augmentation and in terms of [contrast sensitivity] enhancement.”