Dear Friends,
You may know we’re big fans of supplementing with 3 nutrients that help protect vision and eye health.
These are lutein, the “regular” zeaxanthin (RR zeaxanthin) and meso-zeaxanthin (also called RS zeaxanthin).
If you’re already taking these nutrients, today I’m going to give you another reason to stick with it, and if you’re not, hopefully I’ll convince you to start because recent research indicates these nutrients can also help support cognitive function and how your body responds to stress.
Much of the research we’ll be discussing today was conducted with the Lutemax 2020 supplement ingredient. This is our favorite source because it uniquely provides all 3 nutrients (lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin) in one marigold flower extract.
It’s not too surprising that these nutrients can help both vision and brain health because the eyes and brain are adjacent organs that work closely together to allow us to see.
Many researchers now view the eyes as an extension of the brain with changes in eye health providing a window to changes in the health of the brain.
Let’s quickly review how these nutrients protect vision health because it may relate to cognitive health too.
Bolster Blue Light Protection and More
Lutein and the two forms of zeaxanthin are the main antioxidants that comprise the protective macula pigment in your eyes, which helps filter out harmful blue light waves before they can damage the retina and cause damage from oxidative stress.
As you may know, unlike other waves in the light spectrum, blue light can penetrate deep into the eye, reaching the back where the macula and retina reside, which over time can damage our vision and eye health.
This damage typically accumulates over time, and while we can’t completely stop it as we age, with the help of these nutrients we may be able to slow down age-related damage to our eyes.
On top of this, research indicates you may experience other vision health benefits after a couple of months of supplementing with Lutemax 2020 such as supporting central vision, the ability to see in low light and helping your eyes recover from glare.
Emerging Cognitive Health Support
Turning to the cognitive health side, about 10 years ago a study in the Journal of Gerontology linked higher blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin with better cognition, memory, and executive function.
This was interesting, but was it just coincidental or could we promote better cognitive function by giving our bodies more lutein and zeaxanthin?
The makers of Lutemax 2020 and others started investing in research studies to try to get an answer. Their first study involved 59 healthy young adults who took Lutemax 2020 or a placebo for 6 months.
As expected, and like in previous studies, the protective macula pigment increased significantly in the Lutemax 2020 group – this is measured using what’s called MPOD or macula pigment optical density.
What also increased in those taking the lutein and zeaxanthin supplements was a protein called BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
BDNF plays an important role in learning and memory and is getting a lot of research attention from the scientific community.
What’s more, the group taking Lutemax 2020 also experienced improvements in several measures of memory and cognitive performance. These included composite memory, verbal memory, and the ability to sustain attention.
Other improvements were in psychomotor speed (which measures how quickly your brain and body respond to a stimulus) and processing speed (how quickly your brain receives, understands and responds to information).
All of these measures improved in the groups taking Lutemax 2020, but no meaningful changes were found in the placebo group.
Second Study Also Promising
Another study looked at the effects of lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation on the cognitive function of an older group – those between the ages of 40 and 75.
Like in the previous study, after 6 months those taking the supplements experienced significant improvements in cognitive performance compared to the placebo group.
The tests used in this study were different than the other study, but significant improvements were noted for delayed word recall, word recognition, and visual learning, compared to the placebo group.
The researchers also reported improvements in visual episodic memory - this helps you visualize and recall experiences or events that happened to you in the past (like a meal at a restaurant).
As you likely know, another thing that affects our cognitive function and emotional well-being is our ability to cope with stress.
A 12-month study with Lutemax 2020 was conducted with young healthy adults to see if taking lutein and zeaxanthin can help with feelings of stress.
At the end of the study, the researchers found that, compared to the placebo group, those taking Lutemax 2020 experienced improvements in blood serum cortisol levels (sometimes referred to as the stress hormone) as well as significant improvements in measures of psychological stress and emotional well-being.
There’s more research to do and understand, but the early results of taking a supplement with lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin for cognitive and stress support are promising.
At NatureCity we feature Lutemax 2020 as part of our TrueVision formula.
With TrueVision, you may be able to “double-dip” and pair vision health benefits with cognitive health support.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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