Home
Author: Gordon P Hall
Source: ezinearticles.com
If you want to reduce your risk of macular degeneration, you want more than zeaxanthin tablets, alone can provide, according to recent studies. Researchers have found that there is a reduced risk of the condition among people that have high circulating blood levels of other carotenoids, too.
The carotenoids are nutrients found in a broad range of brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Any vegetable may contain very small amounts of each of these nutrients, but only certain ones have been identified as “good” sources.
Beta-carotene is the best known of the carotenoids. The best source is carrots. Cooking carrots reduces their nutrient content and, as with all vegetables, the nutrient content varies from one plant to the next.
What you see on a label of cooked carrots is merely the average content. It is not possible for food manufacturers to evaluate each bunch, because to do so requires their destruction. They must be examined on a molecular level; not something that you can do with a carrot and still eat it.
Lycopene is the carotenoid responsible for the red color of the tomato. It is one of the carotenoids found to be high in blood levels of people that do not have macular degeneration. It may also reduce a man’s risk of prostate cancer. So, in addition to zeaxanthin tablets, you should buy some lycopene.
Lutein is the carotenoid found in the periphery of the retina; the light gathering mechanism within the eye. The macula is a small portion of the retina. It is the deterioration of the macula that leads to lost central vision in macular degeneration.
Research indicates that increasing the density of the retinal pigments may reduce the risk of blindness in macular degeneration and improve visual acuity. Lutein and zeaxanthin tablets are relatively easy to find. The best dietary source is kale, a relative of the cabbage.
In addition to the carotenoids, there are pigments known as curcuminoids. They are found exclusively in the spice plant turmeric. Studies are underway concerning the benefit of turmeric extracts for reducing the risk of various age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s, arthritis and heart disease, as well as to treat several different kinds of cancer.
So, if you want to lower your risks of all kinds of age-related diseases, not just macular degeneration, you need turmeric, too. My suggestion is this. Instead of buying turmeric, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin tablets, look for a multi-nutritional supplement that contains all of them. You’ll spend less and get more.
Gordon Hall is fervent about enabling you and everyone to live a healthy lifestyle, and is an ardent reviewer of herbal, vitamin and mineral extracts. To discover which supplements Gordon recommends after far ranging and extensive researchVisit his website now at: Your Supplement Resource Site