Unboxed: 9 vision supplements for heavy screen users
Research shows screens are bad for eyes. This is bad news for students and white-collar workers alike. And, okay, everybody who uses a phone. But supplements can help.
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This is a high-quality, clean-label supplement with branded ingredients for zinc and lutein, plus zeaxanthin, astaxanthin and a raw whole-food blend. It’s also a vegan formula with no magnesium stearate or any additives.
ChildLife's vision health formula has just enough macular carotenoids for the children, but the real key for this kid-forward brand is what the company calls the “non-gummy gummies.” They actually taste great, which will help with kid compliance. This is especially important because the eyeball’s macular pigment does not even begin to form until perhaps age 13—so all those kids staring at screens long before then are likely doing their eyes real harm.
A multivitamin for your eyes. It’s got 10 vitamins and minerals, then another eight specialty nutrients, from the macular carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin to the classic bilberry and a dash of berry anthocyanins, omega-3s and coQ10.
Dr. James Stringham created this eye health supplement after extensive research into optimizing visual performance for active duty fighter jets. Lutein, zeaxanthin, curcumin and vitamin C join forces to help screen-tired eyes filter blue light and have a healthy visual processing speed.
A gamer’s delight. Sure, it contains the requisite lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health, but it also contains 100 mg caffeine (a coffee cup’s worth) and prodigious quantities of adaptogenic herbs rhodiola, ashwagandha and schisandra, brain-health nutrients huperzine-A, vinpocetine and ginkgo, and chill focus ingredients L-theanine and holy basil. You’ve got to take 3 tablets per serving, making a 60-tablet bottle worth only 20 days, but it’s got the right stuff for the all-day screener.
Swanson is known as the value brand from mail-order catalogs. But Swanson also has a premium line, and the company is pivoting to address shoppers looking for high quality and clean-label products. This product checks all the boxes, using the Lutemax 2020 ingredients but at the higher, double 20/4mg dose. The astaxanthin, bilberry and broccoli are all branded ingredients.
Wiley’s is kind of the fish-oil people, so this formulation of course contains concentrated fish oil containing a high dose of omega-7 palmitoleic acid, shown in clinical trials to restore tear secretion in dry eyes. And then it contains the requisite quantities of lutein and zeaxanthin, with bilberry and zinc for additional visionary support.
Twinlab was the first supplement company to start using the Lutemax 2020 ingredient after the landmark study showing the combination of three macular carotenoids help with all manner of vision-related symptoms. Its Plus SKU adds in 50 mg caffeine (a half a cuppa joe) and then a “brain energy blend” containing nine botanicals.
Zhou Nutrition's vision-supporting blend of lutein derived from marigold extract and Lutemax 2020 comes packaged in an appealing mango gummy. This product is designed to be taken in conjunction with blue light-blocking glasses, an important accessory for supporting long-term eye health.
Zhou Nutrition's vision-supporting blend of lutein derived from marigold extract and Lutemax 2020 comes packaged in an appealing mango gummy. This product is designed to be taken in conjunction with blue light-blocking glasses, an important accessory for supporting long-term eye health.
In this day and age, simply everybody is looking at their screens way too much—whether that be a desktop, laptop, tablet or even a phone. So-called blue light emanating from screens does damage to the eyeball’s macula, and macular degeneration was the leading cause of blindness for those over age 65. Was? That’s right—now macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness for those over age 60.
Well before the threat of blindness ensues, screen time regularly leads to eye fatigue, headaches and blurry vision.
A number of ingredients have long been used to help protect the eyes, but recent research shows that the most important may be the so-called macular carotenoids—lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin. These are the only three carotenoids found in the eye, in particular the part of the retina called the macula. These three act as filters to protect the macula.
One landmark 6-month study found people who were on screens more than six hours a day and supplemented with 20 mg lutein and 4 mg zeaxanthin (the Lutemax 2020 ingredient from ingredient supplier OmniActive Health Technologies) had significantly improved effects compared to placebo on eye strain and fatigue, headache frequency and sleep quality. The research also found a physical change—a 26% increase in macular pigment optical density.
Scroll through supplements—some of which use the Lutemax 2020 ingredient—to preserve vision health through these postmodern times on our screens.
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