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GNC
Laboratories
Product Highlights
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Contains Lutein from the Marigold Flower.
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Lutein is an important carotenoid present in the macula
or central area of the retina.
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Lutein provides support for eye health.
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Each capsule combines 20 mg of Lutein with 1 mg of
Zeaxanthin.
Lutein
may be a nutritional insurance policy against risk of age-related macular
degeneration.
How can
people help themselves curb the risk of onset of age-related macular
degeneration ? A nutrient found in dark-green leafy vegetables and other
foods may offer an elegantly simple solution.
The
nutrient is lutein, an antioxidant that many clinical studies have linked
with reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Spinach, kale
and collard greens are good sources of lutein. Eggs yolks contain highly
absorbable lutein as well.
A 1994
Harvard study suggested 6 milligrams of lutein daily; the amount found in a
large bowl of fresh spinach-may help reduce the risk of age-related macular
degeneration by as much as 57 percent. The average American diet contains
about 1 mg of lutein per day.
Age
macular degeneration has been recognized as the leading cause of legal
blindness in people age 50 and over in the western world. An estimated 25 to
30 million people worldwide are afflicted with this disease, according to a
leading
age-related macular degeneration research and prevention advocacy
group. The macular is the area of the retina responsible for central vision.
Loss of macular function through age macular degeneration can deteriorate
central vision, leaving only peripheral or side vision intact.
"Lutein
is an essential nutrient because it actually comprises much of the content
of the eye's macula.
That's why replenishing macular lutein through foods or
lutein supplements is so important in giving our eyes a fighting chance to
stay healthy well into our senior years," said Robert Abel, Jr., M.D., a
Wilmington, DE ophthalmologist and author of "The Eye Care Revolution:
Prevent and Reverse Common Eye Diseases."
Lutein in the
eye's macula appears to filter high-energy blue wavelengths of visible
light-from both natural sunlight and indoor light-as they enter the eye.
Lutein also quenches free radicals that may lead to oxidative stress and
damage retinal cells in the eye.
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