What is lutein
In plants, algae and other organisms in nature, there is a type of substance that humans and most animals cannot synthesize by themselves - carotenoids, and lutein is a type of carotenoid. Although there are more than 850 known carotenoids, only a small number can be absorbed and utilized by human tissues, including the lutein we are going to talk about today.
Strictly speaking, lutein in a broad sense refers to carotenoids xanthophyII, which also includes lutein and its isomers zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin. Meso-zeaxanthin, etc.
Although they have different names, they are essentially all xanthophylls (xanthophyII) and can be converted into each other and coexist in a certain proportion.
The effect of lutein on the eyes
After lutein is absorbed into the eyeball, it is mainly distributed in the macular area of the retina, which is the most sensitive and important part of our vision. Among them, lutein is mainly located in the peripheral part of the macular area, while zeaxanthin is more in the mid-peripheral part, and internal zeaxanthin is located in the center of the macular area.
Together they form the macular pigment (MP macular pigment), and it is these macular pigments that play a very important protective role in our retinal cells. Therefore, MPOD macular pigment optical density is sometimes used clinically to measure the antioxidant capacity and health of our retinal cells.
So what are the protective effects of lutein?
Antioxidant effect
Our eyes are exposed to harmful substances called reactive oxygen species in daily life. These free radicals, such as superoxide anions, hydroperoxy radicals, hydroxyl radicals, etc., all carry very unstable unpaired electrons. . They are like a group of energetic but very rebellious middle-school youths, wandering in our retinal tissue, and robbing electrons from the surface of normal tissue cells very brutally, causing redox reactions and damaging our retinal tissue cells. .
Lutein can take the lead in "feeding" electrons to free radicals before they seize electrons from cells, soothing their restless hearts and stabilizing these reactive oxygen free radicals. Thereby achieving the protection of retinal cells and antioxidant effect.
Anti-blue light effect
Since lutein is inherently yellow, it can absorb light with a wavelength of about 460nm, which happens to be the range of blue light. When our eyeballs are exposed to too much blue light, a lot of reactive oxygen species will be generated in the retina, causing oxidation reactions and accelerating the damage of retinal cells. Therefore, proper supplementation of lutein is equivalent to wearing a pair of anti-blue light glasses for your eyes.
Improve cell signaling
Many studies have found that lutein can improve visual quality and enhance cognition in the visual cortex of the brain. This may be because lutein can serve as an electrolyte to replenish the link area between cells and increase the charge and discharge speed of retinal and optic nerve cells, thus adding a speed-increasing "BUFF" to retinal cells and brain visual cortex cells. At the same time, lutein also has certain anti-inflammatory effects and promotes the repair of omentum cells after inflammatory response.
Because of its series of functions, lutein plays a very positive role in preventing and delaying some retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, high myopia, and retinopathy of prematurity. , In addition, studies have found that elderly people with high plasma lutein content will significantly reduce the incidence and progression of nuclear cataracts.
Protect eyesight:
Lutein is the main component of the macular pigment in the retina of the human eye and plays an important protective role in the macula in the retina. Lutein can easily lead to macular degeneration and blurred vision, leading to symptoms such as vision degeneration and myopia. Lutein can promote the regeneration of rhodopsin in retinal cells, prevent severe myopia and retinal detachment, and relieve visual fatigue, myopia, amblyopia, strabismus, cataracts, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, macular degeneration, retinal degeneration, etc. To improve eyesight and protect eyesight. Especially suitable for students and drivers.
Protect eyes from light damage, delay eye aging and prevent pathological changes:
The optic nerve cannot regenerate and is extremely susceptible to damage by harmful free radicals. The antioxidant effect of lutein can inhibit the formation of harmful free radicals. The center of the macular area of the human eye's retina - the foveal area is the most sensitive part to light and is also the part with the richest lutein. Ultraviolet and blue light entering the eye will produce a large amount of free radicals, leading to cataracts, macular degeneration. Leaf Lutein can filter and decompose ultraviolet rays and blue light to avoid damage to the eyes by ultraviolet rays and blue light, and prevent vision degradation and blindness caused by lutein deficiency. Adolescents who are in the eyeball development period coincide with the heaviest academic period. The "light" damage caused by insufficient intake or excessive consumption of lutein is the basic reason for the incidence of myopia and amblyopia to be close to 60%. Supplementing lutein is equivalent to adding a pair of "natural sunglasses" to the body, which can restore the normal vision of most teenagers with pseudomyopia and amblyopia.
Effect on retinal degeneration:
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a chronic, progressive, hereditary, dystrophic retinopathy. Symptoms of night blindness often appear in childhood. As the disease progresses, dark adaptation ability deteriorates, photophobia and visual acuity quietly decline. , the visual field is reduced, and finally the visual field is tubular and blind. Retinitis pigmentosa mainly includes primary retinitis pigmentosa, crystalline retinitis pigmentosa, white-spotted retinitis pigmentosa and achromic retinitis pigmentosa. The disease is mainly caused by the progressive degeneration of the retinal neuroepithelial layer, especially the rod cells responsible for vision in dark light, resulting in night blindness, followed by the gradual atrophy of the retinal layers from the outside to the inside, accompanied by gliosis. The pigment epithelial layer also undergoes degeneration and proliferation, and pigment loss or accumulation can be seen and migrates to the inner layer of the retina. The retinal blood vessel walls undergo hyaline degeneration and thicken, and the lumen may even be completely occluded. Choroidal blood vessels may have varying degrees of sclerosis, capillaries may completely or partially disappear, and the optic nerve may completely atrophy. Supplementing lutein can increase retinal pigment density, improve the vision of RP patients, and improve the treatment rate.
Can effectively prevent and treat retinopathy and pigmentary degeneration:
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by long-term invasion of high blood sugar, resulting in circulatory obstruction of the retinal capillaries of the eye, sluggish blood flow, tissue hypoxia, degeneration and brittleness of the capillary wall, and the appearance of microaneurysms, spots or sheets on the retina at the posterior pole of the fundus. Hemorrhage and cotton-like exudation cause vision loss. If not treated in time at this time, the disease will progress further. The formation of new blood vessels in the retina of the eye due to hypoxia can cause vitreous hemorrhage, reproductive retinopathy, traction retinal detachment, secondary glaucoma, etc., leading to blindness. Lutein can significantly improve blood vessel resistance, restore the lost balance of osmotic pressure inside and outside blood vessels, reduce blood vessel permeability, inhibit material leakage in blood vessels, ensure the integrity of eye blood vessels, and provide the eyes with adequate blood supply. At the same time, it can prevent the damage caused by the combination of free radicals and eye collagen, strengthen the retinal collagen structure, thereby improving the treatment of various retinal diseases (such as diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentation, hemorrhagic and hypertensive retinopathy, macular degeneration, etc.) rate, improvement and recovery of resulting vision loss.
Significantly reduce the incidence of cataracts:
Cataract is the main eye disease that causes blindness worldwide. The latest research proves that increasing the intake of lutein can achieve the goal of birth rate. The mechanism is believed to be lower macular pigment density and higher lens vision in middle-aged and elderly people. Density is closely related, and higher lens visual density is considered to be a distinctive feature of cataract development.
Lutein prevents and treats macular degeneration:
Western medicine mainly uses laser therapy, fibrinolytics, anti-platelet aggregation agents, lutein product improvement and other methods to treat macular degeneration. It has certain clinical effects. These can treat existing new blood vessels and control the disease, but they cannot prevent the formation of new new blood vessels, further absorb blood stasis, restore vision, prevent recurrence of the disease, and increase macular pigment density. Protect the macula and promote its development.
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