Eyesight is a matter of course, yet our capacity to see is one of the most unbelievable senses in the human body. And there is so much more to it than just distinguishing items from afar. For example, our eyes can deal with enormous changes in contrast.Some of the elements that keep a healthy eye are pigments called macular carotenoids – like carrot orange or purple broccoli coloration or revision pills. These carotenoids, which can become a form of vitamin A, are intended to protect the retina from damage caused by too much blue light exposure, particularly from the sun's radiation.
In recent years, researchers have found evidence of the possibility of reducing light and improving many other aspects of visual performance by taking dietary supplements of these pigments: sharper colors, enhanced contrast, faster recoveries, faster visual processing speeds, even better visual accuracy.
This does not mean that these Revision supplements can replace eye lenses with refractive defects like near-view in all persons. But can regular use of a medication aid enhance our vision?
In nature, there are more than 600 carotenoids and they generate the various colors in fruits and vegetables we see. So we metabolize them from our diet. We can't produce them ourselves.
Revision supplements are used to cure a visual loss known as age-related macular degeneration (ADD) for a long time – it affects the macular area behind the retina and is at present the world's leading blindness cause.
Yet experts have intensified their study in recent years to see if these Revision supplements might improve vision for those who already have strong eyesight.
Vision enhancement
In a 2013 research of 150 healthy adults, higher levels of macular pigment in the eye have reduced the effects of blindness and resulted in faster recovery following exposure to light. Another 120 healthy drivers study revealed that Revision formula supplements improved contrast and glare sensitiveness, while lutein supplements - a form of ocular carotenoid - also resulted in greater contrast sensitivities in healthy persons who spend several hours in front of a computer.
"In the healthy eye we may achieve around 15 to 20 percent visual improvement, which is extraordinary," says John Nolan, professor at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland, who is conducting ongoing research using these supplements to explore improvement in vision. Improvements of approximately 30 percent in macular degeneration patients can be obtained, he says. It takes around six to 12 months to complete the supplements.
Intriguing links
Nolan calls these carotenoids "the eye sunscreen" because, in the center of the retina, they create a thick yellow filter that shields them from the blue light.
"It's not complex," adds Nolan, who has written over 60 macular carotenoid studies. "We've got a pigment in our eyes. It's yellow, we receive it from nutrients, and it may be changed and increased. And we know that you filter more blue light by raising it, and improve your visual performance."
He thinks that carotenoid supplementation could be especially useful as we become older. "We all live longer and surely do not eat enough of these nutrients. I think we're all walking with sub-optimal visual performance," he says.
