The Role of Lutein in the Health of Our Senses: What Is Necessary to Know

When we speak of lutein, the majority of the persons think immediately to the eyes. And it is comprehensible, because for many years the scientific literature has concentrated above all on the protection of the retina. However, the reality is more wide and more interesting. Lutein is a carotenoid that operates in silence inside our organism, and its action touches not only the sight but also the hearing, the cognitive function, and in general the equilibrium of our sensory system.

In this article, we will examine with calm and with clarity which is the true role of this substance, how it nourishes our senses, and what we can make in concrete for not letting it miss from our daily life.

What Is Lutein and Where We Find It

Lutein is a pigment of yellow-orange colour that belongs to the family of the carotenoids. The our body is not capable to produce it in autonomy, and for this reason it must be introduced through the alimentation or through specific supplementation.

The sources most rich are the vegetables with green leaf: the spinach, the kale, the broccoli, the peas. But also the yolk of the egg, the corn, and some varieties of orange pepper contain quantities appreciable. The problem, however, is that with the cooking and with the industrial conservation, a part significant of this pigment is lost. And in the diet modern, rich in foods processed and poor in vegetables fresh, the assumption of lutein is often inferior to that which the organism would require.

Once absorbed, lutein is transported in the blood and accumulates in the tissues where the oxidative stress is more elevated: the macula of the eye, the structures of the inner ear, and certain areas of the brain. This distribution is not casual. It tells us exactly where the body has more necessity of protection.

The Eyes: The First and Most Known Beneficiary

The macula, that small zone central of the retina, contains a concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin that is unique in all the organism. These two carotenoids form the so-called « pigment macular, » a filter natural that absorbs the blue light and neutralises the radicals free before they can damage the photoreceptors.

The studies conducted in the last twenty years have demonstrated that a pigment macular more dense is associated to:

• A minor risk of developing the degeneration macular related to the age
• A better performance in the tasks of visual contrast, especially in conditions of low illumination
• A protection more efficacious against the damage provoked by the prolonged exposure to the screens

What is important to understand is that lutein does not act as a medicine that resolves a pathology already present. It operates as a defence continuous, day after day. And this is why the regularity in the assumption is more important than the quantity assumed in a single occasion.

Lutein and the Hearing: A Connection That Few Persons Know

Here we arrive at a chapter that still today is little known to the public general, but that in the scientific community is receiving an attention always more consistent.

The inner ear, and in particular the cochlea, is a structure extraordinarily rich in cells sensorial delicate. These cells, called hair cells, are exposed to a metabolic stress intense: they work without pause, transform the vibrations in electrical signals, and in doing so produce a quantity notable of radicals free. The lutein, thanks to its capacity antioxidative, contributes to protect these cells from the damage oxidativ and to maintain a good microcirculation in the cochlear tissues.

Some researches have observed that the persons with levels more elevated of carotenoids in the blood present a risk reduced of deterioration auditory linked to the age. Naturally, we speak of a protection that is built in the time, not of an effect immediate.

It is in this context that some formulations integrative have begun to unite lutein with other nutrients specific for the auditory function. For example, the supplement Acuvit has been conceived exactly with this logic: combine the action antioxidative of carotenoids as the lutein with vitamins and minerals that sustain the microcirculation and the transmission nervous at the level of the ear. It is not a question of a product that substitutes a medical therapy, but of a support nutritional thought for who wishes to take care of the own hearing in a way constant, above all after the forty years, when the natural defence of the cochlea begin to reduce themselves. For who desires to understand better the composition and the approach of this type of supplementation, the portal acuvit.health offers information structured in manner clear and accessible, without the need to be an expert of biochemistry.

The Other Senses and the Protection Antioxidative

If the sight and the hearing are the two senses in which the role of lutein is more documented, also for the olfactory and the gustatory there are indications interesting, even if still preliminary.

The cells of the epithelium olfactory are among the few neurons of the body that are in direct contact with the external environment. This exposition continuous to pollutants, allergens, and substances irritant renders them particularly vulnerable to the stress oxidativ. The carotenoids, including lutein, contribute to maintain the integrity of the cellular membranes and to reduce the inflammation local.

For the touch and the proprioception, the effect is more indirect but not irrelevant: a good microcirculation, sustained also from an adequate intake of antioxidants, permits to the receptors peripheral of receive oxygen and nutrients in manner sufficient.

In substance, lutein does not « cure » a single sense. It protects the cellular infrastructure that is common to all the sensory system.

How to Introduce Lutein in the Daily Life: Practical Advice

After having understood the importance of this carotenoid, the question that the reader poses is legitimate: what must I make, in concrete?

Here are some indications simple and applicable:

Through the alimentation:

• Consume at least a portion of green leafy vegetables every day, better if cooked lightly in steam for not disperse the nutrients
• Include in the weekly menu eggs with the yolk, legumes, and corn
• Abbinare always the vegetables with a small quantity of olive oil extravergine, because lutein is liposoluble and without fats is absorbed in manner very reduced

Through the supplementation:

• If the diet is poor in vegetables or if there is a necessity specific of support for the sight or for the hearing, an integrator that contains lutein in form biodisponible can be a choice reasonable
• It is always opportune to speak with the own physician or pharmacist before initiating any supplementation, in particular if one assumes already medicines
• Prefer formulations that indicate with transparency the quantity of lutein per dose and that do not contain additives useless

Through the habits of life:

• Reduce the exposure prolonged to the blue light of the screens, above all in the hours serali
• Protect the ears from the noises intense with appropriate protections, because lutein protects from the inside but cannot substitute the protection mechanical from the outside
• Sleep a number of hours sufficient, because during the sleep the processes of repair cellular, including those at the level of the retina and the cochlea, are more active

A Perspective of Long Period

What is fundamental to understand, and I say this with the conviction of who has studied these mechanisms for years, is that the sensory health is not a event but a process. There is no single food, no single integrator, no single gesture that can guarantee the protection of our senses. But there is a set of choices small, repeated with constancy, that in the arc of the years make a difference enormous.

Lutein is one of the pieces of this mosaic. Not the only, but certainly one of the most relevant, because operates exactly where the damage oxidativ is more insidious: in those cells sensorial that, once lost, in many cases do not regenerate.

Take care of the own sight, of the own hearing, of the own senses in general, is not a gesture of vanity or of fear. It is an act of respect towards the body that permits us every day to be in relation with the world, to recognise the face of who we love, to listen to the music, to perceive the perfume of the coffee in the morning.

And for this, also a carotenoid simple as lutein, assumed with regularity and in the context of one style of life attentive, can become an ally precious. The important thing is to begin, and to continue.