Macular Carotenoids Improve Stress, Serum Cortisol, and General Physical and Emotional Health

by | Jul 25, 2017 | 2017, Brain Health, Carotenoids, Lutein, Zeaxanthin

Written by Angeline A. De Leon, Staff Writer. Supplementing with lutein and zeaxanthin significantly decreased serum cortisol levels and psychological stress in the participating subjects.

brain healthConverging lines of research have highlighted the relationship between deficiencies in nutrition and the disruption of critical brain functions 1. Commonly this is manifested as an increased susceptibility to physical and psychological stress 2 and can become cyclical in nature. Dietary supplementation with healthy foods containing specific nutrients may be applied towards the effective management of stress levels, and antioxidant-rich foods in particular are hypothesized to diminish symptoms of stress by reducing inflammation and systemic oxidative stress 3,4. Representing a large percentage of the dietary antioxidants consumed by humans on a daily basis, carotenoids are plant pigments which provide the red, yellow, and orange hues found in fruits and vegetables 5. The most well-known carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, are derived from sources like dark leafy-green vegetables and are primarily stored in neural tissues (like the macula in the central retina and various regions of the brain) which maintain high metabolism 6,7. In order to determine the potential benefit of these macular carotenoids (MC’s) on stress levels and emotional health, researchers at the University of Georgia (2017) examined the effects of daily MC supplementation with lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeanthin.

A 12-month, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted with a group of 59 young, healthy subjects (aged 18-25 years). Participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups: placebo (safflower oil), 13 mg of MC supplementation (10.86 mg lutein and 2.27 mg zeaxanthin isomers), or 27 mg of MC supplementation (22.33 mg lutein and 4.70 mg zeaxanthin isomers). At baseline, 6 months, and 12 months, subjects provided fasting blood samples for serum cortisol assessment and completed self-report measures evaluating stress (Psychological Stress Measure, PSM-9), psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI), depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI), and general physical health status (Suboptimal Health Status Questionnaire, SHSQ-25).

At 6 months, researchers detected an overall beneficial effect of MC supplementation. Daily MC intake of 13 mg resulted in significantly lower serum cortisol levels (p < 0.001), BSI score (p = 0.005), and number of suboptimal health symptoms (p = 0.0012), compared to baseline. Supplementation with 27 mg MC’s also showed significant decreases for serum cortisol (p = 0.01), BSI (p = 0.009), BAI (p < 0.001), psychological stress (p = 0.05), and number of suboptimal health symptoms (p < 0.001). The general trend of symptom reduction and cortisol decline was sustained for both treatment groups from 6 to 12-month follow-up.

Overall, findings validate research suggesting a positive role for diet, MC’s specifically, in the management of stress and other areas of physical and emotional health. Additional studies are needed to examine and reproduce effects in clinical populations and other age groups.

Source: Stringham NT, Holmes PV, Stringham JM. Supplementation with macular carotenoids reduces psychological stress, serum cortisol, and sub-optimal symptoms of physical and emotional health in young adults. Nutritional Neuroscience. 2017; 0(0): 1-11. DOI: 10.1080/1028415X.2017.1286445.

© 2017 Informa UK Limited

Angeline A. De Leon, MA, graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010, completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a concentration in neuroscience. She received her master’s degree from The Ohio State University in 2013, where she studied clinical neuroscience within an integrative health program.

Posted July 25, 2017.

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