Luteins benefit eyes, brain

There are many myths about how to keep your eyes and brain healthy: Don’t cross your eyes or they’ll stay that way. Being creative will strengthen the right side of your brain (turns out you use both sides for such tasks). Avoid sneezing with your eyes open or they’ll pop out! And listening to classical music makes babies smarter. However, the notion that you can eat your way to healthier eyes and brain isn’t a myth.

Research in Nutrition Reviews suggests that consuming fruits and vegetables that contain a compound known as lutein does the trick, because the antioxidant-rich phytochemical is absorbed into eye and brain tissue. There, it reduces your risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, and it tamps down inflammation and potentially damaging free radicals in the brain. In short, higher levels of lutein are related to better visual health and cognitive performance.

To boost your lutein intake, opt for bright red, yellow and orange vegetables such as summer squash, pumpkin, broccoli, carrots and tomatoes (cook ‘em to make their lutein more bioavailable!) and leafy greens like kale and spinach.

If you’re at risk for or have age-related macular degeneration or cataracts, talk to your doctor about taking a lutein supplement.

But there’s a lot more lutein in food than is usually given in supplements: There’s 44 mg in a cup of cooked kale, 26 mg in a cup of cooked spinach — and taking in the nutrient along with other phytochemicals in veggies may be the most beneficial.