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Effects of lutein and Astaxanthin intake on the improvement of cognitive functions among healthy adults: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials
The purpose of this 2020 systematic review was to provide an overview of the cognitive effects induced by carotenoid consumption. Nouchi et al. (2020) searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and PsychoINFO databases for research papers regarding carotenoid intake which involve healthy, young, middle-aged or older participants, and for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that measured the oral consumption of carotenoids while assessing cognitive function. Five studies using lutein met the inclusion criteria, as well as 2 studies using astaxanthin. In the studies involving lutein and its isomers, visual episodic memory consistently improved in the young and middle-aged participants while inhibition was found in the middle-aged and older adults. One of the two astaxanthin studies reported a significant improvement of verbal episodic memory performance in middle-aged adults. It may be difficult to conclude from these couple of studies whether astaxanthin improves cognitive outcomes, but 10mg of lutein per day for twelve months is suggested to exert beneficial cognitive effects. [NPID: cognition, carotenoids, cognitive function, lutein, visual episodic memory, inhibition, verbal episodic memory]
Year: 2020
