Functional ingredients have been found to help clear cataracts.
Cataracts can be prevented and treated using functional ingredients, according to research.
Pharmaceutical magazine Nutra Ingredients reports on a study from Italy, where Enrico Rizzarelli tested the dietary supplement carnosine on lenses taken from rats' eyes.
Comparing the functional ingredient's action in conjunction with guanidine, versus the effect of guanidine alone, the researchers found 50 to 60 per cent less clouding with the supplement included in the treatment.
The pharmaceutical magazine points out that the current accepted treatment worldwide is to replace the lens completely - and that cataracts are a leading cause of loss of vision internationally.
In 2007, studies of zinc-carnosine conducted in the UK revealed that the ingredient has biological effects in the gut when consumed.
Researchers at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry worked with representatives of Barts in London to determine positive gastrointestinal effects from the ingredient, with benefits seen to be proportional to the dose given.
