Protect Your Eyes From Digital Fatigue With Astaxanthin
As if we weren't already heavily reliant on our digital devices for so much, managing the social impacts of this worldwide pandemic has led to an exponential increase in screen time for many people. For some of us, our computers, tablets, and phones not only provide the "face to face" contact with the friends, family, and coworkers we crave but are a source of much-needed entertainment during these unprecedented times. Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, there is a price to pay for all the extra time we are spending on our digital devices; blue light radiation. Too much blue light exposure can negatively impact our health in many ways, but most prominently threatens our eye health. Blue light radiation is a known cause of computer vision syndrome / digital fatigue. It can also trigger other issues affecting the eyes, including the retinal damage that contributes to age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.
Extended exposure to blue light causes increased oxidation and inflammation impacting both the front and back of the eyes, resulting in uncomfortable side effects and, for some, irreversible eye damage. Fortunately, supplementing your diet with the right nutrients, like the super antioxidant astaxanthin found in AstaMatrix®, can help protect your eyes from damage and mitigate blue light radiation's side effects!
How Does Blue Light Effect Your Vision?
All electronics with screens emit blue light. Unlike other light types, blue light has a high-energy and short wavelength, which creates glare or flickering that impacts sharpness and visual contrast when viewing screens. This causes your eyes to strain more than usual when viewing screens. All of this straining can lead to the stress and inflammation of your eyes’ ciliary muscles, leading to eye fatigue.
Digital Fatigue (aka Computer Vision Syndrome)
Spending as little as three hours a day in front of digital devices can trigger symptoms of digital fatigue, and recent studies show that 60% of people spend about double that! If you frequently have sore, tired, burning, itching, or dry eyes, accompanied by periods of blurred or double vision, headaches, increased sensitivity to light, difficulty refocusing your eyes, and difficulty concentrating, you may be experiencing symptoms of digital fatigue.
Retinal Damage
Blue light radiation is among the more prominent environmental triggers of many major vision problems, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Recent research has shown that over time prolonged exposure to blue light can cause damage to your retina via a toxic chemical cascade that leads to increased oxidative damage and cellular death. Since the photoreceptor cells located in the retina do not regenerate, this damage cannot be undone. However, it can be prevented from happening in the first place, by protecting your eyes with the right antioxidant nutrients, like astaxanthin.
Astaxanthin For Overall Eye Health
What is Astaxanthin?
Astaxanthin is a super-antioxidant with powerful anti-inflammatory properties. It is part of a group of phytonutrients called carotenoids and is produced by specific types of microalgae. Astaxanthin is arguably the most potent antioxidant on earth, with a total antioxidant capacity far greater than that of vitamin E, vitamin C, β-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, among others. Unlike some of these other antioxidants, astaxanthin can neutralize free radicals without turning pro-oxidant itself. In the world of antioxidants, this characteristic is critical!
Importantly, astaxanthin easily crosses the blood-retinal barrier and quickly accumulates in the retina. Its potent antioxidant properties can neutralize free radicals in the eyes, protecting the eyes against damage and promoting overall eye health. Astaxanthin’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties also help it relieve conditions that may already be negatively impacting various parts of your eyes. So, from the ciliary muscles of your lens to the rods and cones of your retina, astaxanthin has you covered.
How Astaxanthin Benefits The Front of the Eye
Tears are critical for keeping eye surfaces lubricated. Without an adequate amount of them, your eyes can feel scratchy, sensitive, and appear red and irritated. Because we blink a lot less often when staring at digital screens, experiencing dry eyes is quite common. Luckily, astaxanthin can alleviate the occasional dry eye syndrome that results from all that extra screen time. It does this in three unique ways. First, it neutralizes the free radicals that can contribute to the fat oxidation of tears. Second, it improves the quality of tears so that they evaporate less quickly. Lastly, it helps enhance lacrimal gland functioning so that your eyes can produce more tears.
Daily supplementation with astaxanthin can prevent eye fatigue and eye strain from occurring and assuage it if it already has. Astaxanthin can also improve accommodation amplitude (the ability to focus on an object at varying distances) while using digital screens. Evidence also shows that astaxanthin can improve pupillary constriction, blurred vision, eye strain, and difficulty seeing near objects in individuals diagnosed with presbyopia (aka farsightedness).
Astaxanthin Supports Retinal Health
The retina is the innermost, light-sensitive part of the eye. Because it is highly metabolic and is almost continuously exposed to light, the retina is extremely vulnerable to oxidative damage and inflammation. Astaxanthin has been found to inhibit the retinal oxidative stress and inflammation in various cell populations within the retina, thus helping prevent the progression of retinal damage in conditions like glaucoma and inhibiting the cellular death that contributes to the development of AMD. Astaxanthin also helps improve retinal capillary blood flow ensuring your retina is healthy and function properly.
Protect Your Eyes With the Synergistic Nutrients in AstaMatrix®
Taking astaxanthin every day can help protect your eyes from the damaging effects of blue light radiation and support your overall eye health. AstaMatrix® not only contains the 4mg of astaxanthin that you need but has 500mg of Omega-3 EPA and DHA, as well as delta-tocotrienol. These nutrients not only work synergistically with astaxanthin by boosting its absorbency and effectiveness but may offer additional eye health benefits as well. More specifically, omega-3 DHA is necessary for the retina's normal development and functioning and may provide anti-inflammatory benefits to the eyes. Simultaneously, delta-tocotrienol (a unique form of vitamin E) offers further antioxidant protection to the eyes, as it works alongside astaxanthin to fight oxidation and inflammation.
If you’re ready to protect your eyes from damage and promote your overall eye health, you should start your day, every day with AstaMatrix®!