Zeaxanthin Dietary Intake

How much zeaxanthin do I need each day?

2-4 mg. Recent studies indicate people get much smaller quantities of zeaxanthin in the diet than previously thought. Unlike lutein and lycopene, many servings a day of specific vegetables (corn and peppers for example) must be consumed to maintain a sufficient supply of zeaxanthin in the body.

Supplementing your meals with 2-4 mg. of natural zeaxanthin will assure your eyes and brain have enough zeaxanthin to function properly through time.

This chart shows the general population is receiving less than 8% of the suggested 2-4 mg of zeaxanthin through daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Teenagers are consuming less than 4%. This chart shows that lutein is more available than zeaxanthin through consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Zeaxanthin & Wolfberries (Goji)

Wolfberry is a wild bush found in the north west of China. Its fruit has been used in China for thousands of years in different forms: wolfberry fruits are consumed fresh or are added as an ingredient to bread, wine, stews and soups.

Wolfberry fruits have traditionally been used in China to improve vision disorders such as cataracts, retinopathy and macular degeneration. Studies have shown that wolfberry reduces dark-adaptation time and improves vision under subdued light. This action may be attributed to the zeaxanthin present in the fruit, which neutralizes the free radicals formed by sunlight. Wolfberries are now widely available in the United States and Canada, mainly as juice (which is marketed as “Goji” juice).

Wolfberries are now grown around the world, but still primarily in northwest China. Unrelated to the plant's geographic origin, the names Tibetan Goji and Himalayan Goji are in common use in products sold in the health food market.

Fresh wolfberries are almost never found outside their production regions; wolfberries are usually sold dried in open boxes or small packages. They contain many nutrients including amino-acids, vitamins, polysaccharides, linoleic acid, essential minerals and five carotenoids: beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, lycopene and cryptoxanthin.

Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary considerably, from 25 mg per 100 grams to 150 mg per 100 grams. The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant sources known for zeaxanthin content.

However, Goji juice does not have the same nutritious profile as the fresh or dried berries it is manufactured from. Much of the nutritional value is lost in the processing. Zeaxanthin is one of the nutrients that, unfortunately, is not present in the juice. So, while fresh or dried wolfberries are an excellent source of dietary zeaxanthin, Goji juice is not. The dried wolfberry (Goji) fruit contains 1.45 mg/g of zeaxanthin, while Goji juice contains only 0.045 mg/g of zeaxanthin (97 percent less than the dried fruit).