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In a glamorous galaxy of beauty gummies and sleep gummies and CBD gummies, something as banal as an “Eye Care Gummy” usually gets no love.
But we are here today to announce that we are all about eye care. And maybe we’re late to the game! But the small print on gummy bottles is getting just a wee bit harder to read of late, and we realized that we might want to do something about it. (Okay, true, these gummies aren’t for the natural farsightedness that kicks in around 40, but it was a gentle reminder that our eyes are changing with time, and should probably give them the same love that we give, say, our nails.)
So here we are! And of course we were excited to see that our favorite organics queen had a gummy just waiting for us.
Mary Ruth Organics!
Mary Ruth is our diligent health mom, creator of rigorously crafted health supplements, so you don’t have to worry that your gummy is chock full of gmo garbage.
So we felt pretty good with Mary Ruth’s being our first foray into Lutein.
What’s Lutein?
Good question. We didn’t really know either. But if you do even a cursory search for any kind of eye health supplement, lutein appears everywhere as the way to go.
We’ve never written about Lutein before on this site, so we wanted to understand why it’s such a hot ocular dish.
Turns out that Lutein is a carotenoid, a class of pigments that give certain plants that distinct yellow-gold color. Things like carrots, pumpkins and daffodils. Basically, a bunch of things we love. (And it’s also why people always say that carrots are good for your eyes.)
Carotenoids are antioxidants that work to possibly prevent damage from free radicals, damage which can contribute to things like cancer and eye disease.1 Not too shabby, carotenoids!
Lutein is considered “photoprotective”, and there are some studies out there that have shown that long-term lutein supplementation can potentially improve symptoms of and even prevent age-related macular disease! 😳 Other research has been done into other potential benefits including the areas of cognition and cancer prevention.2
The other, lesser known (at least to us) ingredient here is Zeaxanthin, 500 mcg of it. Zeaxanthin is another carotenoid. Both of them work to prevent blue light damage. Who among us does not need protection against blue light damage these days??
It’s important to note that (as always), there is no official FDA determination on the efficacy of carotenoids to prevent or treat any particular condition. More research is needed! We’ve included some citations if you want to do a little further reading on all this!
Tasting Notes
These are strawberry flavored, done so with a vegan, non-GMO strawberry flavoring. But what we’ve really noticed with Mary Ruth is that she is not afraid to remind you that even though you’re eating a gummy, you’re actually eating Something Healthy. And these definitely have a “from the earth” vibe. In fact, it’s downright Flower Power.
The Lutein is derived from marigold flowers, so maybe that’s it? There’s something super earth and vegetal happening in this gummy, and it’s not just from the strawberry. (Tbh, we love that visual. Our eye health coming from our favorite flowers of childhood? Sigh.)
So yeah, totally on brand for Mary Ruth: they always taste a little healthy. Nothing too indulgent. And that may not be your gummy vitamin dream, but we kinda like it.
Final Thoughts
Reading up on Lutein has inspired us to keep it coming in our lives. We’re not exactly spring chickens, and our eyesight could use all the help it can get. There are a smattering of other lutein gummies out there, and we’re curious how they stand up to these.
But for now, we can rest assured that Mary Ruth and Marigolds have our back. Or our eyes’ back. You get what we’re saying.
(And seriously, they do kind of taste like marigolds.)
