The Essential Role of Lutein for Pregnancy and Child Development

Pregnancy is a wondrous condition. After all, few things are more awe-inspiring than bringing a new human life into the world. But it’s also stressful, since the responsibility and health concerns involved are considerable.

As expectant mothers carry their developing fetus, they provide invaluable nourishment to their child, establishing a healthy foundation that will shape their entire lives.

While they juggle worries about high blood pressure, preterm infancy, and other numerous medical issues, expectant moms can add a significant sense of control and comfort to their pregnancy by having a heightened awareness of their overall health and nutrition.

Prenatal Vitamins

Taking prenatal vitamins is one of the most common ways to encourage optimal wellness for both mother and child. Research indicates that more than 75% of expectant mothers take one or more dietary supplement and 64% specifically take a prenatal vitamin. (1)

Despite the often-impressive formulas typically available in prenatal supplements, they commonly lack a crucial nutrient: lutein.

What Is Lutein?

Lutein is a natural pigment that has antioxidant properties. In the human body, it’s primarily concentrated in the macula, a small area of the eye’s retina. (2)

Lutein-rich foods include dark leafy greens, eggs, and colorful fruits and vegetables. Egg yolks are particularly bioavailable sources of lutein due to their high fat content. (3)

Since the body can’t produce lutein, it has to be obtained through diet or lutein supplementation. (4)

Lutein and Visual Function

Lutein is one of two major carotenoids—pigments on the yellow, orange, and red spectrum that have a range of health benefits. (5) Along with zeaxanthin, lutein is the primary xanthophyll carotenoid in the retina, and the macular pigments often appear as a pair, sometimes simply referred to as L&Z.

Not surprisingly, then, as macular pigment carotenoids, L&Z are best known for their support of eye health.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are crucial for visual function, particularly in the development of the retina. (6) These nutrients also protect eyesight later in life, since research has shown that high carotenoid concentrations, especially dietary lutein, reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a relatively common vision condition in those age 60 and older. (7)

Macular pigment optical density, which is influenced by L&Z intake, has been associated with improved visual performance, including better contrast sensitivity and visual processing speed. (8)

Maternal Intake of Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Lutein and zeaxanthin are important dietary carotenoids that play a key role in pregnancy and child development. (9)

Optimal maternal nutrition, including L&Z intake, is essential during pregnancy to encourage the overall health of mothers and babies.

Maternal dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin influences the developing fetus, particularly in the formation of macular pigment. (9)

Supplemental macular carotenoids have been shown to bolster maternal antioxidant status and infant neurodevelopment and visual performance. (10)

L&Z Intake and Maternal Skin Carotenoids

Skin carotenoid assessment is one of the best ways to measure L&Z intake, and this non-invasive technique is especially helpful for expectant moms. The resulting skin carotenoid status serves as a biomarker that points to dietary wellness and antioxidant levels, ideally indicating adequate maternal nutrition. (11)

Maternal skin carotenoids, including lutein and zeaxanthin, are considered to be a consistent indicator of maternal carotenoid status. Antioxidant vitamins and total energy intake have been shown to positively influence maternal skin carotenoid concentrations. (12)

Studies have found that continuous factors, such as maternal age (the woman’s age while pregnant) and gestational age (the measurement of pregnancy length), can be associated with maternal skin carotenoid concentrations. (13)

Research that has looked at maternal dietary intake and maternal age indicates that healthier eating habits and a general higher age for expectant moms have positive associations. (14)

L&Z and Fetal Development

Fetal development is the crucial months-long process that extends from conception to birth, so it’s an extremely important period for both mother and child.

On a fundamental level, lutein, as a notable antioxidant, protects developing tissues from harmful oxidative stress, and healthy maternal intake of lutein and zeaxanthin during pregnancy has been associated with optimal fetal development. (15)

Unlike some substances, L&Z can cross the placental barrier, enabling nutrient deposits in the retina and other key areas during fetal development. (9)

Together, maternal lutein and zeaxanthin perform an important role in fetal development, especially the formation of the retina and the brain, allowing the accumulation of these carotenoids in the developing baby's retinal and neural tissues long before birth. (9)

Highlighting the transfer of nutrients from mother to child, maternal L&Z intake during pregnancy is positively linked to higher levels of these xanthophyll carotenoids in umbilical cord blood. And, in fact, lutein and zeaxanthin are abundant in healthy umbilical cord blood, indicating their important role in fetal development. (16)

L&Z and Developing Eyesight

It’s clear now that, as macular pigments, lutein and zeaxanthin play a huge part in the retina, so L&Z intake during pregnancy has a major effect on developing vision, both in utero and once a baby has been born.  

Studies link higher maternal carotenoid intake to better infant visual outcomes, including optimal levels of macular pigment optical density, an important measurement of eye health. (17)

In addition, due to the sharing of nutrients, expectant moms can develop ocular carotenoid depletion during the later stages of pregnancy, but optimal levels of lutein and zeaxanthin can counteract this concern, once again showing the benefits for mothers as well as infants. (13)

Mothers continue to benefit from L&Z intake after giving birth, since higher blood concentrations of these macular carotenoids are linked to protecting the eyes against age-related macular degeneration. (5)

Maternal Lutein and Breast Milk

After babies are born, the benefits from their mother’s L&Z intake don’t end there. Lutein and zeaxanthin, along with many other essential nutrients, are all present in breast milk.

The lutein and zeaxanthin available in breast milk are an important source of these carotenoids for infants, especially since more than 80% of mothers breastfeed during at least the first few weeks following birth. (20)

Breast milk lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations, not surprisingly, are influenced by maternal dietary intake of these antioxidants, and breast milk lutein concentrations have been associated with cognitive and visual function in babies. (21)

L&Z and Child Health

The nutrients that kids pick up when they are in utero and infancy naturally set the stage for the rest of their childhood and beyond.

Lutein and zeaxanthin continue to be crucial for child health, particularly in how these macular pigments influence the development of the retina and the brain, affecting visual and cognitive function, respectively. (22)

L&Z intake has been shown to encourage cognitive function and visual performance in children, including brain development and macular pigment augmentation. (22)

Additional research is required to fully grasp the effects of lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation on child health, with more randomized clinical trials needed.

The Importance of Lutein Supplementation

Since many people, even health-conscious expectant mothers, don’t get enough lutein and zeaxanthin in their routine diets, a key way to get more of these macular pigments is through supplementation.

Prenatal carotenoid supplementation with L&Z has been found to have a beneficial effect on both maternal and infant health outcomes. (10)

For moms, supplementation with lutein and zeaxanthin during pregnancy may improve maternal systemic carotenoid status and ocular carotenoid status. (13) Additionally, lutein supplementation during this time may have a positive influence on visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in mothers due to the role of the macular carotenoids in protecting the human retina, particularly its photoreceptors, from ultraviolet light damage. (4)

And, for children, prenatal carotenoid supplementation has been linked to improved offspring verbal intelligence and cognitive development. (23) Furthermore, babies whose mothers received lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation during their last trimester had a notable increase in cord blood concentrations of L&Z. (13)

Supplements that provide about 10 mg of lutein daily reveal promising results in research, but there are currently no definitive suggestions for prenatal carotenoid supplementation. (4)

Health professionals often recommend a daily adult intake of 10 mg and 2 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin, respectively, which may be used as a guideline for expectant mothers. (18)

Prenatal carotenoid supplementation needs can be met with Performance Lab® Vision, a high-quality eyesight formula that reaches these exact optimal levels of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Final Thoughts

Lutein and zeaxanthin are dietary carotenoids that play an essential role in overall health, but particularly benefit the crucial stages of pregnancy and child development.

Lutein and zeaxanthin accumulate in the retina and brain, offering protection from age-related macular degeneration and supporting cognitive function. (18)

Intake of lutein and zeaxanthin while pregnant is associated with a positive impact on health outcomes for both mother and child. (23)

Dietary intake of L&Z and gestational age are important variables in determining pregnancy outcomes. (24)

Prenatal vitamins often do not include lutein and zeaxanthin, pointing to the key role that a well-formulated supplement like Performance Lab® Vision can play in maternal and child health.

Pregnant women should contact their healthcare provider prior to taking any supplements.