Fruit beats carrots for eyes

The old adage that carrots are good for your eyesight may not be true after all, scientists revealed today.

New studies show that fruit is more important than vegetables in preventing eye diseases that can cause blindness in people over 60.

Age-related maculopathy (ARM) is the leading cause of loss of eyesight in people aged 65 or older and as there is no effective cure, prevention is very important.

Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston looked into the effects of antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids - the compound that makes carrots orange.

More than 77,000 women and 40,000 men aged 50 and over took part in the US study and scientists followed them up over a period of 18 years for the women and 12 years for the men. They completed food questionnaires over that time.

The scientists found that 464 of the participants developed early ARM and 316 developed more severe neovascular ARM. Those that ate three or more servings of fruit per day had a 36 per cent lower risk of developing the disease compared to those who ate less than two portions of fruit.

The report said none of the vegetables appeared to lower the risk of developing either form of ARM except carrots and that was only a weak link.