If you are over age 55, you need zinc to protect against age-related loss of vision. Seniors with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), in particular, could benefit from zinc’s protective qualities. And according to the findings of a nationwide clinical trial of people ages 55 to 80 published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, high levels of zinc combined with high levels of antioxidants significantly reduce your risk of advanced AMD.

In this clinical trial of 4,757 participants called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NEI), scientists noted that those at high risk of developing advanced AMD decreased their risk by 25 percent when they took high doses of zinc (along with 2 milligrams of copper to prevent copper deficiency), vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene.

Those participants in the study who took only zinc or only antioxidants also lowered their risk of advanced AMD, but at a more moderate rate of protection than those who were given the combination of supplements.

Plus, the benefits of the zinc and antioxidant doses were only seen in the people at high risk for developing advanced AMD—those with mild forms or no signs of the disease saw no benefit. And the same supplements taken in the same doses had no effect on age-related cataracts.

“The nutrients are not a cure for AMD, nor will they restore vision already lost from the disease,” cautioned NEI director Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D. “But they will play a key role in helping people at high risk for developing advanced AMD keep their vision.”

Could you achieve the same protection by simply eating a diet rich in these nutrients? I am in agreement with Frederick Ferris, M.D., the NEI director of clinical research and chairman of AREDS, who believes that it would be very difficult to get the high amount of the nutrients used in the study simply from your diet alone.

So by all means, include plenty of green, leafy vegetables as well as zinc-rich foods such as dried beans, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, peas, soy products and whole grains in your diet. But you will also need to supplement your diet to further protect your precious sight from advanced AMD.