The hero active

XanMax® — Marigold ExtractLutein and zeaxanthin, at 20 / 4 mg.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids the macula concentrates. XanMax® is a marigold extract standardized to carry both — 20 mg and 4 mg per serving, twice the amounts in the landmark AREDS2 eye formula.

XanMax® · Katra Phytochem · marigold-derived

Two carotenoids. One pigment.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are the carotenoids the retina pulls into the macula — where they stack into the yellow macular pigment that absorbs high-energy blue light before it reaches the photoreceptors.

  • Luteinouter macula
  • Zeaxanthinmacula centre
20 mg Lutein
4 mg Zeaxanthin

The same balance found in a whole-food diet — leafy greens, egg yolk, corn.

Twice the standard dose

This formula20 mg lutein4 mg zeaxanthin
AREDS2 standard10 mg lutein2 mg zeaxanthin

AREDS2 — the landmark eye-health trial most formulas follow — uses 10 mg lutein and 2 mg zeaxanthin. We dose double: 20 mg and 4 mg, the amounts used across the higher-dose macular-carotenoid research.

How the pigment filters blue light

Incoming blue light

Photoreceptors — shielded

What's happening

Screens throw off high-energy blue light all day. In the macula, lutein and zeaxanthin stack into a pigment that absorbs those wavelengths — a filter sitting just in front of the cells that sense light.

Taken daily, the carotenoids feed that pigment layer, so more of the blue light is absorbed before it ever reaches the photoreceptors.

Schematic illustration of how the pigment filters light — not a measurement or a depiction of any result.

What it does in the eye

  • Supports the blue-light filtering function of healthy eyesLutein and zeaxanthin settle into the macula and absorb the high-energy blue wavelengths screens give off — before they reach the cells that sense light.
  • Supports macular pigment densityThe two carotenoids are the raw material of macular pigment — the eye’s own built-in filter. Daily intake keeps that layer supplied.
  • Concentrated where the eye needs itOf all the carotenoids in the diet, lutein and zeaxanthin are the two the retina selectively pulls into the macula.
  • Helps ease eye fatigue from screen useLess blue light scattering inside the eye means less of the tired, strained feeling that builds through a long screen day.

The ingredient's own record

XanMax® · own trial

Six months, head-to-head with another lutein brand

36 adults · randomized, double-masked · XanMax® at 10 mg lutein · 6 months · PLoS ONE 2015

↑ 43%serum lutein from baseline in the XanMax® group
10 mgthe lutein dose in that trial — half the 20 mg in this capsule
MPODmacular pigment did not change significantly in either group at 10 mg
6 momeasured at baseline and at six months

Obana et al., PLoS ONE 2015;10(9):e0139257. A study of the XanMax® ingredient at 10 mg lutein — not this finished product, and not at this formula’s 20 mg dose.

XanMax® is a marigold (Tagetes erecta) extract standardized to 20% lutein and 4% zeaxanthin, supplied by Katra Phytochem. Cited research is of the ingredient at the dose shown — a study of the ingredient, not of this finished product. These structure/function statements have not been evaluated by the FDA; this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.