Protect your Eyes from Blue Light

VisiVite
Blue Light
Basher
High energy blue light is everywhere:
cell phones, TV’s, LED lights and even
sunlight itself. Too much exposure to
blue light can lead to digital eyestrain
and damage to retinal cells. In
developing VisiVite Blue Light Basher,
Dr. Krawitz and our nutritional scientists
utilized the antioxidants and pigments
that were already successful in the
plant world to cope with managing
high energy light waves. VisiVite
Blue Light Basher uniquely
replenishes the macular pigment
layer and adds additional ingredients that absorb
and dissipate high-energy blue light in nature.

What Is Blue Light?
High energy blue light is visible and directly
next to ultraviolet on the light spectrum. In
other words, it’s the first high-energy light in the
light spectrum that we are able to see, and it’s
only a few wavelengths away from ultraviolet
light. Blue light has a wavelength between 400-
450 nanometers, whereas UV light spans from
100-400 nanometers.
Blue light is of concern because it has more
energy per photon of light than other colors in
the visible spectrum, i.e. green or red light. Blue
light, at high enough doses, is therefore more
likely to cause damage when absorbed by various
cells in our body.
Where Is
Blue Light?
Sunlight contains blue light, but because it
contains a mixture of the complete spectrum
of visible colors, we don’t perceive the light as
being blue.
LED lights, televisions and computers, on the
other hand, emit more blue light than traditional
light sources. Blue light can stimulate your
biological circadian clock, keeping you awake,
disrupting sleep, or having adverse effects on
your circadian rhythm.

Does Blue Light Cause Eye Damage?
There are no studies showing that
blue light from electronic devices
causes macular degeneration.
However, there are studies in the
laboratory showing that blue light can
cause cellular damage, either directly
to retinal cells or to the supporting
retinal pigment epithelial cells directly
below the retina.
• A study in the professional journal,
Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual
Science concluded that the decay
molecule, lipofuscin, accumulated
in the retinal pigment epithelial layer
following exposure to blue light and
were indicative of cellular destruction.
• Another article in IOVS concluded
that blue light damage in animal eyes
was a result of turnover of the molecule,
rhodopsin, found in the retina.
• A study in the journal Cells concluded
that blue light impaired cell viability
and induces cell death.
Plant Pigment
Wavelength Absorption
How Does Nature Protect Itself Against Blue Light?
Fortunately, the plant world, exposed to allday
light from the sun, has already developed
mechanisms for protecting itself against high
energy light, including Ultraviolet A, B and C,
as well as blue light. And the answer is in the
antioxidant properties of its colorful pigments.
These pigments not only help to absorb light
and convert it to food and energy that the plant
can use, but because there is in many cases
an excess of light energy required for growth,
the pigment also has the ability to dissipate
the high energy light that can activate unstable
forms of oxygen, which cause damage from
“oxidation.”

Blue Light Basher Ingredients Include:
Lutein 10 mg and Zeaxanthin 2 mg
The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin are plant-derived
pigments. Because these carotenoids absorb visible light and
are incorporated into ocular tissues, they can influence the
optical characteristics of the human eye. The yellow-orange
color of carotenoids has been shown to build healthy macular
pigment optical density (MPOD) which then selectively
absorbs the shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum from
400–500 nm, with a peak absorbance of blue light at 460 nm).
Blue light is thus filtered, with studies showing improvement
in contrast and glare recovery. Studies have also shown that
two of the major mechanisms of protection offered by lutein
and zeaxanthin against age-related blue light damage are
the quenching of singlet oxygen and other reactive oxygen
species and the absorption of blue light.*
Lycopene 2 mg
Lycopene is the major carotenoid of the tomato and is
a very efficient singlet oxygen quencher in the group of
carotenoids. Following ingestion of lycopene or tomatoderived
products rich in lycopene, photoprotective effects
have been demonstrated. Lycopene has a stronger singlet
oxygen-quenching capacity (antioxidant activity) than several
carotenoids, including lutein.*
Astaxanthin 1 mg
Astaxanthin is a red-colored, xanthophyll carotenoid that
occurs in trout, microalgae, yeast, and shrimp, among other
sea creatures. Plants and living creatures with a red color are
even more susceptible to blue light damage than those which
are green. Research also suggests that some organisms
secrete astaxanthin in response to intense light to prevent cell
death.*
Red beet root extract 50 mg
Betanin is one example of a betalain, and
is the main pigment found in red beet,
and studies show it has high antioxidant
and radical scavenging properties for
protection against certain oxidative
stress-related disorders. Studies suggest
that betalains are more stable and
less prone to oxidative damage than
anthocyanidins. Betanin preferentially
absorbs light in in the yellow, green,
ultraviolet and blue wavelengths. (280–
400nm and 500 – 550 nm).*
Turmeric 40 mg
Turmeric is a bright orange spice
containing the active compound
curcumin. Given orally, this compound has long been
studied for its ability to address inflammation and the
subsequent tissue damage that results in many conditions.
Recent research also points to its ability to work topically
in burns and as eyedrops for glaucoma. While the extent
and mechanism of blue light effect are not yet completely
understood, one theory is that oxidative stress from the high
energy wavelength is ultimately followed by an inflammatory
cascade, releasing a variety of pro-inflammatory factors,
including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-1. These
mechanisms may be responsible for lower cell death seen in
cultured cell studies.*
Chlorophyll 50 mg
Chlorophyll’s absorption of blue light, and to a lesser
extent red light, is what gives the leaves of many plants
their green color. In addition to its important function in
photosynthesis, chlorophyll also performs the critically
important activity of dissipating the sun’s energy so that
intense light and oxidative damage do not burn and kill the
leaves. Chlorophyll is nature’s method of dissipating highenergy
light energy, including Ultraviolet (UV-A 315 – 400
nm, UV-B 280 – 315 nm, and UV-C 100 – 280 nm) and blue
light (380 - 500 nm). Chlorophyll acts as a light quencher,
which protects the plant; and its ability to avoid degradation
is facilitated by carotenoids, such as lutein, zeaxanthin and
astaxanthin.*
Bilberry 50 mg
Billberry has been studied primarily in its ability to foster
healthy circulation of blood to the small vessels feeding the
eye. But in animal and tissue samples, research also shows
that bilberry reduces cell destruction
in response to blue and other high
energy light wavelengths in the retinal
photoreceptor layer and underlying
retinal pigment epithelial cells. Its
mechanism appears to reduce the
formation of reactive oxygen species,
and thus act as an antioxidant.*
Zinc 10 mg
Zinc is involved in numerous aspects of
cellular metabolism. It is required for the
catalytic activity of approximatley 100
enzymes, and it plays a role in immune
reactivity, the formation of proteins,
wound healing, DNA formation and cell
division. Studies now also support zinc’s
role in protecting the eyes from damage
due to strong light exposure.*
*https://www.visivite.com/products/visivite-blue-light-basher