AMBROSIALVision Support Lutein and Zeaxanthin Supplement | Vitamin A, Omega 3, Grape Seed, Green Tea & More | High Strength Eye Vitamins for Macular Support (Pack of 1-60 Softgels)

I had eye issues for years (scleritis and thyroid eye disease) which are now thankfully in remission, but I was recommended by both my eye consultants to consider lutein supplements as a 'belt and braces' to keep my eyes healthy. It's a small price to pay for improved eye health, and I've been taking lutein capsules for well over twenty years.I usually take pure lutein at a dose of 6mg per capsule. These capsules are 10mg per capsule but also contain omega 3 (fish oil) at 500mg and vitamin D3 at 10mcg - I also take both of these supplements on the recommendation of the same consultants. Win, win. The capsules also contain zeaxanthin and astraxanthin so you're getting quite a big hit of carotenoids.The capsules are a dark purple, lutein alone is red-orange, zeazanthin in yellow orange and astraxanthin is red-orange so you can see where the colour comes from. They also have quite a distinct smell of green tea, no surprise as that is one of the ingredients!The capsules themselves are made of gelatine, so they're not vegan - not an issue for me but it is for some, so it's worth mentioning.I usually pay £11.99 for 100 capsules of 6mg strength, but I usually buy them when they're on special offer, and these cost £17.75 for 60 capsules (as at 7 February 2023) so they seem more expensive, but you're getting a lot of bang for your buck - 30 capsules of the 20mg pure lutein cost £13.49 from my usual supplier, and as I've said, if you take into account the omega 3 and vitamin D3, these represent fantastic value for money.I've just run out of my usual lutein capsules so I'll be using these for the next two months, and I'm sure I will be more than satisfied with them.

These capsules are recommended to be taken one-a-day, so sixty days total. That works out to a cost of about £90 to take them for a full year, which is rather more than some other eye supplements. It's interesting to see the variety of ingredients between some different types, as although there are some commonalities (lutein and vitamin A being quite usual as far as I can tell) there also seem often to be a number of unique ingredients to each one. The green tea and grape seed extracts stood out for me here.The capsules themselves are cased in a fairly thick-seeming, opaque black gel, which one might be tempted to assume means that the manufacturers aren't willing to show off their ingredients as with a clear capsule case, but is possibly just because the presence of fish oil with all the various other additives would just not be particularly attractive to look at. The capsules seem to be of a reasonable quality, although it's always difficult to tell what effect supplements can have, particularly in the short term; they are certainly small enough and shaped appropriately to be easy to swallow.Overall, this seems like a decent enough supplement, although if you are planning on taking it for any length of time you should be aware of the how the cost adds up.

One capsule daily after food is recommended for Ambrosial's Vision Support lutein and zeaxanthin supplement so this sealed flip top pack represents a 2 month supply. Along with lutein for eye health, they also contain 500mg of omega 3 fish oil - making these unsuitable for vegans and strict vegetarians - and 10mcg of vitamin D3. I already take D3 and omega 3 and the amounts in this supplement wouldn't warrant reducing my existing intake of those.Personally, I think this Ambrosial Essentials supplement is too pricey. It arrives in a box. Not sure whether this is recyclable as it has a texture like it may be plasticised - and there's nothing on the box to indicate one way or the other. The pack I received has a Manufacturing Date of July 2022 and it states on-pack that the Expiry Date is 24 months after this - ie July 2024.This supplement is not made in this country or in Europe - it's made in India for a London-based company. On many quality supplements you'll notice that they've been independently assessed which is an assurance of quality. In small print on the pack here it states 'This product is not assessed by any authority.'A very tiny blue logo on the pack states 'WHO GMP Certified'. I'd not come across this particular logo before and, rather than being linked to the prestigious 'World Health Organisation', it appears to be linked to a less well known company called 'Revacure Life Sciences which is based in India. Maybe this is why the logo is not readily legible. I had to get out a magnifying glass to see it.You would hope this supplement conforms to EU standards. But I guess in our post-Brexit UK this is a moot point. My partner reckons supplements are still legally obliged to conform. I'm not sure this is the case - and I'm not as confident about this supplement as I would be about the same type of supplement made in the UK or within Europe. Certainly, it would be much cheaper to manufacture in India and certainly, in light of the product's price point, any saving appears not to be passed on to the consumer.