Lutein, the antioxidant found in dark green leafy vegetables and many fruits, has been reported to protect skin from sun damages according to a report released by Harvard Medical School. Lutein's new role in skin cancer prevention was announced in the recent news.

Salvador Gonzalez, M.D., Ph.D., professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, lead a team for lutein research, and demonstrated that mice led lutein-rich diets did not develop skin cancer as quickly as control mice when both were subjected to UVB light, which is an invisible sunlight responsible for sunburn, tan, skin cancer and aging changes in the skin. In addition, when tumors did appear, there were fewer of them among the mice fed with high lutein content food than in the control group, and the tumors were smaller in size.

In other for the skin to reap the most benefits from lutein, applying lutein antioxidant in a topical form is recommended by Kemin. However, the Harvard group's study was based on ingested lutein only.