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A macular carotenoid supplement with omega-3 raises scores in precision sports

1 study · 72 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20262026, for, n = 492026, context, n = 492026, against, n = 21
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

There is one study, and it is well built: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, nine months of supplementation in competitive archers and target shooters in Singapore. The main result is in favour, but narrowly and across two sports taken together: the normalised score over sixty shots rises from 86.7 to 90.3 per cent in the active group and falls from 84.2 to 83.3 in the placebo group, a difference at the edge of significance (p = 0.047) and concentrated in the last two series of the test. In the archers alone, by contrast, the only precision measure does not move: group size does not differ between active and placebo (p = 0.712), and after nine months it widens slightly in both groups, from 76.4 to 87.3 millimetres on the supplement and from 104.0 to 108.0 on placebo, with eleven and ten archers per group. What changes clearly is in the body: blood lutein up 88 per cent, zeaxanthin up 107, skin carotenoids up 25, and better contrast sensitivity in dim light, while the athletes' own rating of their vision stays the same. In the archers sleep scores improve too. The study points two ways within itself: the score of archers and shooters goes up, the archers' group does not.

Also phrased as: "eye supplements and archery"; "lutein and zeaxanthin for archers"; "omega-3 and accuracy"; "macular pigment and score"; "supplements to see the target better"

In practice

In aiming sports there is growing talk of supplements for the eyes, on the idea that lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3 help you see the target better in strong sun or poor light, and that this turns into points.

Evidence

Status history

  1. 2025 Not studied That macular carotenoids protect the retina and sharpen contrast vision is an idea from vision research, but nobody has yet taken it to the target: the registry holds no study measuring the scores of archers or shooters with and without a supplement.
  2. 2026 Contested The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial arrives: nine months, archers and shooters in Singapore. The score of archers and shooters taken together rises from 86.7 to 90.3 per cent with the supplement and dips slightly on placebo (p = 0.047), with the advantage in the last two series. In the archers alone, though, the arrow group does not tighten (p = 0.712), and aiming time does not change. Blood and skin carotenoids rise, as do contrast sensitivity in dim light and, in the archers, sleep scores. There is one study, but its results point two ways: contested.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). A macular carotenoid supplement with omega-3 raises scores in precision sports (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/macular-carotenoids-omega-3-score

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_carotenoidiomega3punteggio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {A macular carotenoid supplement with omega-3 raises scores in precision sports},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/macular-carotenoids-omega-3-score},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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