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Are carrots good for your eyes? What is true

The idea that carrots let you see in the dark has a grain of truth, vitamin A. But it applies to those who are deficient, not to those who already get enough. And beta-carotene in pills has a downside too.

By the editorial teamUpdated 8 min read10 studies and sources citedAI-generated text
Illustration Do carrots help you see in the dark? Partly: beta-carotene becomes vitamin A, which the retina needs in low light. But the benefit applies to people who are deficient; for those already getting enough there is no evidence.

‘Eat your carrots, they help you see in the dark.’ Generations of children have heard it repeated, and the question has remained: are carrots good for your eyesight, or is it just a way to get the plate finished?

Partly true, but not as people think. Carrots contain beta-carotene, which the body turns into vitamin A, and vitamin A really is needed to see in low light. The benefit, however, concerns those who are deficient. On the historical origin of the saying there are stories in circulation that we could not verify in scientific sources; its grain of truth, on the other hand, is well documented.

In brief

  • Vitamin A is needed for the pigments with which the retina captures light; when it is lacking, vision in the dark falters1.
  • Vitamin A deficiency is among the leading causes of avoidable blindness in the poorest countries2,3.
  • In children in countries where deficiency is widespread, vitamin A given as a supplement reduces night blindness by about two thirds4.
  • In well-nourished people, beta-carotene supplements did not reduce the risk of macular degeneration or of cataract in randomised controlled trials6,7.
  • In smokers, beta-carotene in pills was associated with more lung cancers8,9.
In this article
  1. The grain of truth: vitamin A and vision in the dark
  2. Carrots and eyesight: where vitamin A is truly lacking
  3. And what about those who already get enough?
  4. The downside: beta-carotene in pills and smoking
  5. Frequently asked questions
  6. Sources

The grain of truth: vitamin A and vision in the dark

In the retina, the rods are the cells that work in low light. Their pigment, rhodopsin, is made of a protein, opsin, and a small molecule derived from vitamin A. When bright light ‘uses up’ the pigment, the return of sensitivity in the dark takes time, and it is a process that falters when vitamin A is lacking1. It is no coincidence that night blindness, difficulty seeing in low light, is a disorder due mainly to vitamin A deficiency5.

Carrots and eyesight: where vitamin A is truly lacking

Vitamin A deficiency is concentrated where there are poverty, frequent infections and few foods that contain it; worldwide it is declining, probably also thanks to supplementation programmes2. Its most serious consequence for the eyes is xerophthalmia, the set of eye damage due to the deficiency, ranging from night blindness to forms that lead to blindness3. According to an estimate from the early 2000s, worldwide 4.4 million pre-school children had xerophthalmia and 6 million women suffered from night blindness in pregnancy3.

The study

Vitamin A for children: the Cochrane review

A Cochrane review updated in 2022 pooled 47 randomised trials with about 1.2 million children aged between 6 months and 5 years, almost all in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the two trials that measured it (22,972 children), vitamin A reduced night blindness by about two thirds, with evidence of moderate certainty; all-cause mortality fell by 12%, with evidence of high certainty. Among the side effects, more vomiting in the following 48 hours. An important detail: the review concerns vitamin A given as a supplement, not beta-carotene or the foods that contain it4.

Even where deficiency is widespread, vitamin A alone is not always enough. In a randomised trial in Nepal of 202 pregnant women with night blindness, adding zinc to vitamin A helped those with low blood zinc to recover vision in the dark5.

And what about those who already get enough?

Here the myth cracks. In the research we consulted there are no studies showing that someone who is not deficient sees better in the dark by eating more carrots; there are, on the other hand, randomised trials of beta-carotene in well-nourished people, with disappointing results.

A 2017 Cochrane review examined two large trials, in Finland and the United States, with 22,083 men followed for 6 and 12 years: beta-carotene did not reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, with evidence of high certainty6. For cataract, a 2019 meta-analysis found that in randomised trials beta-carotene did not reduce the risk; in observational studies those who took more vitamin A in the diet had less cataract, but this type of study shows an association and cannot prove a cause7. In the AREDS2 study, finally, removing beta-carotene from the formula studied for macular degeneration did not change the progression of the disease8. We discuss it in our articles on the AREDS and AREDS2 studies and on what to eat for your eyesight.

The downside: beta-carotene in pills and smoking

A randomised trial in male smokers, followed for 5–8 years, set out to see whether beta-carotene reduced lung cancers. The opposite happened: among those who took it new cases were 18% higher and overall mortality 8% higher, mainly from lung cancers and heart disease9. In AREDS2 there were 23 lung cancers among those taking beta-carotene and 11 among those not taking it, that is, 2 people in 100 against about 1 in 100, largely former smokers8. The link between smoking and eye health is described in our article on smoking and eyes.

Not even excess vitamin A is harmless: with supplements, cases of toxicity are described, rare, and in pregnant animals both deficiency and excess have been linked to malformations10. Choices about supplements should be made with the doctor.

When to talk to an ophthalmologist

  • If you notice you see much worse than before in low light, for example when driving in the evening: the possible causes are several, including inherited ones, and must be assessed by the ophthalmologist1. We discuss it in our article on night driving.
  • If you are thinking about vitamin A or beta-carotene supplements, especially if you smoke, have smoked or are pregnant: talk to the doctor first8,9,10.

Frequently asked questions

Does eating carrots help you see in the dark?

It can help those whose night vision is reduced by a vitamin A deficiency: in children in countries where deficiency is widespread, vitamin A reduces night blindness4. For those who are not deficient we found no studies showing a benefit.

Does beta-carotene reduce the risk of macular degeneration?

In randomised trials in people without the disease it did not reduce it6, and in AREDS2 removing it from the formula did not change progression8.

Is too much vitamin A harmful?

With supplements, excesses have been associated with cases of toxicity, rare10; in smokers, beta-carotene in pills with more lung cancers8,9.

The verdict: carrots contain the raw material of a vitamin that is essential for seeing in the dark, and where that vitamin is lacking providing it really changes things4. For those who already get enough there is no evidence of an advantage, and beta-carotene in pills has given no benefits to the eyes in studies, while in smokers it has shown risks6,9.

Sources

  1. Fain GL, Cornwall MC. The physiology of dark adaptation: Progress and future directions. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2025;109:101407. doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101407 · PubMed 41015274 · PMC
  2. Sherwin JC, Reacher MH, Dean WH, Ngondi J. Epidemiology of vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia in at-risk populations. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2012;106(4):205-14. doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.01.004 · PubMed 22326691
  3. West KP. Vitamin A deficiency disorders in children and women. Food Nutr Bull. 2003;24(4 Suppl):S78-90. doi:10.1177/15648265030244S204 · PubMed 17016949
  4. Imdad A, Mayo-Wilson E, Haykal MR, Regan A, Sidhu J, Smith A, et al. Vitamin A supplementation for preventing morbidity and mortality in children from six months to five years of age. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022;3(3):CD008524. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008524.pub4 · PubMed 35294044 · PMC
  5. Christian P, Khatry SK, Yamini S, Stallings R, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR, et al. Zinc supplementation might potentiate the effect of vitamin A in restoring night vision in pregnant Nepalese women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;73(6):1045-51. doi:10.1093/ajcn/73.6.1045 · PubMed 11382658
  6. Evans JR, Lawrenson JG. Antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplements for preventing age-related macular degeneration. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;7(7):CD000253. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000253.pub4 · PubMed 28756617 · PMC
  7. Jiang H, Yin Y, Wu CR, Liu Y, Guo F, Li M, et al. Dietary vitamin and carotenoid intake and risk of age-related cataract. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019;109(1):43-54. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqy270 · PubMed 30624584
  8. Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Research Group. Lutein + zeaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids for age-related macular degeneration: the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2013;309(19):2005-15. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.4997 · PubMed 23644932
  9. Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Group. The effect of vitamin E and beta carotene on the incidence of lung cancer and other cancers in male smokers. N Engl J Med. 1994;330(15):1029-35. doi:10.1056/NEJM199404143301501 · PubMed 8127329
  10. Bendich A, Langseth L. Safety of vitamin A. Am J Clin Nutr. 1989;49(2):358-71. doi:10.1093/ajcn/49.2.358 · PubMed 2492745

Study titles are given in their original language of publication. The superscript numbers in the text refer to these sources; citation details come from PubMed (National Library of Medicine).

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