To assess the relation between usual nutrient intake and subsequently diagnosed age-related nuclear lens opacities.Subjects: Four hundred seventy-eight nondiabetic women aged 53 to 73 years from the Boston, Mass, area without previously diagnosed cataracts sampled from the Nurses' Health Study cohort.Methods: Usual nutrient intake was calculated as the average intake from 5 food frequency questionnaires that were collected during a 13-to 15-year period before the evaluation of lens opacities. The duration of vitamin supplement use was determined from 7 questionnaires collected during this same period. We defined nuclear opacities as a nuclear opalescence grade of 2.5 or higher using the Lens Opacification Classification System III. Results:The prevalence of nuclear opacification was significantly lower in the highest nutrient intake quintile category relative to the lowest quintile category for vitamin C (PϽ.001), vitamin E (P = .02), riboflavin (P=.005), folate (P=.009), ␤-carotene (P=.04), and lutein/ zeaxanthin (P = .03). After adjustment for other nutrients, only vitamin C intake remained significantly associated (P=.003 for trend) with the prevalence of nuclear

Our results support a role for vitamin C in diminishing the risk of cortical cataracts in women aged <60 y and for carotenoids in diminishing the risk of PSC cataracts in women who have never smoked.