Remember when your mother forced you to eat carrots saying it will improve your eyesight? Well, she is not right anymore as new research suggests that beta carotene pills are useful against a common type of vision loss among older people.

Carrots, rich in beta carotene, have been seen to improve eyesight but experts believe that age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people 65 and older, can however not be cured by taking beta-carotene pills.

Older people suffering from this condition have blurred enter of the field of vision, making it difficult to read, drive, thread a needle and even recognize faces. The problem affects more than 10 million Americans and unfortunately has no cure.

Contrary to earlier studies, which had shown that beta carotene could slow or prevent vision loss in people with age-related macular degeneration, the new study says that there is no benefit of these supplements alone.

The researchers tracked data from more than 21,000 male doctors who were followed for an average of 12 years. After giving beta carotene to half of them and dummy pills to other half, it was found that nearly the same number of doctors in both groups developed the eye condition.

The findings thus suggest that beta carotene is not helpful in cases of macular disease but experts say it might be helpful only in combination with the other vitamins and zinc. However, experts have advised people to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day since it has a good combination of nutrients.