US researchers examined in prospective data the relation between dietary intake of carotenoids and vitamins C and E and the risk of cataract in women. Dietary intake was assessed at baseline in 39 876 female health professionals by using a detailed food frequency questionnaire. A total of 35 551 women provided detailed information on antioxidant nutrient intake from food and supplements and were free of a diagnosis of cataract. The main outcome measure was cataract, defined as an incident, age-related lens opacity responsible for a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity in the worse eye to 20/30 or worse based on self-report confirmed by medical record review. A total of 2031 cases of incident cataract were confirmed during a mean of 10 years of follow-up. Comparing women in the extreme quintiles, the multivariate RR of cataract was 0.82 for lutein/zeaxanthin and 0.86 for vitamin E from food and supplements.