It often turns out that nutrients have multiple benefits, helping you stay healthy in ways you might not even imagine.

Take the carotenoid zeaxanthin, which is related to vitamin A. This nutrient has long been used — along with another carotenoid called lutein — to help improve vision in people dealing with age-related macular degeneration.

This organic pigment also acts as an antioxidant and is found in dark green leafy vegetables, oranges, grapes, mango, tangerines, and corn.

The Cleveland Clinic says zeaxanthin also helps prevent liver disease, fights atherosclerosis, and protects skin from damage by blue light.

And now researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center have found that it strengthens the cancer-fighting activity of T cells in your immune system, and improves the benefits of immunotherapy in cancer treatment.

In the lab, zeaxanthin specifically helped knocked out melanoma, multiple myeloma, and glioblastoma tumor cells.

I mention this to point out that it makes sense to focus on anticancer nutritional options we know about and integrate them into your daily diet. After all, from 2010 through 2019, the incidence of 14 types of cancer — including breast and colorectal cancers — increased among people of all ages. And it's thought that the obesity epidemic is a huge factor in that.

If you're at high risk for cancer or have been diagnosed, ask your doctor about taking zeaxanthin supplements (they're very safe). And for the full range of nutritional warriors that can protect and restore your long-term health, check out my book, "What to Eat When."