Three minutes of staring into a red light once a week may help our eyesight as we get older, new research this week suggests.

Researchers in the UK found that volunteers given a weekly session with red light in the morning performed better on tests of their color vision.

Instead of using the light every day, they scaled it back to once a week.

They were then evaluated on their color vision, based on tests of distinguishing color contrast, up to a week later.

Overall, those who got the treatment in the morning showed a 17% improvement in their color vision on average, even a week later.

“We demonstrate that one single exposure to long wave deep red light in the morning can significantly improve declining vision, which is a major health and wellbeing issue, affecting millions of people globally,” said Jeffrey in a statement from the University College London.

“In the near future, a once a week three-minute exposure to deep red light could be done while making a coffee, or on the commute listening to a podcast, and such a simple addition could transform eye care and vision around the world,” Jeffrey said in the University College London release.