Astaxanthin

What is it?

Astaxanthin /æstəˈzænθɨn/ is a keto-carotenoid. It belongs to a larger class of phytochemicals known as terpenes, which are built from five carbon precursors; isopentenyl diphosphate (or IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (or DMAPP). Astaxanthin is classified as a xanthophyll (originally derived from a word meaning "yellow leaves" since yellow plant leaf pigments were the first recognized of the xanthophyll family of carotenoids), but currently employed to describe carotenoid compounds that have oxygen-containing moities, hydroxyl (-OH) or ketone (C=O), such as zeaxanthin and canthaxanthin. Indeed, astaxanthin is a metabolite of zeaxanthin and/or canthaxanthin, containing both hydroxyl and ketone functional groups.

 

Astaxanthin is found in microalgae, yeast, salmon, trout, krill, shrimp, crayfish, crustaceans, and the feathers of some birds. It provides the red colour of salmon meat and the red colour of cooked shellfish. Professor Basil Weedon's group was the first to prove the structure of astaxanthin by synthesis, in 1975.

 

                  Anti-Ageing Benefits of Astaxanthin

Gorgeous Skin and Sunscreen Protection!

Astaxanthin has been shown to protect the body's largest organ. The studies are clear and consistent and show excellent results for helping with skin moisture levels, smoothness, elasticity, fine wrinkles, and spots or freckles.
It helps protect against sunburn and risk of illness.
It prevents the sun's harmful UV rays damage from occurring.
It reduces hyperpigmentation (better known as age spots).
It reduces the risk of skin cancer.

It increases physical endurance and reduces muscle damage.
It reduces joint and tendon pain caused by inflammation.

It reduces eye fatigue and improves visual acuity.
It provides wrinkle reduction by internal supplementation.

It provides cytokine regulation; inhibiting the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

It improves gastric health; and reduces infection/inflammation of H. pylori, spiral-shaped bacterium that can damage stomach and duodenal tissue, causing ulcers.

 

 What Makes Astaxanthin Special?

There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:
Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.

Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.

Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reduces your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it incorporates into cell membranes.
It's a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
It's a powerful natural anti-inflammatory.

There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin. It is very safe and non-toxic.

Protection from the Sun

 

 

The sun offers enormous benefits in terms of vitamin D. But too much of a good thing can be harmful.
Many athletes often feeling ill from overexposure to the sun after long trainings outside. And many report that astaxanthin has allowed them to stay in the sun for longer periods of time without feeling ill, and without burning. Less burning can mean lower skin cancer risk.

How does it do this?

 

 

The answer lies in how the Haematococcus pluvialis protects itself from intense ultraviolet radiation. The algae creates the astaxanthin pigment as a natural sunscreen, and by consuming this pigment, you are creating your own "internal sunscreen." In other words, the same powerful antioxidants that protect the algae from the sun's rays can help protect YOU as well.

Sunburn is actually an inflammatory process. Although the exact pathway by which astaxanthin protects your skin from burning is not yet known, it is almost certain that its anti-inflammatory activities are involved.

Current research suggests, if you take at least 2 mg of astaxanthin daily for a month, it will be less likely for you to get sunburned. It takes two to four weeks for the pigment to build up enough in your tissues to offer protection from sunburn, so two weeks of treatment is about the minimum. It is important to use only natural astaxanthin, not the synthetic version.
  

 

Natural sources

As a natural source, the following can be found in nature (or a production facility) with the approximate astaxanthin concentrations:

Source	Astaxanthin concentration (ppm)
Salmonids	~ 5
Plankton	~ 60
Krill	~ 120
Arctic shrimp (P borealis)	~ 1,200
Phaffia yeast	~ 10,000
Haematococcus pluvialis	~ 40,000

  

Salmonidae is the name of a family of ray-finned fish, the only living family currently placed in the order Salmoniformes. It includes salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes, and graylings. The Atlantic salmon and trout of the genus Salmo give the family and order their names.

Plankton are a diverse group of organisms that live in the water column and cannot swim against a current. They provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such as fish and whales.

Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea and are found in all the world's oceans.
Most krill species display large daily vertical migrations, thus providing food for predators near the surface at night and in deeper waters during the day.

Arctic shrimp (Pandalus borealis) is a species of caridean shrimp found in cold parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The FAO refers to them as the northern prawn. Other common names include pink shrimp, deepwater prawn, deep-sea prawn, great northern prawn, crevette nordique and northern shrimp.
  

 Phaffia yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous exhibits 100% free, non-esterified astaxanthin, which is considered advantageous because it is readily absorbable and need not be hydrolysed in the digestive tract of the fish. In contrast to synthetic and bacteria sources of astaxanthin, yeast sources of astaxanthin consist mainly of the (3R, 3’R)-form, an important astaxanthin source in nature. Finally, the geometrical isomer, all-E, is higher in yeast sources of astaxanthin, as compared to synthetic sources.

Haematococcus pluvialis is a freshwater species of Chlorophyta from the family Haematococcaceae. This species is well known for its high content of the strong antioxidant astaxanthin, which is important in aquaculture, and cosmetics.  The high amount of astaxanthin is present in the resting cells, which are produced and rapidly accumulated when the environmental conditions become unfavorable for normal cell growth. Examples of such conditions include bright light, high salinity, and low availability of nutrients. Haematococcus pluvialis is usually found in temperate regions around the world. Their resting cysts are often responsible for the blood-red colour seen in the bottom of dried out rock pools and bird baths. This colour is caused by astaxanthin which is believed to protect the resting cysts from the detrimental effect of UV-radiation, when exposed to direct sunlight
 

 

 

 

 

Astaxanthin, unlike several carotenes and one other known carotenoid, is not converted to vitamin A (retinol) in the human body. Like other carotenoids, astaxanthin has self-limited absorption orally and such low toxicity by mouth that no toxic syndrome is known. It is an antioxidant with a slightly lower antioxidant activity in some model systems than other carotenoids. However, in living organisms the free-radical terminating effectiveness of each carotenoid is heavily modified by its lipid solubility, and thus varies with the type of system being protected.
While astaxanthin is a natural dietary component, it can also be used as a food supplement. The supplement is intended for human, animal, and aquaculture consumption. The commercial production of astaxanthin comes from both natural and synthetic sources.

Synthetic sources  

Nearly all commercial astaxanthin for aquaculture is produced synthetically.
However, synthetic production of astaxanthin is not preferred in some cases because synthetic astaxanthin contains a mixture of stereoisomers.
Astaxanthin is fairly abundant and obtainable from natural sources, and some consumers prefer natural products over synthetic ones.

Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of the highly inferior synthetic astaxanthin, even though it costs more. They realise that it's better for the health of animals, and it's far superior for production of a healthy colour or pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility and reproduction.
Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.
If the salmon label does not read "wild" or "naturally colored," you're probably going to be eating a colouring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times stronger as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.
Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version.


  References:   Seyoung Choi and Sangho Koo, J. Org. Chem
Cooper, R. D. G.; Davis, J. B.; Leftwick, A. P.; Price, C.; Weedon, B. (1975). "Carotenoids and related compounds. Frank Shipley Collins. Lorentz, R. T., and G. R. Cysewski.  S. Boussiba, and A. Vonshak.  Dr.Nicholas Perricone.  Dr. Mercola.