Astaxanthin
Carotenoid category: xanthophyll. Protects you from sunlight. Most supplements contain astaxanthin extract from haematococcus pluvialisis, which is a freshwater species of green algae, although astaxanthin itself is a deep red colour. Synthetic is not as powerful.
Supplements usually mix with oil as a carrier.
haematococcus pluvialisis contains around 3.8% of the dry weight of astaxanthin. Thus 160mg of haematococcus pluvialisis should contain around 6mg of astaxanthin.
Supplements using AstaZine seem to be good.
Surprisingly hard to find good supplements. Be very wary and ensure that you are actually getting the dose claimed. I found on Amazon I often had to look at one star reviews to find out which brands were being dishonest about dosages. The error appears to be manufacturers claiming their products contained (for example) 12mg of astaxanthin when they actually contained 12mg of haematococcus pluvialisis (so an actual dose of far less than 1mg astaxanthin). I also saw some brands claiming a product contained (again, for example) 160mg of haematococcus pluvialisis (which would be roughly 8mg of astaxanthin) when they actually contained 160mg of a mixture of haematococcus pluvialisis and a carrier oil and likely negligible astaxanthin.
Powerful antioxidant. Supposedly;
- 800x stronger than CoQ10
- 550x vit E
- 6000x vit c
- 10x stronger than other carotenoids
Fat soluble
It’s been linked to healthier skin, heart, and bone health.
Red colour.
Food Sources
- Salmon (lowest content)
- Red Trout
- Red sea bream
- Yeast
- Shrimp (highest content), krill, lobster, crayfish
Forms/Types
Most supplements are from the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis ?
Quality
As with all supplements - buyer beware. It's quite common for supplements to be contaminated with a variety of impurities, often in the form of heavy metals, and/or contain far more or less of the ingredients stated on the label. There's no simple rule of thumb to avoid this, such as avoiding cheap or imported products; expensive or well-known brands produced in-country may be just as bad. Ideally you should take some time to find products (if you can) that;
- have been laboratory tested on behalf of the manufacturer by a reputable body or company that operates in your country or region (here's an example of a Peak Supps creatine supplement available on Amazon in the UK which has been tested by Eurofins: Creatine Monohydrate Powder 1Kg | Pure Micronised | Packaging May Vary - see pictures 3 & 4)
- have been laboratory tested by an independent testing company that ranks product purity and ingredient amount accuracy on behalf of consumers (usually funded by affiliate sales of those products). An example of this is Labdoor
- in the UK & EU, are manufactured in facilities that meet the minimum standards of good manufacturing practice (GMP) in their production processes (for medicines).12 Facilities are inspected for compliance and manufacturers' product(s) must:
- be of consistent high quality
- be appropriate to their intended use
- meet the requirements of the marketing authorisation (MA) or product specification
Be wary of any manufacturers or brands making claims around these valid but irrelevant standards;
- HACCP: this standard relates to food safety which indicates that the seller is claiming their supplement is a food; whilst meeting this standard is worthwhile, GMP (detailed above) would be a more appropriate standard
- ISO22000: same as HACPP
- ISO9001: this standard is focussed on quality control management systems in the context of managing a business or organisation, not directly on the the quality of the products that business produces (although it may have a beneficial impact)
Dosage - How Much?
8mg a day for adults, says the EFSA