Astaxanthin.  Miracle or Hype? Oral tanning agent exposed!

While there is always some new crazy, idea on social media, this one isn’t new but gaining traction.  Due to its recent social media popularity, it’s time to look at this one again.  I have to admit I started this article with a negative opinion, but after hours of research, I may change my mind.

Astaxanthin is generally characterized as an antioxidant.  It can be found in a number of “natural” places particularly algae and fish that consume this algae.

Once again astaxanthin is being marketed for its skin coloring effect as a “tanning pill or oral drop” which is why it hit my radar this spring as patients talk about taking it.

Let’s look at the truth about astaxanthin.

It’s natural.  Yes, it does occur naturally.  But not all that is natural is good for you. Plus, over 95% of commercially available astaxanthin is synthetically derived and has a different structure than the natural form. Its natural form can be found in wild salmon but many commercially available fish are fed synthetic astaxanthin to improve their color.  While the naturally occurring form seems to be safe, the synthetic form of astaxanthin is still a big unknown. 

It’s a very powerful antioxidant.  It undisputably has been shown scientifically to be a much more powerful antioxidant than Vitamin C or E.  

It MAYBE can help all kinds of things.  I found articles researching astaxanthin for everything from dry eye disease to joint pain and photoaging  (I have all of these – should I try it?) While it is a big area of research, my PubMed search revealed 4494 articles, actual scientific clinical trials in humans looking at safety and optimal dosing is limited.  Most are studies in rats and mice.

Products are not regulated or controlled in any way.  This is where I always have a problem. Commercially available supplements have lots of claims, but zero oversight. Before buying a product, at minimum, I would research the company, what country it is based out of, and where its products are manufactured.

Safety studies on naturally occurring astaxanthin as a human food additive from the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis  have shown that 2-4 mg per day is likely a “safe” dose, but there are no studies on synthetic astaxanthin safety dosing in humans.

Commerically available products come from a variety of sources.

The industrial production of natural astaxanthin started in the 1980s. According to the article referenced below, Cyanotech Corporation (aka Nutrex) in Hawaii is the oldest and largest producer of pigment from microalgae. The trade name of the astaxanthin product is BioAstin^®. Extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis, it includes a minimum of 4 milligrams of astaxanthin per gel cap.

There is continued investigation in harvesting Astaxanthin from inedible portions of crustaceans like shrimp tails, and using flaxseed oil in the processing seems safe and promising.  Krill oil is another “natural” source of astaxanthin  (e.g., Gold Krill, Mega Red Omega 3, Krill Oil), which is a source of astaxanthin and omega-3 acids, but krill oil supplements I researched have astaxanthin in microgram amounts, 1000 times less than Bioastin and many other astaxanthin supplements.

But what about it’s “tanning”effect?  Astaxanthin is a component in many supplements marketed as oral tanning pills, nasal sprays or drops.  I do not recommend these because they contain a myriad of ingredients, some at higher levels that have been shown to be safe.  Oral tanning products stain your skin from within.  When my kids were young, I fed them lots of carrots and sweet potatoes and their noses turned a yellow orange color.  This is the same concept on a much larger scale.

Final Thoughts…. Surprisingly, and despite my negative outlook on the onset of writing this article, after doing all this research on the possible scientific benefits of astaxanthin, I think I might give it a try.  Based on my research, I’m gonna try the BioAstin brand.  They have a number of varieties, so now I have to pick which one would work best with my lifestyle and see how it does.  I’ll try to remember to keep you posted. 

References.  I read a lot of real scientific articles for this post,  For those who really want to geek out on this topic,  I found this article very interesting and informative. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8125449/ Astaxanthin in the food industry https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12804020/ Safety of an astaxanthin-rich Haematococcus pluvialis algal extract: a randomized clinical trial. This is one actual decent trial in humans, but it is a very small trial.