Astaxanthin Research Analysis

Frank, Kurtis; Patel, Kamal; Lopez, Gregory; Willis, Bill

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Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin is an aquatic carotenoid like fucoxanthin, but is the red pigment in salmon and krill; the most stable of all carotenoids and touted to aid in eye health. Limited human evidence suggests that it has some positive effects on oxidative stress, but it's unclear if it's particularly effective for any health outcomes.

Research analysis led by Kamal Patel and reviewed by the Examine team.
Last Updated: Jun 27, 2022

Summary of Astaxanthin

Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details

What is Astaxanthin?

Astaxanthin is a red-pink pigment found in various seafoods, and also in the feathers of flamingos and quails. It is structurally similar to beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) but has some chemical differences which may make it safer.

What are Astaxanthin's benefits?

It seems to reduce markers of oxidative stress, though it's unclear how potent it is and to what extent this translates to health benefits. It could possibly reduce oxidation of LDL and DNA damage, making it potentially good for cardiovascular health and anti-aging, though much more research is needed. It also may improve photoprotection and overall skin health, but again, much more research is needed.

What are Astaxanthin's side effects and drawbacks?

It's currently unknown if it has notable side effects, though large doses of antioxidants have been known to impair some of the adaptations to exercise such as mitochondrial biogenesis. Being a potent antioxidant, it's possible that even the small doses of astaxanthin commonly taken could have this effect, but we won't know until research properly tests it.

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How to Take

Recommended dosage, active amounts, other details

Astaxanthin appears to be recommended in the dosage range of 6-8mg daily, which is low enough that an enriched salmon oil or krill oil supplement may contain adequate levels. Doses of up to 20-50mg astaxanthin have been tolerated, although the exact toxicity and upper limit is not known.

Despite the above recommendations, the ideal dose of astaxanthin is currently not known.

Due to being a carotenoid, and related to the metabolism of Vitamin A (a fat soluble vitamin) it would be prudent to take astaxanthin alongside a meal.

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Human Effect Matrix

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The Human Effect Matrix summarizes human studies to tell you what effects Astaxanthin has on your body, how much evidence there is, and how strong these effects are.
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Grade	Level of Evidence [show legend]
	Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
	Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
	Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
	Uncontrolled or observational studies only

Outcome	Magnitude of effect ? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.	Consistency of research results ? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.	Notes
General Oxidation	Minor	High See all 5 studies	General reductions in oxidative stress have been found with supplementation of 4-20 mg of astaxanthin, though the expected effect size is unclear and much more research is needed.
Lipid Peroxidation	Minor	High See all 7 studies	Studies generally support a small-modest reduction in lipid peroxidation. More research is needed in various different health conditions.
Bilirubin	-	Very High See all 6 studies	Overall, studies don't support the effect of astaxanthin across a variety of doses and health conditions.
Blood glucose	-	Very High See all 8 studies	Most studies don't support an effect, though two studies support a small effect in the case of either type 2 diabetes or smoking, circumstances in which oxidative stress is elevated. Much more research is needed, however.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL)	-	High See all 11 studies	Studies don't support the use of astaxanthin for increasing HDL-C, though more studies in people with low HDL are needed.
Liver Enzymes	-	Very High See all 8 studies	No apparent effect from many studies, however, studies in which the participants' livers are considerably damaged are needed.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)	-	High See all 9 studies	Studies don't suggest an improvement in LDL-cholesterol overall. There are a couple of studies where there was a small reduction in people with elevated levels, but this needs to be researched far more.
Total cholesterol	-	Very High See all 11 studies	No apparent effect from many studies, however, more trials with people with hyperlipidemia are needed.
Triglycerides	-	High See all 12 studies	Studies generally don't support an effect, though a small reduction is possible in people with type 2 diabetes or hyperlipidemia. More studies are needed.
Weight	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect.
Anti-Oxidant Enzyme Profile	Notable	Very High See all 3 studies	Superoxide dismutase seems to be notably increased by astaxanthin at doses as low as 5 mg, with unclear benefits from higher doses.
Fertility	Notable	- See study	One study found an increase in the pregnancy rate of couples when the man took astaxanthin and was previously described as being infertile. Much more research is needed.
Inhibin B	Notable	- See study	Notable reduction in one study and simultaneous improvement in fertility.
Ocular Blood Flow	Notable	- See study	One study found a notable increase compared with placebo. More research is needed.
Adiponectin	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	One study found a notable increase in groups with 6, 12, and 18 mg doses, and the greatest in the 12 mg group. Another study found an increase from 8 mg. More research is needed.
Aerobic Exercise	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	There's a possible improvement in endurance running, but more research is needed.
Apolipoprotein B	Minor	- See study	There was a small decrease in one study in overweight subjects.
Fatigue Resistance	- Minor	- See study	One study found an improvement in endurance during a 20 km cycling time trial. Much more research is needed.
Follicle-Stimulating Hormone	Minor	- See 2 studies	Two studies found a decrease in women and no effect in infertile men. More research is needed for both sexes.
Muscle Damage	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	One study found a reduction in muscle damage in young soccer players over the course of 90 days. Another didn't find an effect in normal, healthy subjects.
Power Output	Minor	- See study	One study found an increase in power output during a VO2 max test. More research is needed.
Skin Elasticity	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	Two studies have found improvements from supplementation (both studies) and an astaxanthin-containing group (one study).
Skin Moisture	Minor	- See 2 studies	One study failed to find an increase in total moisture, though it did find a reduction in total epidermal water loss, while another study did find an increase in moisture in irradiated skin.
Skin Quality	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	One study found a reduction in wrinkles and improvement in elasticity, while another found a reduction in roughness and improvement in subjectively rated texture.
Sperm Quality	Minor	- See study	One study found a reduction in seminal reactive oxygen species, but no other changes.
Apolipoprotein A	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study in overweight subjects.
Blood Flow	-	- See 2 studies	No apparent effect on flow-mediated dilation in one study, but an increase in blood transit time in another. More research is needed.
Blood Lactate (Excercise)	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect during exercise in one study.
Blood Pressure	-	Very High See all 5 studies	Studies overall don't support an effect, though the one study in type 2 diabetes did. It's possible that astaxanthin has an effect through reducing hyperglycemia-related endothelial damage, but much more research is needed.
C-Reactive Protein (CRP)	-	Moderate See all 5 studies	Evidence is mixed, and it's possible that it could have a reduction through reducing oxidative stress, though much more research is needed, and the study in smokers failed to find an effect.
Creatinine	-	Very High See all 6 studies	No apparent effect in 6 studies.
Ejaculate Volume	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Exercise-Induced Oxidation	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Fat Oxidation	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
HbA1c	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect in 3 studies.
Heart Rate	-	Very High See 2 studies	No apparent effect at rest or during exercise.
Hematocrit	-	Very High See all 5 studies	No apparent effect across 5 studies.
Intraocular Pressure	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Kidney Function	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Red Blood Cell Count	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect in 3 studies.
Seminal Motility	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Serum Albumin	-	Very High See all 5 studies	No apparent effect in most studies. The one study in smokers found a notable increase, however.
Serum Platelets	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect in 3 studies.
Sperm Count	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Testosterone	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Total antioxidant capacity (TAC)	-	High See all 4 studies	Inconsistent effects and more evidence opposes an effect than supports it.
Training Volume	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Urea	-	Very High See 2 studies	No apparent effect in 2 studies.
Uric Acid	-	Very High See all 5 studies	No apparent effect in 5 studies.
White Blood Cell Count	-	Very High See all 4 studies	The one study in smokers found an increase, but the 3 other studies didn't. More research is needed.
DNA Damage	Notable	Very High See 2 studies	One study found a large reduction in 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, while the other found a small effect. More research is needed,
Fructosamine	Notable	- See study	One study found a notable reduction compared with placebo. More research is needed.
Oxidation of LDL	Notable	- See study	One study found a considerable decrease in an astaxanthin-only group, a group that combined it with chocolate, and one that utilized chocolate to increase absorption, with no notable differences between them, but the difference was statistically significant compared with placebo.
B Cell Count	Minor	- See study	One study found a reduction from 8 mg but not 2 or 0. More research is needed.
Estrogen	Minor	- See study	One study found an increase in estradiol in menopausal women. More research is needed.
Interferon Gamma	Minor	- See study	One study found a considerable increase from 8 mg but not 2 or 0. More research is needed.
Interleukin 1-alpha	Minor	- See study	One study found an increase in the 6 mg group compared with 0, but not the 12 mg group. More research is needed.
Interleukin 6	Minor	Moderate See 2 studies	One study found no effect in a 2 mg group, but a considerable increase in an 8 mg group. More research is needed.
Leukocyte Count	Minor	- See study	One study found a somewhat greater increase than the placebo, which was statistically significant. More research is needed.
Muscle Oxygenation	Minor	- See study	One study found an increase from astaxanthin on its own, or combined with dark chocolate compared with chocolate alone in aging participants.
Natural Killer Cell Activity	Minor	- See study	One study found a small decrease in a 2 mg group and an increase in an 8 mg group, compared with a smaller increase in the placebo group. More research is needed.
Parathyroid Hormone	Minor	- See study	There was an increase in one study in renal transplant patients over the course of a year
Serum Bicarbonate	Minor	- See study	Small reduction in one study.
Symptoms of GERD	Minor	- See study	No apparent effect in H. Pylori negative participants, but a reduction in positive participants.
T Cell Count	Minor	- See study	There was somewhat of an increase in one study compared with placebo.
TNF-Alpha	Minor	- See study	One study didn't find a difference compared with placebo for 2 mg, but found a greater increase from 8 mg.
UV Damage	Minor	- See study	There was a reduction in one study. More research is needed.
vLDL-C	Minor	- See study	There was a small reduction in one study, which wasn't statistically significant.
	-	- See study	No apparent effect in type 2 diabetics over the course of 8 weeks, eating what they chose.
Arterial Stiffness	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one year-long study.
Atherosclerosis		- See study	No apparent effect on CIMT (a marker of atherosclerosis) compared to placebo in one year-long study. CIMT decreased in the astaxanthin group, but the effect was not statistically significant. More research is needed.
Basophil Count	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Eosinophil count	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Fibrinogen	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Free Fatty Acids	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study during exercise.
Gamma-Glutamyltransferase	-	Moderate See 2 studies	No apparent effect in one study, and an effect only in the low dose group but not the high dose group in another.
Glomerular Filtration Rate	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Hemoglobin	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No apparent effect in 3 studies.
Indigestion	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study, whether H. Pylori positive or negative, though reflux was reduced.
Inflammation	-	Very High See 2 studies	No apparent effect on gastric inflammation in one study, while there was a reduction in Pentraxin-3 but not c-reactive protein in another.
Insulin	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Interleukin 2	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Lymphocyte Count	-	Moderate See 2 studies	One study found a small increase while another didn't. More research is needed.
Monocyte Count	-	- See study	No apparent effect.
Natural Killer Cell Content	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Neutrophil Count	-	Very High See 2 studies	No apparent effect in two studies.
Nitric Oxide	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Oxygen Uptake	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study, not during exercise.
Oxygenation Cost of Exercise	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Plasma Vitamin C	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Plasma Vitamin E	-	- See study	There was a small, nonsignificant reduction in one study
Rating of perceived exertion (RPE)	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Respiratory Exchange Ratio	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.
Wrinkles	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study.

Studies Excluded from Consideration

Confounded with a variety of other supplements^[1]
Confounded with lutein ^[2]

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Things to Note

Also Known As

Cardax (Disodium Disuccinate Astaxanthin), 3, 3′-dihydroxy-b, b-carotene-4, 4′-dione

Do Not Confuse With

Ashwagandha, Astralagus

Various sources of astaxanthin (food, bacterial, synthetic) may have different bioavailabilities and mixture of isomers.
Astaxanthin is fat soluble, and should be taken with food

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Astaxanthin

Summary of Astaxanthin

Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details

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How to Take

Recommended dosage, active amounts, other details

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Human Effect Matrix

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Studies Excluded from Consideration

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Things to Note

Is a Form Of

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Also Known As

Do Not Confuse With

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Research Breakdown on Astaxanthin

1.1Sources

1.2Structure and Properties

1.3Biological Significance

2.1Absorption

2.2Serum

2.3Metabolism

2.4Distribution

2.5Miscellaneous

2.6Phase II Enzyme Interactions

3.1Rationale

3.2Non-Mammalian Interventions

4.1Blood Pressure

4.2Atherosclerosis

4.3Red Blood Cells

4.4Cholesterol

4.5Triglycerides

5.1Diabetes

6.1Adipokines

6.2Mechanisms

6.3Fat Oxidation

7.1Aerobic Exercise

7.2Muscle Damage

8.1Mechanisms

9.1In vitro

9.2Antioxidant Enzymes

9.3Lipid Peroxidation

10.1Testosterone

10.2Estrogen

11.1Eyes

11.2Lungs

12.1Skin

13.1Seminal Parameters

13.2Menopausal Symptoms

14.1General

14.2False Positives

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