Astaxanthin

The ABC’S OF HEALTH

BY Dr. Jo Gjelsten

“IN THE PINK”

Exciting news!  There is a new nutritional support item for those patients who are dealing with sunburn, and if that’s all this did I wouldn’t be writing about it.  Why sunburn? Here’s a study:  Participants were given a substance. Then they were exposed to UV light. It took more energy to produce a sun burn in the skin of trial participants who had ingested this stuff, than in those who didn’t. I would have been a little miffed if I was one of the controls, and went home with a sunburn, but the take home here is if you want a sun burn, and you know who you are, don’t ever, ever, use this stuff, but if you use it don’t count on it to keep you from burning Betty, it just may take a little longer for you to look fried. What is it?? It’s a carotenoid, which sounds like a little carrot shaped something or other. Carotenoids give color to your food, hence it should be called color--enoid in my opinion but no one asked me, as usual. Ok you may have heard of carotene, responsible for the color of carrots.  The new, but not new, nutrient is called astaxanthin, a “supernutrient” with a cape and signet ring. It’s made from algae, stop salivating, but you can take it in pill form like I do now, because I just got it in.(It's a nice dose at 5 mg, more than most out there and not expensive compared to some. Stop by the office or call to order 845 358 2687).But it’s not just any old smelly algae. It’s a special algae called Haematococcus Pluvialis pronounced “haematococcus pluvialis”. Astaxanthin, pronounced astaZANthin which is how it should be spelled, but no, we have to sound like big shots with this x in the middle confusing everybody already, where was I? Oh, Astaxanthin is made by these little algae, (another stupidly spelled word). When the water the algae needs to survive, dries up, yes, dries up,  the  little micro “aaljee” now have to make something on their own so they’ll survive this crisis and not burn up in Ultraviolet light, which is where we come in and scoop it all up aren’t we nice? The astaxanthin they make helps to protect them from the UV light, and they, and only they, make this stuff in the natural form, so unless you eat “they”, you don’t get the same stuff.  “They”, are eaten by smart little salmon, shrimp, flamingoes, shellfish, krill, and any other pink animal you can think of except the energizer bunny. (The pink you see when they’re cooked, except the flamingos I hope, is the astaxanthin.) Why? Maybe the flamingos know that astaxanthin is more powerful than a locomotive, or at least better at getting at all those radicals that are free to roam around and wreak havoc in your body, Buddy. Better than Vitamin C, beta-carotene, or Vitamin E, yes many TIMES better than all of them. It’s especially good at neutralizing a special type of oxidation they get from sun which I won’t go in to.  Maybe the salmon know it crosses their blood-brain barriers to mop up free radicals so Alzheimers has never been found in salmon as far as I know, because they seem to go upstream when they should. Maybe someone told them it can also cross from their blood into their retinas so perhaps they can see their way upstream. Regarding eye health, studies done in Japan showed that astaxanthin “improved visual sharpness, even in healthy subjects.” They found it “improved pupillary constriction” which helps prevent eye strain. And muscles other than those of the eyes are now being further studied due to the finding of improved performance in the maximum number of knee bends young folks could do, 50 percent in the astaxanthin group as opposed to 19 per cent in a double blind study over six months. We like the natural algae form, because most clinical trials have used this so far, but yeast and some bacteria also make this pink stuff, and some is also manufactured, but have a “different molecular profile than the natural material”. Some commercial phish pharmers use Phaffia Rodozyma yeast to make astaxanthin so their fish can look as pretty in pink as regular salmon, although I hear not all the male phish are happy about thish. Speaking of males, here’s an interesting study for you guys and gals who are trying to get pregnant. Thirty couples having a difficult time getting pregnant were selected to participate in a study where all the females found to be fertile, so the problem was not with them. So now the guys were given either astaxanthin or a placebo for three months. Sperm linear velocity, (how fast is your sperm, sport?) increased in the astaxanthin group, but not in the placebo group. How they measured this, maybe with a stop clock, I don’t know, but getting them to go in a straight line, especially after a few beers was not a day at the beach. The results? The pregnancy rate (of the women in case you dozed off)  turned out to be 54.5 per cent for the astaxanthin group, as opposed to the placebo group, at 10.5 per cent. How they got the .5 percent I don’t know, but there it is in plain English, Nigel. What else does this little bit of pink do? Because of the way it’s shaped, molecularly, it can span the boundaries of the cell membrane, from the outside to the inside, called “Transverse Cell Membrane Orientation”. Why is this important Dr. Jo? Because I said so. Ok, because most molecules don’t do that. Not beta-carotene or any of the others, like zeaxanthin, a favorite ingredient of mine in my eye nutrition. This is a very unusual property that allows it to act like a “lightning rod on a molecular level” for removal of energy from free radicals which in English means it’s a MAJOR antioxidant haddayalikethat!  I do like it so I now carry it in the office. Why are antioxidants important? Aging is believed to be about oxidation of cells, but even mice like this stuff, because it improved their memory performance, protected their little nerve cells against hydrogen peroxide toxicity which I think is awful to do to them. But hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer, so now we have the mice to thank for that information. More is not better by the way, so overdosing is not good. But is there more info? There’s ALWAYS more.  See more at www.GoDrJo.com and shoot me an e-mail!  Subject: In the Pink! © The products in this article have not been evaluated by any regulatory health authority and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided is for informational purposes only. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any stopping any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. These products are not meant to treat prevent or cure disease.