AstaFactor Sport Formula 10mg Astaxanthin

Asta Factor Gelcaps are a source of natural astaxanthin.

Product information:
60 Softgels per bottle. Serving Size: 2
Serving size: 2 softgels (10 mg astaxanthin)
Active ingredient: Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis.

Other natural ingredients: Algal meal extract (Haematococcus pluvialis), rice bran oil, natural gelatin, vegetable glycerin.

Suggested use: Take two softgels daily with a meal. May increase dose up to 20mg before strenuous exercise or competition.

AstaFactor® astaxanthin is stabilized in an edible oil (rice bran oil) and then manufactured into soft gelatin capsules.

Only Asta Factor Astaxanthin is extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae by the Super Critical CO2 method preserving its potency and ensuring its natural purity.

The source of AstaFactor astaxanthin is a microalga that is grown using Mera Pharmaceutical's patented technology, which provides a high level of control while keeping out contaminants.

Cheap imitation products subject your body to synthetic astaxanthin or poor effectiveness due to low potency. Why risk poor quality? Only AstaFactor astaxanthin is naturally produced under the Hawaian sun and obtained by a patented process.

How does Astafactor benefit me?

Our bodies constantly produce substances, called oxidants or free radicals, that actually harm our cells. AstaFactor(R) astaxanthin contains natural compounds that neutralize those harmful substances, and does so much more effectively than any other antioxidant supplement on the market.

Don't be fooled by cheap imitations, only AstaFactor contains pure, potent and highly bioavailable Astaxanthin.

AstaFactor Sports Formula is packed with the highest dose of astaxanthin per serving of any of our astaxanthin supplements!

Astaxanthin increased strength and endurance almost three fold in a clinical study using healthy human subjects

Laboratory studies have shown that astaxanthin can have up to 100 to 500 times stronger antioxidant potency than vitamin E.

Manufacturing: this premium nutraceutical is derived from Haematococcus microalgae grown in Hawaii with Mera Pharmaceuticals' advanced proprietary technology.

Note: Because astaxanthin is a powerful pigmenting agent, even small quantities of algal meal can create a strong red-orange coloration. During the human safety studies, some volunteers observed a slight reddening of the stool, a harmless condition. This coloration probably results from small quantities of astaxanthin being passed by the digestive tract.

What is Astaxanthin?

Astaxanthin is a red pigment occurring naturally in a wide variety of living organisms. Although the word astaxanthin may not be commonly encountered in everyday speech, the pigment itself is found in many human foods, and you are quite likely to be consuming it in your diet already. Most crustaceans, including shrimp, crawfish, crabs and lobster, are tinted red by accumulated astaxanthin. The coloration of fish is often due to astaxanthin; the pink flesh of a healthy wild salmon is a conspicuous example. In commercial fish and crustacean farms, astaxanthin is commonly added to feeds in order to make up for the lack of a natural dietary source of the pigment (Torrissen et al. 1989). Not only does astaxanthin provide for pigmentation in these farmed animals, it also has been found to be essential for their proper growth and survival (Torrissen and Christiansen 1995).

Astaxanthin is one of a group of natural pigments known as carotenoids. In nature, carotenoids are produced principally by plants and their microscopic relatives, the microalgae.

Animals cannot synthesize carotenoids, thus ultimately they must obtain these pigments from the plants and algae that support their food chains (Britton et al. 1995). Commercial production of astaxanthin from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis is a growing business worldwide, primarily due to the rapid growth of this microorganism and its high astaxanthin content.

Other commercial ventures for natural astaxanthin production utilize fermentation of the pink yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous or extraction of the pigment from by-products of crustacea such as the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba).

In addition to production from natural sources, astaxanthin may be chemically synthesized, and synthetic astaxanthin is the major form currently being used in fish feeds (McCoy 1999).

The astaxanthin molecule is similar to that of the familiar carotenoid beta-carotene (Fig. 1), but the small differences in structure confer large differences in the chemical and biological properties of the two molecules.

In particular, astaxanthin exhibits superior antioxidant properties to beta-carotene in a number of in vitro studies (Terao 1989; Miki 1991; Palozza and Krinsky 1992; Lawlor and O'Brien 1995). While the positive effects of astaxanthin on farmed fish and crustaceans have been recognized for years, the potential benefits of this powerful antioxidant to human health are only now being revealed.

In what diseases has oxidation been implicated?

Many human diseases and degenerative processes have been linked in some way to the action of free radicals. Free radicals are not necessarily the only cause for these conditions, but may well make the human body more susceptible to other disease-initiating factors, may enhance the progression of diseases, and may inhibit the body's own defenses and repair processes. The following conditions involving multiple organs have all been linked to free radicals (Cross et al. 1987):

Cancer

Aging (including immune deficiency with aging and premature aging disorders)

Radiation injury

Alcohol damage

Ischemia-reperfusion injuries

Inflammatory-immune injuries (including vasculitis from drugs and hepatitis B virus, idiopathic and membranous glomerulonephritis, and autoimmune diseases)

Reactions induced by drugs and toxins

Iron overload (including idiopathic hemochromatosis, dietary iron overload, thalassemia and other chronic anemias)

Amyloid diseases

In addition, a number of single-organ conditions have been related to free radicals (Cross et al. 1987):

Affecting the brain--senile dementia, neurotoxin reactions, hyperbaric oxygen effects, Parkinson's disease, cerebral trauma, hypertensive cerebrovascular injury, allergic encephalomyelitis and other demyelinating diseases, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, ataxia-telangiectasia syndrome, potentiation of traumatic injury, aluminum overload

Affecting erythrocytes (red blood cells)--lead poisoning, protoporphyrin photo-oxidation, malaria, sickle-cell anemia, favism, Fanconi anemia

Affecting the lungs--emphysema, hyperoxia, cigarette-smoke effects, oxidant pollutant effects, acute respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, mineral dust pneumoconiosis, bleomycin toxicity, paraquat toxicity

Affecting the heart and cardiovascular system--atherosclerosis, stroke, doxorubicin toxicity, peripheral circulation problems, Keshan disease (selenium deficiency), alcohol cardiomyopathy

Affecting the kidney--renal graft rejection, nephritic antiglomerular basement membrane disease, heavy metal nephrotoxicity, aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity

Affecting joints--rheumatoid arthritis

Affecting the gastrointestinal tract and liver--endotoxin liver injury, carbon tetrachloride liver injury, diabetogenic action of alloxan, free fatty acid-induced pancreatitis, abetalipoproteinemia, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced lesions

Affecting the skin--sunburn and solar radiation injury, thermal injury, porphyria, contact dermatitis, Bloom syndrome, effects of photosensitive dyes

Affecting the eyes--age-related macular degeneration, ocular hemorrhage, degenerative retinal damage, cataractogenesis, retinopathy of prematurity, photic retinopathy
It is quite clear that human health depends to a large extent on the body's ability to control free radicals and thus reduce oxidative damage to tissues, cells, and DNA. To that end, antioxidants play an essential role in disease prevention, in longevity, and in overall well-being.

References:




Cross, C. E., B. Halliwell, E.T. Borish, W.A. Pryor, B.N. Ames, R.L. Saul, J.M. McCord, and D. Harman. (1987) Oxygen radicals and human disease. Ann. Intern. Med., 107:526-545.


References:

Britton, G., S. Liaaen-Jensen, and H. Pfander. (1995) Carotenoids today and challenges for the future. In: Britton, G., S. Liaaen-Jensen, and H. Pfander [eds], Carotenoids vol. 1A: Isolation and Analysis. Basel: Birkhäuser.

Lawlor, S. M. and O'Brien, N. M. (1995) Astaxanthin: antioxidant effects in chicken embryo fibroblasts. Nutr. Res., 15:1695-1704.

McCoy, M. (1999) Astaxanthin market a hard one to crack. Chem.& Eng. News, 77: 15-17.

Miki, W. (1991) Biological functions and activities of animal carotenoids. Pure Appl. Chem., 63(1):141-146.

Palozza, P. and Krinsky, N. I. (1992) Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are potent antioxidants in a membrane model. Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 297:291-295.

Terao, J. (1989) Antioxidant activity of beta-carotene-related carotenoids in solution. Lipids, 24: 659-661.

Torrissen, O. J. and Christiansen, R. (1995) Requirements for carotenoids in fish diets. J. Appl. Ichthyol., 11:225-230.

Torrissen, O.J., R.W. Hardy, and K.D. Shearer. (1989) Pigmentation of salmonids--carotenoid deposition and metabolism. CRC Crit. Rev. Aquat. Sci., 1: 209-225.

All information copyright Mera Pharmaceuticals- Used with permission.

Average Rating: (From 1 Review):
Read Complete Review | Submit a Review

Great Value- Highly Recommended
From Richard of Roanoke, Virginia on 11/12/2005.

Read Complete Review | Submit a Review

Price View Quantity Discounts Qty Unit Price 1 - 2 $36.99 $21.99 3 + $36.99 $18.99