Astaxanthin is one of the most powerful lipophilic antioxidants discovered so far. It has the unique capacity to fight free radicals as well as reactive species of oxygen and to inhibit lipid peroxidation. 

Studies have shown natural astaxanthin to be over 500 times stronger than vitamin E. It is much more potent than other carotenoids such as lutein, lycopene, and beta-carotene. Moreover, astaxanthin has a unique molecule structure. It does not convert to vitamin A (retinol) and has no “pro-oxidant” activity.

Due to its strong antioxidant properties and the unique molecular structure, the effects are clearly visible. There are hundreds of studies conducted on the effectiveness and health benefits of astaxanthin. These studies include cellular experiments, animal tests, and human subject clinical trials. In our experience, the most well studied and proven health benefits include skin health, vision improvement, cardiovascular support, and immune system enhancement.

Synthetic astaxanthin represents over 95% of the market and costs only one-fourth of natural astaxanthin’s However, it has a different molecular profile and has not been studied on humans. Therefore, the aforementioned health benefits are restricted to natural astaxanthin only and virtually all of those come from commercial cultures of the single-celled alga Haematococcus pluvialis. In fact, only natural astaxanthin from H.pluvialis is allowed by Health Canada and the FDA for human consumption.

Some supplement companies source astaxanthin from H.pluvialis ( better than krill oil or any other source ) but they put the whole algae in the formulation which is a wasteful exercise.

Unlike spirulina and chlorella, H.pluvialis is a special microalgae strain that will change the structure of the cell wall while accumulating astaxanthin in the cell. This super-strong cell wall changes everything. Experimental data has shown: 1. Without cell wall disruption, only ~20% of astaxanthin is accessible.  2. Using acid that has 10X more H+ than your gastric acid for 30 mins, ~40% of astaxanthin is accessible. 

All in all, the direct consumption of whole H.p cells doesn't work as effectively. Therefore, it is not surprising that people who try whole algae supplements with such "Astaxanthin" do not feel any difference at all.

Even if astaxanthin is made from H.p cells, it may not be the best quality. It is important that the manufacturer applies the highest standards at every step.

Every step in the process - strain selection, biomass cultivation, cell-wall disruption, astaxanthin extraction or product manufacturing is crucial to the quality of the final product. For instance, microalgae grown in a closed-tubular reactor tends to have fewer contaminants (bacteria and fungus) compared to those in raceway ponds. Astaxanthin extracted using supercritical CO2 tends to have fewer impurities (pesticides and heavy metals) and organic solvent residues compared to those from alcohol extractions.

This study demonstrated the efficacy of low-pressure supercritical CO2 extraction of astaxanthin from disrupted Haematococcus pluvialis. Astaxanthin extraction using ScCO2 achieved 92% recovery at 55 °C and 8 MPa applied over 15 h. Notably, for the ethanol case, the timescales of the extraction process are reduced 1800-fold from 15 h to 30 s at 55 °C and 8 MPa, representing the fastest complete astaxanthin extraction at such low pressures.