To start this new series, we need to set a context. Our theme will focus on carotenoids and oxidative damage prevention.
Oxidative damage is a highly relevant term in the dietary supplementation industry. It refers to the damage ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) inflict on various molecules throughout your body, such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and even DNA. ROS seek electrons to find stability, taking them away from healthy molecules and impeding them from carrying out their functions properly. Some examples of sources of oxidative imbalance are solar radiation, artificial light from screens, pollution, alcohol, tobacco, junk food, and many other aspects of a contemporary sedentary lifestyle.
Oxidative damage can go as far as to unleash undesired responses like inflammation. Astaxanthin shines because interrupting oxidation processes prolongs the cell's well-being by avoiding damage altogether.
Today, although the main talk won't be about Astaxanthin, it will be about carotenoids. Astaxanthin is part of the carotenoid family, a type of red pigment (like chlorophyll is a green pigment) present in vegetals and animals like carrots, tomatoes, beetroots, salmon, shellfish in general, egg yolk, and more. You might have heard about beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin or cantaxanthin. These naturally occurring antioxidants have been part of the natural food chain for millions of years.
Much like all members of a family, all these carotenoids have unique characteristics. They are all antioxidants in broad terms, although the mechanism and level of protection differ. For instance, you can see how beta carotene allocates within the cell membrane, protecting it from oxidation inside the membrane. Astaxanthin can sit perfectly from end to end throughout the membrane, protecting against oxidative damage outside the cell, within the membrane and inside the cell. Please see the diagram below, where you can learn how Vitamin C and Vitamin E are allocated on/in the cell membrane.
To wrap it up with the family analogy, now comes the best bit. Families can work together. And the carotenoid family gets a huge advantage out of doing so. Their members work synergistically. Even if beta carotene can't protect outside the cell, it still invests its antioxidant capabilities in extending Astaxanthin's antioxidant action. This job is done by transferring electrons. Antioxidants donate their unpaired, 'excess' electrons so that ROS stabilise without taking it away from healthy molecules like a protein or our DNA. As antioxidants donate electrons to prevent cell damage, they degrade and eventually lose their antioxidant capacity.
Consider carotenoids as a complex, synergistic group that works together to prevent oxidative damage, with Astaxanthin in the starring role. The cherry on top of this story is the synergy that results from the pristine and stunning Atacama Desert. The potent, merciless, inexhaustible sunlight that grows our Astaxanthin enables the synergy to occur naturally, as nature intended.
In the next entry, we will explore carotenoids and their synergistic characteristics more deeply. We hope you join us in this adventure to unveil the secrets of the most potent Astaxanthin Complex.
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