#244

I have been taking astaxanthin for at least 6 months. I haven’t noticed any differences pro or con. So it is in line with everything else, including rapamycin. So far, so good.

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#245

to continue something u have to feel the benefits. That eliminates many things because there are many more that u won’t feel that do help a lot. Like u may get cancer or some other serious ailment that u would not have had u been taking one of those that u don’t immediately feel anything. The only way u would know is if u went back in time and compared taking or not taking which is impossible.

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#246

Not on your camp regarding taking supplements that you feel nothing. The reason being is, i have an autoimmune condition that tells me way faster than someone that does not have such condition, if things work or not. Therefore, in general I’m against using a supplement that I feel absolutely nothing when taking it. Comparing supplements to cancer is not apples to apples. BTW, 3 spoonful of organic ground flax seed daily will go miles against cancer especially colon cancers… I don’t believe in the theory that oh I’ll keep taking something even though i feel no benefits whatsoever, but it will help me with cancer lol man. Same goes for food. The difference when i eat organic steak, with when I eat say organic pork or chicken is night and day, steak being more like a medicine than actually a food. With pork and chicken i feel nothing other than satiated (got my calorie intake), whereas with steak it is as if every single cell in my body is thanking me for it lol (btw, it must be ORGANIC).

Thats why the climate alarmist) want to ban steak, because they have come to the conclusion that steak is medicine not food, but that is a different subject, and one that would promote wild emotions, so I’ll just leave it alone in these boards. In my book, supplements either work or they don’t . The reason being that i stop taking a supplement that does nothing for me is because there is literally 10’s of others that i do feel a positive effect when i take them, and simply can’t take 100’s of supplements a day…

As an example, I started taking (in small amounts) yohimbine and boy do you ever feel the benefits within an hour of taking it. Anyway, this is my theory and I’m sticking to it.

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#247

Nah I don’t believe it that you feel nothing on RAPA. Your benefits might be subtle but guaranteed you are having benefits. Stop taking it for couple months and come tell us, if you feel a difference.

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#248

I promise I don’t. If you feel benefits, that is great, but consider the placebo effect. That said, I think there are benefits from taking rapamycin.

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#249

New paper:

Astaxanthin as a Potent Antioxidant for Promoting Bone Health: An Up-to-Date Review

In recent years, bone loss and its associated diseases have become a significant public health concern due to increased disability, morbidity, and mortality. Oxidative stress and bone loss are correlated, where oxidative stress suppresses osteoblast activity, resulting in compromised homeostasis between bone formation and resorption. This event causes upregulation of bone remodeling turnover rate with an increased risk of fractures and bone loss. Therefore, supplementation of antioxidants can be proposed to reduce oxidative stress, facilitate the bone remodeling process, suppress the initiation of bone diseases, and improve bone health. Astaxanthin (3,3′-dihydroxy-4-4′-diketo-β-β carotene), a potent antioxidant belonging to the xanthophylls family, is a potential ROS scavenger and could be a promising therapeutic nutraceutical possessing various pharmacological properties. In bone, astaxanthin enhances osteoblast differentiation, osteocytes numbers, and/or differentiation, inhibits osteoclast differentiation, cartilage degradation markers, and increases bone mineral density, expression of osteogenic markers, while reducing bone loss. In this review, we presented the up-to-date findings of the potential anabolic effects of astaxanthin on bone health in vitro, animal, and human studies by providing comprehensive evidence for its future clinical application, especially in treating bone diseases.

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#250

The Effect of Astaxanthin on the Functional State of Brain Mitochondria in Rats with Heart Failure

Abstract

The effect of astaxanthin on the functional state of brain mitochondria in rats with heart failure was studied. Heart failure was achieved by administering isoproterenol to rats subcutaneously. Chronic administration of astaxanthin was carried out orally. It was found that the injection of isoproterenol impaired the functional state of the mitochondria of the rat brain, while the administration of astaxanthin canceled the effect of isoproterenol and improved the functional state of mitochondria in rats with heart failure. At the same time, the respiratory control of rat brain mitochondria increased. The content of the main subunits, such as the alpha subunit of complex V, the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase I of complex IV, the assembly factor of the ubiquinone oxidoreductase 8 complex of complex I, succinate dehydrogenase complex II, and cytochrome b-c1 complex of subunit 2 of complex III increased. Isoproterenol accelerated Ca2+‑induced mitochondrial swelling, while astaxanthin reduced this parameter. Astaxanthin had a protective effect on mitochondria.

Paywalled article:

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#251

I think Astaxanthin is a great longevity supplement that few people are aware of. However I wonder if 10 mg daily is enough?

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#252

I really doubt that 10mg/day is “enough”. The human equivalent of the 4000ppm used in mice in the ITP study was around 3.5 grams/day to get the 12% lifespan improvement (in males).

In the next few weeks I’m doing a round of blood tests, then I’m going to start phasing in higher doses of Astaxanthin again. My trial last summer was up in the 200mg or so per day for a few weeks, with no issues. But I didn’t do any blood work. This summer I did it again (thinking it might help with sun protection) and I have to admit my skin was really good but perhaps just placebo effect. This time I want to do blood work and slowly ramp up the dose. I think I’ll start at 100mg/day for a month, do testing, then 200mg / day for a month… but I’m open to feedback.

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#253

What source are you using? My source is just too expensive for me to ramp up that high daily.

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#254

Excellent question as to source. I generally found two types of sources when I looked.

  1. synthesized astaxanthin from chemical supply labs. Was “pure” (except for a few trace solvents such as benzene) but very expensive.

  2. astaxanthin from algae. It’s cheap(ish) to buy in bulk. My understanding is that astaxanthin represents 2% of the algae mass (was in a number of suppliers descriptions so who really knows) and then they just give you mashed up algae to get the amount you need — eg if you wanted one gram of astaxanthin they’d give you 50 g of mashed up algae. This is what the “capsules” of astaxanthin contain that I’ve seen (including the ones I take). What is in the rest of the 98%? Do we want it? Seems crazy to me. By the way my capsules use soybean oil as a solvent so there’s that as well.

That being said, I’m taking 12mg per day. It was really because I wanted sun protection during the summer (as much as I avoid it I can’t hide hiking unless I hike at night, and I unfortunately did a lot of summer commuting so in the car baking every day). I haven’t really noticed anything if it helps with this. Since then I’ve seen it is becoming the next longevity darling so I’ve continued taking it.

200mg a day longterm may be a bit too expensive to play around it.

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#255

[Astaxanthin: A Potential Treatment in Disease and Aging, Lifespan Increase] (Astaxanthin: A Potential Treatment in Disease and Aging, Lifespan Increase)

I get so excited and pumped when i read and listen to news of this and that substance and longevity, and I am one of the first to give it a try, until I run into something like above and then my hopes are totally crushed like 100% killed. Are you fucking kidding me Astaxanthin? I probably must have been one of the very first humans to even play with/try it like 15 years ago when you could get it for pennies a bottle lol. It did and I am 100% certain that it does absolutely NOTHING good nor bad(unless it protects skin from sun exposure which i can’t speak of), If I felt the same about RAPA and other supp’s i take rest assured that tomorrow morning at 7 all my cabinet (probably $2000) would be so rapidly going into the trash bin, and most likely I’d be so mad that I’ll even set the bin a blaze. :smile: So no I’ll never add astaxanthin to my stack.

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#256

It’s an interesting thought. Why not drop every supplement with similar or worse proof? Save a few bucks for certain. Maybe lose out on some benefit but maybe save yourself from some harm. I’m using Astaxanthin myself and 25 other things as well. To steal an old line, I’m wasting my money on half of my supplements, I just don’t know which half.

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#257

Agreed. But my point is i literally feel “some” benefit when i start a new supplement. Nothing with Astaxanthin, and it is not that cheap. There is three or four others (berberine, Ashwagandha, Astaxanthin etc) that i feel the same I’d take them if they are cheap (btw took them all to try) . I’m almost certain that all three mentioned have some positive effect (even though I couldn’t pinpoint). Normally i like to feel something for me to enthusiastically continue taking something. As an example, I just started (couple days ago) taking GABBA, L-serine but i can 100% feel some positive effect. GABBA I’m not sure I’ll reorder because it does something weird, it seems to give a bit of a calming effect at the same time as if it increases anxiety (contradictory i know but that is the feeling i get). But definitely L-serine (mine is actually phosphatidyl serine, whatever that is lol)will keep using, a naturally calming and even a bit more focus effect.

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#258

You must be very in tune with your body. I almost never feel anything from anything except caffeine and melatonin. By the way, GABA can have the effect of depressing your breathing if you take too much (this happened to me; I quit GABA after I figured out what was happening).

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#259

Interesting, for me is near instantaneous that I can tell if it is doing something. Literally, the first hour or so I can tell. I don’t think it is the case of being in tune with my body, but the fact that I have a hypersensitive immune system (auto immune problem). i can even know of which brand of wine (i.e. even if both are cabernet) or beer or brand of Brandy is better for me, and I don’t just mean taste, but which one sits better with my body (believe it or not there is a huge difference). A Blessing now that I’m getting older, and a curse in younger years :smile:

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#260

Yep, GABA is out. Just took one 40 minutes ago, I definitely do not like it. L-serine ad Theanine seem good for calming effect for now. I’ll try Valerian root but i don’t know why i think i tried it in the past and had similar effect as GABA.

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#261

I thought that L-serine is not all that great. I believe it metabolizes into glycine and a carcinogenic amino acid. Why not just take glycine and avoid the carcinogen?

Serine, but Not Glycine, Supports One-Carbon Metabolism and …

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247(14)00347-7.pdf

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#262

Thanks for the paper. Very interesting. I recently added Serine for sleep support. I didn’t find it provided any help so I’ll be dropping it anyway.

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#263

Did you notice other subjective effects at the high dose, apart from may be better skin protection?