Athletes

How astaxanthin can support your performance goals. Hear from athletes, and explore NSF-certified astaxanthin softgels, and a variety of ready-to-mix powders.

Healthy Habits and Dietary Astaxanthin

Athletes know that good eating habits are essential to boost energy and performance. Establishing a strong foundation in sports nutrition is top of mind because what you consume can affect how you feel during and post-exercise.

AstaReal® Astaxanthin is a natural antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals during and after exercise. Studies in both trained and untrained individuals have shown that AstaReal® Astaxanthin helped athletes improve physical endurance, and post-workout recovery. Astaxanthin has also shown benefits for both younger and older athletes, helping promote the effect of exercise in all seasons of life.

During Exercise

Trained cyclists taking 4 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin had increased power output by 20 W and reduced their time to complete a 20 km timed trial by 2 minutes.¹ Since most astaxanthin is found in mitochondrial membranes, it’s thought that astaxanthin’s effect on endurance might come from its ability to promote mitochondrial health and efficiency. Another study where cyclists took 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin showed an increase in fat utilization – an efficient energy source – after a 40 km ride.² Overweight individuals showed reduced carbohydrate oxidation during exercise at a dose of 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin, while college level runners in Japan had reduced lactic acid levels 2 minutes of an 1800 m run at a dose of 6 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin.^{3, 4}

Natural astaxanthin may also help those training and working as tactical athletes. For example, firefighters experienced benefits after an exercise test after 4 weeks of supplementation with 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin⁵ and training paramedics taking 4 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin increased the number of weighted squats performed after 6 months of training by 55%.⁶

After Exercise

An elite team of soccer players showed reduced muscle damage markers post exercise after 90 days of supplementation with 4 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin and had no significant increase in a systemic inflammation marker called C-reactive protein.^{7, 8} This effect on post-exercise inflammation seen in the soccer player studies shows the potential for astaxanthin to promote muscle recovery from exercise. Resistance trained men challenged with a muscle damaging exercise protocol who were taking 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin reported feeling less soreness and less delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after 4 weeks of supplementation.⁹

For Everyone

You don’t have to be a trained or elite athlete to benefit from natural astaxanthin. Those of us experiencing daily levels of physical and mental fatigue and those starting a new exercise program can benefit too. Having more sustained energy and good muscle recovery can motivate us to stay on track.

A study of untrained individuals taking 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin and 20 mg/day vitamin E (as tocotrienols) reported feeling improved motivation, as well as less physical and mental fatigue. Participants in this study, who were less tired, also performed better in a tiring cognitive test.⁸ In another clinical trial, AstaReal® Astaxanthin reduced the heart rate and carbohydrate oxidation rates of overweight individuals during exercise.³

For Healthy Aging

It can be harder to see gains from exercise as we age. A natural progressive loss in muscle mass and quality can also affect mobility in older individuals, making regular exercise increasingly important to promote quality of life. Nutritional interventions can help boost the effect of exercise in older populations with the goal of maintaining muscle performance and mobility. One study in subjects 65 – 85 years old undergoing a functional strength and endurance training program for 3 months showed that 12 mg/day AstaReal® Astaxanthin, 10 mg/day vitamin E (as tocotrienols), 6 mg/day zinc, and 15 ug/day vitamin D helped improve muscle strength and quality.¹⁰

AstaReal® Astaxanthin is clinically tested and shown to provide whole-body benefits to athletes, and weekend warriors of any age.

Explore AstaReal® Branded Astaxanthin Products

References

Earnest C.P. et al., Int J Sports Med. (2011), 32 (11): 882-8.
Brown D.R. et al., J Sci Med Sport. (2021), 24 (1): 92-97.
Wika, A. et al., International Journal of Exercise Science. (2022),16 (2): 252 – 266.
Sawaki et al. Journal of Clinical Therapeutics & Medicines. 2002;18(9)1085-100.
Kerksick, C.M. et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. (2023) 20 (S2): 1–61.
Malmsten, C.L., et al. Carotenoid Science. (2008)13: 20-2.
Djordjevic et al. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. (2012) 52 (4):382-92.
Baralic et al. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.2015: vol.2015, 783761.
Barker, G.A. et al., Muscles (2023) 2: 228-237.
Liu SZ, et al., J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. (2018), 9(5): 826-833.
Wong S.K, et al., Exp Ther Med. (2020), 20(4):2941-2952.