New Richard Miller / ITP Paper: Astaxanthin and meclizine extend lifespan 12%, 8% respectively

You are right, but some people thought it did based on some bad reporting. I personally knew a lady that was using it for that.

Where can you get DSM’s synthetic?

What sort of price are we talking about, how cheap ?

My daughter was juicing and eating carrots like crazy for reasons I still don’t understand and she did turn orange. It looked kinda like a tan. But not on purpose.

2 Likes

In China, fish farming often requires the synthesis of astaxanthin. I found an online fish feed seller who has 10% synthetic astaxanthin from DSM and BASF. I purchased 100 grams of synthetic astaxanthin and eat one gram a day, which means I consume 100 milligrams of synthetic astaxanthin every day.

I’d be very cautious about this approach. I’m not sure about the quality requirements (purity / contaminants, etc.) for fish food products… compared to human food grade products. Generally people care a lot less if some contaminant in the food ends up killing a fish a year or two earlier, than they do about if the same happens to a person. Quality control, etc. may not be as high for animal feed products. I don’t know this area of food production… so would do a lot of research around this and get the quality information from the companies producing it.

Perhaps some people here who may have some experience in the animal food industry can comment…

I posted all the quality / analysis information on the DSM food grade product here: Astaxanthin, Natural vs. Synthetic - Your Thoughts?

If you can, and decide to continue with this route, please post the quality / product info and pricing for the animal feed DSM and BASF products.

3 Likes

I don’t think either of these are approved for human consumption although they are used in fish farms.

AX3 is not approved for human consumption??

Synthetic astaxanthin is not currently approved for human consumption in most countries, including the United States and the European Union. This is because it has not been through the rigorous safety and efficacy testing required for food and drug approvals.

Only naturally-sourced astaxanthin, primarily extracted from microalgae like Haematococcus pluvialis, is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for human consumption by regulatory bodies like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Here’s a breakdown of the current status of synthetic astaxanthin:

  • Food: Not approved for use in food or food supplements in most countries, including the US and the EU.
  • Animal feed: Approved for use in animal feed in some countries, including the US.
  • Cosmetics: Approved for use in some cosmetic products in certain countries.

There are some concerns about the safety of synthetic astaxanthin for human consumption. These concerns include:

  • Limited safety data: There is not enough safety data on synthetic astaxanthin to be sure that it is safe for humans to consume.
  • Potential for impurities: Synthetic astaxanthin may contain impurities that could be harmful to humans.
  • Unknown bioavailability: It is not known how well synthetic astaxanthin is absorbed by the human body.

No, thats not correct - there is lots of information on the DSM product approved for supplement use in the US in this thread. Astaxanthin, Natural vs. Synthetic - Your Thoughts?

1 Like

It looks like ChatGPT to me.

This is not true. DSM has self-affirmed GRAS for their synthetic asta via the FDA. This is a laughable process, but the evidence is not zero and includes both human and nonhuman primate oral supplementation studies. It’s absolutely approved in the same sense as any other dietary supplement with this status, both as a food additive and a supplement.

3 Likes

Fair enough! Food safety is a tortured area. Food production methods and the food itself are two separate issues.

Here’s the general outline for US FDA GRAS self-certification. “GRAS self-affirmation allows a company to determine, based on scientific evidence, that a substance is safe for its intended use in food and does not require pre-market approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

Thanks for posting. Translation from mice to humans is imperfect but the Asta dose used for mice would translate to grams for humans if I converted correctly. My Astaxanthan supplement is 4 mg which I’ve been using on and off for years. Makes me wonder what ITP’s criteria was for choosing such a high dose. It would also help if the authors, knowing this is a supplement, would put into context of human dose equivalent to avoid so much confusion.

Do we have an updated file with all the tested drugs (as of today), including Asta and Mec?

A list of all the tested compounds is here: Supported Interventions | National Institute on Aging

Sorry, my question wasn’t clear: I meant with the results. The Apollo Health Ventures file isn’t up-to-date with the Asta and Mec results (and fisetin, SG1002 (hydrogen sulfide donor), dimethyl fumarate, mycophenolic acid, and 4-phenylbutyrate).

The results are given in the NIA page RA linked.

The NIA page doesn’t have the results. And it’s not up-to-date, for instance, it says that “Astaxanthin” is still “In Progress”.

I’m talking about something like this but up-to-date: a clear spreadsheet with all interventions (inc. details of dose and age) and detailed results by gender, median increase, max increase, p-value, etc.

1 Like

No - I don’t think anyone has done it yet. Please post if you run across something like this.