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These are both neat antioxidant compounds.

Lutein is found in tomatoes and has been touted for a long time as helping with vision, prevention of macular degeneration and possibly prevention of prostate disease. Recently, however, a study was conducted in which consumption of tomatoes resulted in a 33% decrease in lymphocyte DNA damage.  At the same time, it was found that blood quantity of lutein levels increased substantially.  Therefore it was concluded that the antioxidant (protective) effects of tomatoes was mediated via Lutein.

This is good news because tomatoes can be eaten in a variety of ways: raw, cooked, on pasta, pizza, etc.  Unfortunately, many people do not tolerate tomatoes well. The jury is still out whether supplementing with Lutein will provide similar benefits to eating tomatoes. My feeling is that supplementing with Lutein does provide antioxidant protection–we don’t know yet, how much Lutein needs to be consumed.

On a different antioxidant note, Astaxanthin (pronounced as-tuh-zan’-thin) is a carotenoid that does not convert to Vitamin A in the human body. Too much Vitamin A is toxic for a human, but astaxanthin is not. However, it is a powerful antioxidant; it is claimed to be 10 times more capable than other carotenoids. However, other sources suggest astaxanthin has slightly lower antioxidant activity than other carotenoids.

The “neat” and emerging data about Astaxanthin is that we likely have not been getting enough of it.  We primarily get Astaxanthin from eating crustaceans, shrimp, krill, trout and salmon. Research shows that due to astaxanthin’s potent antioxidant activity, it may be beneficial in cardiovascular, immune, inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.  Some sources have demonstrated its potential as an anti-cancer agent. It also crosses the blood-brain barrier, which makes it available to the eye, brain and central nervous system to alleviate oxidative stress that contributes to ocular, and neurodegenerative diseases such as glaucoma and Alzheimer’s.

A recent study revealed that consistently taking 12mg of Astaxanthin daily resulted in fat loss.  This was independent for caloric intake and exercise severity.  This is very new data–if you look at the quantity of Astaxanthin in nutritional supplements, the range is generally closer to 1mg.  It does look very promising for Astaxanthin to be one of the antioxidants we need to watch closely.

Now try saying Lutein and Astaxanthin as fast as you can so you can remember them for down the road….

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Tags: Antioxidants, astaxanthin, fat loss, lutein