Astaxanthin from microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis

“I don’t think we should be taking food from whales.”

Charlene

Charlene,

No one is taking food from whales. Where did you get your information?

Almost all if not all supplemental astaxanthin is derived from natural sources, such as the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis (see below) or the pink yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous.

ASTAXANTHIN, a member of the carotenoid family, is a dark-red pigment which is the main carotenoid found in the marine world of algae and aquatic animals. ASTAXANTHIN is present in many types of seafood, including salmon, trout, red sea bream, shrimp and lobster, as well as in birds such as flamingo and quail. This pigment is commercially produced from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, the richest known natural source for ASTAXANTHIN.

You can also read my post on astaxanthin, “Astaxanthin – King of the Carotenoids!”

Sincerely,

Dr. Marcus Ettinger, B.Sc., D.C.

Charlene’s response back: “I am glad to hear that thanks.”

Here is the rest of the story:

THE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL ASTAXANTHIN BY HAEMATOCOCCUS PLUVIALIS

The microalga Haematococcus pluvialis synthesizes and accumulates ASTAXANTHIN to relatively high levels. The commercial production process is based on two distinct cultivation stages. The first is called the “Green Stage,” which starts indoors with a single-cell colony of the microalga, and continues outdoors in solar-powered photobioreactors. The aim of this stage is to produce plenty of viable, unstressed “green” algal cells by normal cell-division process (see Fig. 2). The “Green Stage” provides optimal growth conditions in order to achieve maximal biomass production rate. The second cultivation stage is the “Red Stage” (see Fig. 2), in which the algal cells synthesize and accumulate the pigment ASTAXANTHIN. This stage starts by subjecting the cells to severe stress conditions, mainly high radiation intensity and changes in growth media. As a result, the Haematococcus cells start to form cysts by producing thick cell walls, and to synthesize and accumulate ASTAXANTHIN in its esterified form. Cultivating the algal culture in closed systems allows an environmentally controlled process with less biological and chemical contamination. Following the “Red” process, the level of ASTAXANTHIN in the “red cells” may reach up to ~4% of their dry weight. The ASTAXANTHIN content of the “red cells” is correlated to the severity of the stress conditions, mainly to the light flux through the culture. In due time, the “red” culture is pumped to the down-processing area, where the cells are cracked (to render the pigment bioavailable), dried, and vacuum-packed. Haematococcus oleoresin is produced in an additional step, using the CO2 Supercritical Fluid Extraction process. Increasingly, both consumers and regulatory agencies are requiring extracts that contain no residual solvents. U.S. Nutra of Eustis, FL, has the technology to extract Haematococcus with CO2 and without any co-solvents.

Very few companies commercially produce ASTAXANTHIN from Haematococcus pluvialis. The Hawaiian companies Cyanotech Corporation and Mera Pharmaceuticals cultivate the algae using an open pond system for the “Red Stage.” The Japanese company Fuji Chemicals operates an indoor facility in Sweden and its “dome-shaped” bioreactors in Hawaii.

Algatech uses tubular solar-powered photobioreactors for both the “Green” and “Red” stages in closed, strictly controlled systems (see Figs. 3 and 4). Algatech produces its ASTAXANTHIN from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis according to its patented biocontrolled growing process (1). The plant is located in the southern part of Israel, in the Negev Desert, near the resort city of Eilat, thus exploiting the area’s high solar radiation year-round.

The major parameters used to assess high-quality commercial Haematococcus biomass and oleoresins are high ASTAXANTHIN content in the product, low levels of biological and chemical contamination, and excellent stability of the ASTAXANTHIN in the product. Producing ASTAXANTHIN in a closed system throughout the entire process (“Green” and “Red”) in an area with high solar-radiation intensity year-round, as in the case of Algatech, yields high-quality ASTAXANTHIN products (see Fig. 5). This algal biomass contains ~4% of its dry weight as ASTAXANTHIN. The production of the algal biomass in flake form (as with Algatechnologies’ dry biomass), offers additional clear advantages when an extraction process is required for the production of high-quality oleoresin with ~ 10% ASTAXANTHIN concentration.

Fig. 2. Red stage of Haematococcus pluvialis culture (under the red half of the photo). Green stage of Haematococcus pluvialis culture (under the green half of the photo).

Fig. 3. General view of Algatechnologie’s production plant in the heart of the Negev desert in Israel.

Fig. 4. “Red-stage” solar photobioreactors – general view.

Fig. 5. Cracked and dried Haematococcus pluvialis algal biomass

Question: Hi,

I have been taking your Liquid Power Multi-V and your Mangosteen Elxir and I love it!  I am very interested in your Ultra Supreme Greens & Fruits and I just wanted to know is taking the liquid power multi-v and the Greens & Fruits a good idea or is it too much and I only need one.  I noticed the Greens & Fruits has a decent amount of vitamins in it already.  If I only need one which one do you recommend and if you recommend both how do you recommend I take them.  Both at the same time in the morning to start my day or one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Thanks!

Answer: Jason,

Liquid Power is the base and you will build from there. Here are a few other ESSENTIALS.

A complex of essential fatty acids Ultra Omega 3-6-9 and Lecithin granules (lecithin in the emulsifier that allows you to metabolize the oils, plus the brain is 30% lecithin, and it’s good for cholesterol metabolism).

Whey Protein: Proteins are essential parts of all living organisms and participate in every process within our cells. Protein is also what makes up our muscles, immune system, internal organs, hair, nails, skin, and connective tissue. Whether your body resembles a brick house, stick house, or straw house is determined by the level of protein in your body. When a client comes in for a consultation with weak nails, poor hair growth, a weak immune system, and/or low energy, I always know they are deficient in their intake of (quality) protein. I usually take one scoop a day (25 grams of protein), but two scoops on the days I am working out in the gym.

Vitamin D is mandatory for all of my patients – 5-6,000IU’s per day (see www.vitamindcouncil.org for more data)

Here is a protocol I put together some time back.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger, BSc., DC

“We love caoh’s noni juice so much. Anytime I get the feeling that maybe a cold is trying to get me, I take extra shots of noni during the day and as a result I NEVER get sick, and I mean never. Of course eating 100% organic helps with building a strong immune system, of that I am convinced. Noni juice saved our dog! It helps him with pain tolerance and put an obvious spring in his step. Before noni, the first eight years of his life, his ears folded over at the tip (he’s a chihuahua). The only time his ears would straighten would be when he was excited. Ever since he started ingesting noni juice, starting with the third day, and now over the last two or three years, his ears are ALWAYS pointed straight up 24/7. Talk about cause and effect!!!”

You are welcome! Do you mind if I post your noni write-up? I think it speaks volumes to the true power of noni. Take care. Dr. Ettinger

Not at all! The more dogs which are helped, the better. He’s a ten pound dog and we give him 1/2 tsp both in the morning and 1/2 tsp at night mixed in his food. What’s more is that I originally gave the dog the noni without my partner knowing (I knew she wouldn’t be receptive because she’s very protective and skeptical) On the third day I asked, “It’s like he’s a new dog, huh?” She agreed and said “yes, it’s like he’s a new dog.” That’s when I confessed what I had done with noni and his food. When she found out what I did, she got mad at me. So I told the dog, “Sorry Panchito, your master doesn’t want you to feel better. No more noni for you!” After a few days of no noni, Panchito’s head started drooping again and he walked around looking kind of depressed. My partner told me to start giving noni to Panchito again. I’m talking night and day difference in this dog. So ever since then the dog has been on noni…and after a couple of weeks, his master started taking it daily too! ha! When you add in its amazing abilities to heal burns, cuts, scrapes, and skin inflammation that won’t go away, we are big believers in noni juice. I have lots of noni-used-on-skin testimonies, if it weren’t so sticky, I’d use it on my face to see what it could do.

All the best to you and yours…

Jason

Goji Overview and The Tibetan-Himalayan Myth!

Goji berry product overview from California Academy of Health® CAOH® – discussing organic Goji Juice (Goji Fusion® and Absolute Goji®), Goji Berries and Goji Berry Powder. Also discussed is the Tibetan Goji and Himalayan Goji myth!

California Academy of Health proudly offers four extremely high quality açai products, our Goji Fusion™ juice and Absolute Goji Juice™, Absolute Goji Powder™ and our sun dried Goji Berries. All of these products are 100% certified organic and ethically harvested. In fact they are independently verified organic. We even have goji juice in our Mangosteen Elixir™ and our Liquid Power Multi-V™.

California Academy of Health, Inc.
800-643-7188
www.caoh.com
www.caoh.org/gojiproducts.html

Organic Seabuckthorn Oil

Sea Buckthorn oil is packed with wonderful bioactive compounds and nutrients.  This 2 oz bottle of Seabuckthorn oil is more nutrient packed than all the so-called Sea Buckthorn juices or powders.   Buying Sea Buckthorn in this form ensures that it is the most nutrient dense Sea Buckthorn available.  It is so naturally concentrated that 1 bottle equals over 3 – 32 oz bottles of Sea Buckthorn juice blends.

Do the math – that is real savings!  You can use it on your skin, hair nails and even add it to your juices, smoothies or protein mixes.

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Q: Dr. Ettinger,

I had a question regarding the Ultra Supreme Greens. I got the product because it said to take in morning preferably, so i got the capsules and it says 3, 3x per day… I have only been taking 3 in the morning… having breakfast, then doing juices (Anti-Aging, Acai Max, Goji Fusion) … I have other things (herbs) to take during the day. Should I be taking 9 capsules in the morning on an empty stomach?

Michelle

A: Michelle,

Take the Ultra Supreme Greens w/food for better absorption. You can divide it-up or take them all at one time – both ways are fine but take at least 6. You can also use them to calm the stomach down, as an antacid if the need ever arises.

Sounds like you have a great program going!

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger BSc, DC

The Acaí berry is not your regular berry fruit!  One of the reasons is its high antioxidant content. We are sure you have heard over and over that there is consistent evidence in research that diets rich in fruit and vegetables and other plant foods are associated with better health. Sound familiar? Probably. So why is Acai a great anti-oxidant?

Fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, which protect our bodies against chronic disease by decreasing free radical oxidative damage.  Our bodies are in constant attack by free radicals, which are a common by-product of normal metabolism.  Think of free radicals as individuals with too much energy and no where to put it.  So they are extremely active and attack everything in their path.  In our bodies, this translates to the damage of our cells and genetic material. In the long term, this may cause permanent damage that is irreversible (such as cancer). In our day to day lives, we are further exposed to high amounts of free radicals through increased physical activity, stress, pollutants, chemicals and toxins.  Antioxidants which are obtained through our diet act like scavengers, which seek and “relax” the free radicals.

Once the free radicals are “relaxed”, they do no further damage. So what kinds of antioxidants are in CAOH® Acai berries? The Acai berry is rich in anthocyanins, compounds that provide color to the fruits and serve as natural antioxidants. Those are the same compounds found in red wine.

However, CAOH® Acai berry juice has 10-30 times more. CAOH®’s certified organic Freeze dried Acai contains 70-210 times more! The richer the pigment color of the fruit, the more antioxidants it generally contains. One way to help you achieve a high antioxidant diet is to make sure your plate is very colorful.  Ensure that you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables at your main meals, and snack on a CAOH® Acai smoothie or other fruits and vegetables instead of various candies or chocolate.

The Acai berry’s purple pigment not only makes the fruit appealing to eat, but studies have shown that berry anthocyanins are beneficial in reducing age-associated oxidative stress (or the free radical damage). If berries can combat premature aging with 25 to 40 times less antioxidants than Acai, then just imagine what CAOH® organic freeze dried Acai can do!

The US food industry is now labeling the antioxidants in food with ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).  Data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests a serving of fresh fruit and vegetables has between 890 and 2,500 ORAC units.

Just one 5g serving of CAOH® organic freeze dried Acaí will provide you with around 4,695 ORAC units!

CAOH®

Click here to get Acai Berry online now!

Acai Berry Heart Friendly Nutrients!  It is known that certain diets promote heart disease. And we also know that the proper diet can help reduce heart risk, even if you have risk factors which cannot change (such as age, genetics and family history of the disease). However, we also know that the lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and smoking are modifiable! That's great news.

A heart friendly diet not only protects us from dangerous health related conditions. One of the key aspects of a heart friendly diet is the inclusion of fruits and vegetables and the replacement of saturated fat in the diet by unsaturated fats. One way that antioxidants guard against health conditions is by protecting the LDL, or bad cholesterol from oxidizing – which is what forms plaque in our arteries and hence cause atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

CAOH® Acai is cholesterol-free. It is naturally cholesterol-free since cholesterol only comes from animal products! Why do we want to lower our cholesterol? This is because it is linked to heart disease. CAOH® Acaí berries are not only cholesterol-free, but low in the heart-clogging saturated fat and high in the heart-friendly unsaturated fats and fiber. Together, these nutrients help reduce cholesterol.

Let!s take a look at the types of fat in CAOH® Acaí. There are three types of fats found in our foods. Saturated fat, polyunsaturated fay, and monounsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats tend to be liquid at room temperature (your vegetable oils, with the exception of coconut and palm which are mainly saturated). Acai berries are low in saturated fats. These are the fats that increase your cholesterol and clog up your arteries. The Acai berry contains the unsaturated fats omega-6 and omega-9 (a classification of the type of unsaturated fats), which reduce LDL-cholesterol levels (think L = Low, so we want them to be low in our blood) when they replace saturated fats in our diet.

Acai is richer in monounsaturated fats than polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats maintain the good HDL-cholesterol levels (think H = healthy, or you want it to be high) in our blood. Monounsaturated fats are less susceptible to oxidation than polyunsaturated oils. This makes monounsaturated fats a heart-healthy choice.

Recall that CAOH® Acai is a good source of dietary fiber. Dietary fiber helps lower cholesterol and maintains sugar levels in our body.

CAOH® Acai is a true heart-friendly fruit!

Get CAOH® Acai Berry Online Now!

The pulp of acai berries may counter the effects of a high-fat diet and reduce the risk of developing high blood cholesterol levels, says a new study with rats from Brazil.  Animals fed a high-fat diet and supplemented with acai pulp had lower levels of total and non-HDL cholesterol, compared to animals just eating a high-fat diet, according to findings published in Nutrition.

“This is the first study, to our knowledge, addressing the potential benefits of acai intake in the cholesterol profile,” wrote the researchers, led by Maria Lucia Pedrosa from the Federal University of Ouro Preto. “We observed that the addition of acai pulp in the hypercholesterolemic diet had a hypocholesterolemic effect by reducing cholesterol levels (total and non-HDL), which could be explained by a lower food intake and higher faecal excretion,” they added.  High cholesterol levels, hypercholesterolaemia, have a long association with many diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD), the cause of almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe, and reported to cost the EU economy an estimated $202 bn per year.

Super fruits from Central and South America

Acai berries (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) have long formed part of the staple diet of Indian tribes. With the appearance of a purple grape and taste of a tropical berry, it has been shown to have powerful antioxidant properties thanks to a high level of anthocyanins, pigments that are also present in red wine.

It is presently being sold in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Australia, South America, Japan, USA, and the Middle East

Commenting independently on the study, acai expert Dr Alex Schauss from US-based contract research organization AIBMR told NutraIngredients that the study does provide in vivo experimental evidence that acai pulp can improve mammalian lipid profiles in response to a high fat diet.  Regarding the safety data, Dr Schauss added that “acai does not appear to cause liver damage as evidenced by the fact that acai does not alter activities of several liver enzymes. This is important since liver damage is a common phenomenon when a drug is taken for a long period of time.”

Study details

Pedrosa and her co-workers used female Fischer rats and divided them into four groups: Two groups consumed a standard diet, and two groups consumed a high fat diet containing 25 per cent soy oil and 1 per cent cholesterol. One standard diet group and one high fat diet group received additional acai pulp at a level of 2 per cent.  After six weeks, the researchers noted an increase in blood levels of total and non-HDL cholesterol and a decrease in levels of HDL cholesterol in the high-fat diet only animals. Such changes were attenuated in the acai-supplemented high-fat diet animals.  The researchers did not directly examine the mechanism behind the effects but noted that the benefits may not be solely due to the polyphenol content of the fruit.

“These results suggest that the consumption of acai improves antioxidant status and has a hypocholesterolemic effect in an animal model of dietary-induced hypercholesterolemia,” concluded the researchers.

Future study

• AIBMR’s Dr Schauss noted that future studies should focus on using a better high fat mouse model. “There is a published rodent diet that is close to a typical high fat American diet or McDonald diet that could be used,” he said. He also said that the length of intervention should be increased to six months, while the effects of acai pulp on lipids can be further investigated by looking at both liver and blood vessel morphology, signalling pathways, LDL levels and cardiovascular functions.

• Source: Nutrition – Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2009.09.007: “Diet supplementation with acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pulp improves biomarkers of oxidative stress and the serum lipid profile in rats” – Authors: M. Oliveira de Souza, M. Silva, M. Eustaquio Silva, R. de Paula Oliveira, M.L. Pedrosa