Astaxanthin May Protect Against UV Rays

Astaxanthin May Protect Against UV Rays

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii--Astaxanthin may provide sunscreen protection againstultraviolet (UV) light. Researchers used 21 healthy male and female subjects,ages 18 to 60 years old, with skin tones that ranged from fair to average. A UVbaseline was established for each subject by noting when each person's skinbegan to redden under UV light. Participants took 4 mg of astaxanthin daily fortwo weeks, at which point they were re-tested for UV light sensitivity.Researchers reported that the antioxidant significantly reduced subjects'sensitivity to UV light.

The study was sponsored by Cyanotech Corp. (www.cyanotech.com),which also provided the product used in the study, BioAstin. Basedon this research, Cyanotech plans to develop BioAstin products specificallyformulated to protect skin from sun damage.