Why Astaxanthin Is the Optimal Sports Nutritional Supplement?
Supplements are just what the term means! They can supplement trainers’ efforts and help them achieve their health goals in a shorter duration with better ease.
Among various types of supplements, sports nutrition has witnessed a sharp growth in recent decades. And this segment is expected to grow further as the awareness of the beneficial effects of physical activity is constantly growing.
Let’s find out why exactly is astaxanthin the optimal Sports Nutritional Supplements?
Oxidative stress, inflammation and muscles damage
Strenuous exercise is associated with excessive production of free radicals and oxidative stress, which can diminish antioxidant system efficiency, create muscle damage and extend recovery time between workouts.
Astaxanthin’s beneficial effect on muscles
Astaxanthin is known as “The king of carotenoids”, a natural wonder and one of nature’s most potent antioxidants, which provides a wide variety of health benefits.
The beneficial effect of astaxanthin on muscles was shown in many animal studies and in human studies, which showed better exercise performance, reduced muscle fatigue and improvement in recovery after exercise, and even improvement in built-up of muscle mass in elderly subjects who trained while supplemented with astaxanthin.
Why should you include astaxanthin into your sports nutrition formula?
Astaxanthin has been perfected after years of research to help derive optimum benefits from a strenuous workout routine.
Astaxanthin has been shown to reduce oxidative stress in muscles, bones, and ligaments tissues. It can neutralize free radicals and reduce fatigue and other muscular ailments that commonly occur due to inflammation and oxidative stress.
As one of the natural bioavailable antioxidants, astaxanthin can be easily transported throughout our body, including the muscle tissues, to eliminate free radicals. Thus, astaxanthin can improve your muscle strength and endurance by reducing oxidative stress. It is a powerful natural antioxidant that can minimize post-exercise oxidative stress, reduce muscle damage, slow down wear and tear, and improve your performance.
Astaxanthin can be used as nutritional supplements to increase muscle mass and protect these tissues against damage by free radicals, excessive inflammation, and age-related wear and tear.
Astaxanthin reduces physical fatigue
Intense workout sessions can create physical strain and stress on the body’s vital tissues, including the heart, muscles, and bones. Exercise can also cause mild to moderate fatigue and tiredness.
Research has revealed that supplementing workout efforts with astaxanthin can improve the recovery ability by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress [1].
Astaxanthin improves endurance
Taking astaxanthin supplements before a gym session can improve the performance by allowing to work out for longer and more seriously.
Two trials assessed sports performance. A study in male cyclists found improvements in the time trial and power output while cycling after 28 days of 4 mg/d astaxanthin supplementation [2].
A trial in young students. Taking 4 mg/d astaxanthin for six months was able to show an improvement in endurance when challenged to do knee squats [3].
An additional study evaluated the effect of astaxanthin on 42 elderly subjects aged 65-85 who trained for 3 months while consuming either formula containing 12 mg of astaxanthin or placebo.
The treatment group showed much better results than the placebo, including stronger muscle force and bigger muscle size [4].
Astaxanthin increases lipid metabolism
Astaxanthin may increase the utilization of fatty acids as an energy source in mice. Studies show that astaxanthin improves muscle lipid metabolism in exercise and accelerates body fat accumulation with exercise training [5].
Astaxanthin supplements have demonstrated numerous benefits for men and women who live an active lifestyle. It can support physical performance, improve recovery, reduce downtime, oxidative stress and inflammation.
These benefits of astaxanthin make it one of the most efficient sports nutritional supplements you can include in your workout routine to attain your fitness goals within a shorter duration.
References:
- Polotow TG, Vardaris CV2, Mihaliuc AR, Gonçalves MS, Pereira B, Ganini D, Barros MP. Astaxanthin supplementation delays physical exhaustion and prevents redox imbalances in plasma and soleus muscles of Wistar rats. Nutrients. 2014 Dec 12;6(12):5819-38
- Earnest CP, Lupo M, White KM, Church TS. Effect of Astaxanthin on Cycling Time Trial Performance. Int J Sports Med. 2011 Nov;32(11):882-888
- Malmsten CL and Lignell A. Dietary supplementation with astaxanthinrich algal meal improves strength endurance – A double blind placebo controlled study on male students. Carotenoid Science. 2008;13:20-22.
- Liu et al. Building strength, endurance, and mobility using an astaxanthin formulation with functional training in elderly Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 2018; 9: 826–833
- Aoi W, Naito Y, Takanami Y, Ishii T, Kawai Y, Akagiri S, Kato Y, Osawa T, Yoshikawa T. Astaxanthin improves muscle lipid metabolism in exercise via inhibitory effect of oxidative CPT I modification. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008;366(4):892-7.