Hollywood star skin secret

The dermatologist, Nicholas Perricone, adjunct professor of medicine, has written three New York Times # 1 Bestseller about wrinkles, skin and beauty, including the immensely popular book “Ageless Face, Ageless Mind”. He is also the dermatologist for the movie stars and has appeared in the TV show Oprah and Access Hollywood. He says that Astaxanthin “is a star among anti-aging food.” He further says that Astaxanthin “has proven to improve skin quality, elasticity and reduce wrinkles. It also increases endurance and recovery following intense training. “Dr. Perricone believes that Astaxanthin is one of his top-ten-top supplements for skin and in summary, he believes that Astaxanthin:

• Reduces wrinkles
• Reduces age spots, called hyper pigmentation
• Reduce facial swelling with particular omega-3
• If exceptionally anti-inflammatory
• Protects muscle and contribute to increase the persistence
• Protects the brain and eye
• Reduces inflammatory cytokines
• Improves digestion
• Has a myriad of health benefits, and protects against oxidative stress

Nicholas Perricone also mentions Astaxanthin several times as a miracle substance in his series of “Forever Young” texts. I dare say that Astaxanthin together with the whole food complex dietary supplement of vitamin E (alpha, beta, gamma, delta tocopherol and alpha, beta, gamma, delta tokotrienol, not just alpha tocopherol.) and omega -3 are some of the best dietary supplements for the skin.

What is Astaxanthin?
Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant that belongs to the carotenoids, a group of fat-soluble substances giving foods as red, yellow and orange color, among other things. There are more than 600 different carotenoids and one of the best known is beta-carotene found in carrots. Carotenoids are divided into carotenes and xanthophylls. Astaxanthin is a xanthophyll, which in addition to functioning as a miracle cure for Hollywood stars wanting a wrinkle-free complexion and glowing skin, also protects vitamin A, vitamin E and other carotenoids from oxidation and prevents unhealthy oxidation in, on and around body cells.

Astaxanthin is both water-and fat soluble antioxidant, which is rather unique. This which allows Astaxanthin to operate in the blood as well as in intra-and extracellular fluids (fluid both inside and outside the cell) but also in fatty acid containing cell membranes and the various lipoproteins. Astaxanthin can cross both the blood-brain barrier and the blood-aqueous barrier (the physiological barrier between the blood and chambers of the eye). This is why Astaxanthin also protects parts that are hard to reach, like the brain and the eye against attacks by free radicals and not just the skin or other organs of the body.

Astaxanthin is primarily formed in an algae called Haematoccous pluvialis as a natural protection against the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Salmon, crab, shrimp and krill that eat the algae get their pink color from astaxanthin. Flamingos are born white but get pink feathers when they eat small crustaceans that contain astaxanthin. Note that only wild salmon eat natural astaxanthin. Farmed salmon may have synthetic astaxanthin which Dr. Perricone believes is much poorer source of Astaxanthin. The researcher Paris Kidd, who has studied cell biology at Berkeley said in a report that “Although the synthetic astaxanthin is available, it has a different molecular profile in comparison with natural astaxanthin.”

Astaxanthin is itself also very good in comparison with other antioxidants. Studies that have compared the natural astaxanthin to vitamin E, alpha-and beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene show that astaxanthin has the highest antioxidant activity against free radicals of all these substances.

Choosing Astaxanthin
I have researched the market for about 15 months and finally found one that I feel stands up to the test. It is Dr. Mercola’s Astaxanthin. His product is the only one that I know of, that uses ac process called O2B in order to create a high quality product with very long stability. Dr. Mercola’s Astaxanthin does not use solvents to separate the Astaxanthin from algae. Also it does not contain cheap isolated vitamins and minerals.

/Patrick

Buy the best Astaxanthin: Europe and USA.
Buy complete vitamin E-complex (tocopherols + tocotrienols):  Europe and USA.
Buy the best omega-3: Europe and USA.

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PS. Some of Dr.. Perricones clients include Kate Hudson, Uma Thurman, Eva Mendes, Cate Blanchet, Kim Cattrall and Julia Roberts .

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12727382

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10775364

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1497349

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20697930

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22428137

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22214255

http://www.dailyperricone.com/

http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/16/4/355.pdf

http://www.perriconemd.com/

Perricone, N. (2007) The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet: A Simple 3-Part Plan to Lose the Fat, the Wrinkles, and the Years. New York: Ballantine Books, Random House, Inc.

http://products.mercola.com/astaxanthin/