Valensa introduces new formulation for optimal absorption

March 23, 2012 — Valensa International recently announced that it has launched a new Astaxanthin formulation that is designed to provide optimal absorption in support of human health at lower levels of ingestion.

Called Zanthin XP-3 Astaxanthin, the new product combines Valensa’s Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin with a supercritical extract Perilla seed oil, O2B Peroxidation Blocker stabilization system and sunflower-based phospholipids in a synergistic formulation designed to enhance the human body’s absorption of the Astaxanthin.

Published research has shown that absorption of Astaxanthin in the human body ranges from 25 percent to 90 percent in different individuals, and this can be greatly enhanced using natural plant-based oils and natural surfactant extracts.

The published research also shows that large doses of Astaxanthin are disproportionally less absorbed compared to doses of 2 to 4 mg/day. Rather than adopt a strategy of large Astaxanthin doses to ensure the optimal 2 mg to 4 mg intake levels research has shown the body can utilize, Zanthin XP-3 typically makes the Astaxanthin 90 percent available across the board.

Studies have shown that Astaxanthin offers anti-aging support for the skin, for the brain and for eyes and joints. It has also been shown to support improved stamina, endurance, and recovery from physical activity.

According to Dr. Rudi E. Moerck, president and CEO of Valensa, the critical factor for determining levels of Astaxanthin to use is that it is a fat-soluble substance. “With water-soluble substances such as Vitamin C, we need to take these every day in relatively high doses, because our body eliminates them rapidly. Fat-soluble substances, on the other hand, can linger in our bodies for up to 100 days. In the case of Astaxanthin, one dose has been shown to be detectable in serum for up to 72 hours and the known elimination half-life (T 1/2) — which is the time it takes for a substance to lose half of its original dose — is 16 hours.

“That means after a 24-hour period most people will still have slightly less than half of a previous dose still present as Astaxanthin in their blood serum and at the end of 24 hours, the next dosing cycle begins. The next dosing cycle results in even higher levels of serum Astaxanthin until a concentration called maximum serum concentration (CMax) is reached. Therefore, high daily doses of Astaxanthin are not needed because eventually even a tiny dose will reach CMax, where the concentration does not increase no matter what the dose. Zanthin XP-3 provides proper absorption, so that a 2 mg supplementation for general purposes or 4 mg Zanthin XP-3 for physical activity/endurance purposes is fully sufficient,” he said.

“While there are clinical trials that show physiological benefits from 12 mg doses, the pharmacokinetics of astaxanthin indicate that these trials would have shown similar results at a 4 mg dose level. Scientists often use higher levels of a substance in studies to make sure that they can detect a measurable level in serum. In the case of Astaxanthin, depletion from serum is a competitive process with some getting used as fuel and the rest being deposited in membranes of your body, where it is primarily needed for its antioxidant function. What is not done so often is determining the lower levels that accomplish everything needed for efficacy. There are quite a number of trials at 2 mg and 4 mg levels that show positive health effects of Astaxanthin supplementation. I would fully expect that trials at 12 mg levels would give identical results as the 4 mg trials on our new super-absorbing Zanthin XP-3,” he added.

He went on to point out that the dietary reference intake (DRI) from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for Beta-carotene -— a researched similar substance — is 1.8 mg. While not a perfect surrogate, since it does not have the same polarity or absorption, it is less active in vitro than astaxanthin.

Source: Valensa International, valensa.com