Astaxanthin Benefits: Skin, Eyes, Recovery & Side Effects

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Astaxanthin is the red-orange antioxidant that colors wild salmon, and its main job in your body is protecting the fats in your cell membranes from oxidative stress.1102 In human trials, it also improved skin moisture and elasticity, lowered a marker of muscle damage after hard exercise, raised HDL cholesterol and eased eye strain from screens.34511

Next time you cut into a fillet of wild sockeye, look at that deep red-orange color, because you're looking at astaxanthin. Tiny algae make it in the ocean, and it travels up the food chain to your plate.112 It belongs to the carotenoids, the pigment family that colors carrots, tomatoes and peppers. And because it's fat-soluble, it can settle right into the fatty membranes that wrap your cells.131410

When it comes to getting astaxanthin, start with your plate. The root cause of almost every chronic illness today is inflammation, and the food you eat every day will lower it far more than any supplement ever could. Wild-caught fish will beat a fish oil capsule every time.15 On my list of the top 10 foods for healing your cell membrane, wild-caught salmon such as sockeye is number one. It's high in EPA, it's high in DHA, and it's high in astaxanthin.16

With astaxanthin, the plate is simple: wild salmon. A capsule has its place too, and astaxanthin earns a spot in my Mitochondrial Longevity Protocol as one of six honorable mentions that follow the top 8 cellular nutrients, though daily habits come first.6

Did you know?

• The green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis can build up astaxanthin to as much as 3.8% of its dry weight.1

• Few foods carry astaxanthin, and at the start of one trial, it was too low to detect in the blood of 32 trained cyclists.1718

• Your blood shows what's on your plate. In a randomized trial, 28 healthy men ate salmon every day for 4 weeks, and the mix of astaxanthin forms in their blood came to mirror the salmon they ate, wild or farmed.19

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What is astaxanthin?

Astaxanthin works its way up the ocean food chain. Microalgae make it, and wild salmon get it from the krill and shrimp they eat, so it builds up in their flesh and turns it red.2012 The bright red you see in wild sockeye and king salmon is astaxanthin.21 Farmed salmon get theirs added to their feed, and most of it is made synthetically.20

The chain starts with living things too small to see and ends with the fish on your table, the kind of design Scripture marvels at: "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts" (Psalm 104:24–25).

Like vitamin E, astaxanthin is an antioxidant, a molecule that neutralizes the unstable molecules behind free radical damage. Because it's fat-soluble, it does its work in the fatty parts of your cells.14 As I said on my show, "You need both water-soluble and fat-soluble antioxidants."22 In Heal Your Cells, Dr. Will Cole and I describe carotenoids as natural sunglasses and armor that strengthen your cells.13

Natural vs. synthetic astaxanthin

When you shop for astaxanthin, you'll run into two forms. Natural astaxanthin is grown in microalgae, mainly Haematococcus pluvialis. It's the form used in the supplement trials and in the 87-study safety review on this page.23 Synthetic astaxanthin is made by chemical synthesis. It's chemically different from the natural form, it has had few safety studies in people or animals, and most of it goes into fish feed.2320 The long-term effects of eating synthetic astaxanthin are unknown, and researchers point to that as one reason its use in food is limited.12 So when you buy a supplement, look for astaxanthin from algae, with Haematococcus pluvialis named on the label.

Which foods have astaxanthin?

Astaxanthin figures come from a 2014 review and a lab analysis of commercial supplements. Per-portion amounts are calculated from the per-kilogram values (4 ounces = 113 grams, raw).117

Salmon roe carries some too: a lab analysis of roe from farm-raised Chinook salmon found about 4 milligrams per kilogram.24

In that table, a 4-ounce portion of the richest wild sockeye holds about as much astaxanthin as the smallest softgels tested, but where a softgel hands you one nutrient, the fish brings a whole meal's worth of nutrition with it. When you eat salmon, you're getting the omega-3s EPA and DHA. You're getting protein and phospholipids, unique fats that help restructure the cell membrane, and you're getting astaxanthin along with them. Those omega-3s become part of your cells, which is why I've called salmon probably the most anti-inflammatory of all the foods you can eat.15

Before you cook your salmon, know that cooking lowers the amount. In a lab analysis, common ways of cooking cut the astaxanthin in wild salmon by 48% to 57%, roughly half, and in farmed salmon by 35% to 47%.17 Eating salmon still raises your levels quickly, though: in a randomized trial, 28 healthy men ate 250 grams (about 9 ounces) of salmon a day, and the astaxanthin in their blood reached a steady level within 6 days.19

As for which salmon to buy, farmed salmon carries a worse omega-3 to omega-6 balance than wild,25 and my rule from The Biblio Diet is to choose wild, ocean-caught fish.26 Our guides to the best fish to eat and the fish you should never eat cover the rest of the counter.25 The Mitochondrial Longevity Protocol puts wild salmon and sardines at the top of its longevity foods, at 4 to 6 ounces two to three times a week, which gives you the omega-3s that build your cell membranes and the protein your cells use for repair.6 For more fish and other foods that supply omega-3s, see our list of omega-3 foods.

When my mom was recovering from cancer through nutrition and lifestyle alongside her medical care, wild-caught salmon was one of the foods on her plate.13

What is astaxanthin good for?

How does astaxanthin work in your body?

If you've ever opened a bottle of cooking oil that sat too long, you know the stale, sharp smell of fat that has oxidized and gone rancid. Free radicals can do something similar to the fats in your cells, and that's oxidative stress, the free-radical damage that wears down your cells. It's one of the root causes of aging, and it's what astaxanthin works on.

Oxidative stress is one of the nine hallmarks of aging I teach, beside mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammaging, the low, constant fire of inflammation. It goes hand in hand with mitochondrial dysfunction, because as your mitochondria decline, you make less energy and leak more free radicals.6 Astaxanthin does its work right where your cells are most exposed to that damage, in their fatty outer membranes and in the mitochondria that make your energy. You need to protect the fat of your cells from oxidizing, and that's where vitamin E, astaxanthin, polyphenols and glutathione come in.16 Follow astaxanthin from the ocean to your cells:

Astaxanthin benefits, ranked by evidence

Here are astaxanthin's benefits, in order of the strength of the human research, starting with skin.

Does astaxanthin help your skin?

Your skin takes the weather from the outside while astaxanthin works on it from the inside, and skin is one of its best-studied uses. A 2021 analysis pooled 8 randomized trials of oral astaxanthin, with 162 people taking it and 131 in the comparison groups. Not all of them were simple placebo trials: one compared it with rose hip powder, and a few paired it with tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E, or with collagen. Overall, astaxanthin improved skin moisture by a moderate margin across 5 trials and elasticity by a larger one across 6, while wrinkle depth didn't change significantly.3 Elasticity is how well your skin springs back when you pinch it, like a rubber band that still has its snap.

Men's skin responded, too, right down to the crow's feet, those fine lines at the corners of your eyes. Researchers gave 36 healthy men 6 mg a day or a placebo for 6 weeks, and astaxanthin improved crow's-feet wrinkles, elasticity and the skin's water loss. Moisture and oil levels trended better as well.44 Another trial ran right through the end of summer and the start of winter, from August to December, when sun and dry air are hard on skin, and followed 65 healthy women (59 analyzed) for 16 weeks. On placebo, wrinkles and moisture worsened, while on 6 or 12 mg a day, they held steady, though the groups didn't differ significantly from each other.43

The most direct trial measured how much sun your skin can take before it turns pink. Researchers gave 4 mg a day or a placebo for 9 weeks to 23 healthy Japanese adults aged 30 to 56 (22 analyzed). Astaxanthin raised the minimal erythema dose, the amount of UV light it takes to redden the skin, so a higher number means the skin can take more UV before it reddens. It rose from 43.3 to 48.4 mJ/cm² on astaxanthin, while the placebo group went from 42.7 to 44.0, and the rise was significantly larger with astaxanthin. They also lost less moisture in UV-exposed skin, and they rated their skin less rough.7

Use it alongside good sun habits: get some sun on bare skin, but never burn. And when you'll be out longer, cover up or use a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide.

For the rest of a skin-friendly plan, see our guide to vitamins for skin and these anti-aging foods. And if you're wondering how much to take for your skin, a 2021 review of 11 skin studies found support for 3 to 6 mg of astaxanthin a day, especially for sun-aged skin. It found no serious side effects, in trials done mostly in healthy Japanese women.45

How much astaxanthin should you take a day?

For comparison, 4 ounces of raw wild sockeye holds up to roughly 3 to 4 mg before cooking, about what the 4 mg trials gave each day.1 If you add a supplement, the trials give you the range: most used 4 to 12 mg a day, and the doses of 16 to 24 mg on this page come from trials of 16 weeks or less.4727 How long until you notice anything? In the trials, skin changes showed up after 6 to 9 weeks, and cholesterol changes over 12 to 24 weeks.447318 So give it time before you judge whether it's working for you.

How to take astaxanthin

Take astaxanthin with a meal that contains some fat, such as salmon, eggs, avocado or a salad dressed with olive oil, because astaxanthin is fat-soluble and fat helps carry it in. In a study of 32 healthy men given a single 40 mg dose, lipid-based formulas raised how much reached the blood 1.7 to 3.7 times over a standard supplement, and its half-life in the blood was about 16 hours.9

Your daily habits are the foundation that keeps your cells strong, and a supplement sits on top of them. That's why, in my Mitochondrial Longevity Protocol, the nutrients come after the daily signals that tell your cells what to do:6

How to choose an astaxanthin supplement

When you're standing in the supplement aisle, check for these:

• Natural astaxanthin from algae, with Haematococcus pluvialis named on the label; it's the form the supplement trials used23

• Milligrams of astaxanthin per softgel, stated as astaxanthin itself, so you can match the amounts the trials used

• An oil-based softgel, since astaxanthin needs fat to absorb well9

• Third-party tested for purity and potency, with results the maker will share

Is astaxanthin safe? Side effects, dangers and who should be careful

If you like to read the fine print, one trial checked the kind of panel you'd see on routine bloodwork. Researchers gave 35 adults aged 35 to 69 either 6 mg a day or a placebo for 8 weeks and then looked at blood pressure, blood chemistry and blood counts. Astaxanthin caused no clinically meaningful changes in any of them. Calcium, total protein and eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, showed small statistical differences, but in the researchers' words they were of no clinical importance.50

Other trials ran longer, at a higher dose, and they found the same thing: no side effects appeared at 12 mg a day for 16 weeks in the skin trial in women, and 12 mg a day for 24 weeks was safe and well tolerated in the San Diego prediabetes trial.438 That's reassuring if you plan to take it for months, the way people in these trials did.

Is there an upper limit? Europe's food safety agency set an acceptable daily intake of 0.2 mg per kilogram of body weight from all sources. For a 154-pound (70-kilogram) adult, that works out to about 14 mg a day by our math. The agency also concluded that a normal diet plus 8 mg a day from supplements is safe for adults.46 Some trials on this page used 16 to 24 mg a day for up to 16 weeks, so treat those as research doses, above that supplement level.4727

Here's who should take extra care:

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. No trial has tested astaxanthin supplements in pregnant or breastfeeding women, so get it from food. That part is easy: wild salmon fits the low-mercury fish guidance for pregnancy, 8 to 12 ounces of fish a week.25

• Children and teens. With an 8 mg supplement on top of a normal diet, Europe's food safety agency found that teens aged 14 to 17 reach the acceptable daily intake, and children aged 10 to 13 go 28% past it. So for kids, food is the way to get astaxanthin.46

The bottom line

Astaxanthin: frequently asked questions

References

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2. Ma B, Lu J, Kang T, et al. Astaxanthin supplementation mildly reduced oxidative stress and inflammation biomarkers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Res. 2022;99:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2021.09.005
3. Zhou X, Cao Q, Orfila C, et al. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Astaxanthin on Human Skin Ageing. Nutrients. 2021;13(9). doi:10.3390/nu13092917
4. Liu S, Yao W, Wei Y, et al. The Effects of Astaxanthin Supplementation on Exercise Recovery Biomarkers and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2026;18(10). doi:10.3390/nu18101570
5. Molani-Gol R, Bohlouli Sardroudi S, Rafraf M. Effects of Astaxanthin Supplementation on Glycemic Control and Lipid Profile in Patients With Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutr Metab Insights. 2026;19:11786388261432862. doi:10.1177/11786388261432862
6. Axe J. Heal Your Cells: The Mitochondrial Longevity Protocol. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (p. 12, "The 9 hallmarks of aging"; p. 20, "Top 8 cellular nutrients," honorable mentions; p. 22, "Top 10 longevity foods," wild salmon and sardines, 4 to 6 oz two to three times a week).
7. Ito N, Seki S, Ueda F. The Protective Role of Astaxanthin for UV-Induced Skin Deterioration in Healthy People-A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2018;10(7). doi:10.3390/nu10070817
8. Ciaraldi TP, Boeder SC, Mudaliar SR, et al. Astaxanthin, a natural antioxidant, lowers cholesterol and markers of cardiovascular risk in individuals with prediabetes and dyslipidaemia. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023;25(7):1985-1994. doi:10.1111/dom.15070
9. Mercke Odeberg J, Lignell A, Pettersson A, et al. Oral bioavailability of the antioxidant astaxanthin in humans is enhanced by incorporation of lipid based formulations. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2003;19(4):299-304. doi:10.1016/s0928-0987(03)00135-0
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13. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. Avery; 2026. ISBN 9798217181353 (carotenoids, "Carotenoids (cellular sunglasses and armor)": the pigments in carrots, tomatoes, peppers and leafy greens; his mother's diet during her recovery: section "A Healing Plan That Worked").
14. Goto S, Kogure K, Abe K, et al. Efficient radical trapping at the surface and inside the phospholipid membrane is responsible for highly potent antiperoxidative activity of the carotenoid astaxanthin. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2001;1512(2):251-8. doi:10.1016/s0005-2736(01)00326-1
15. Axe J. 7 Foods That Quiet Inflammation Better Than Supplements. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (at 1:36, 9:15 and 10:57; YouTube upload titled "How to Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFeUM50IzBI&t=96s).
16. Axe J. You Were Lied To About Fat: Your Cells Are Paying the Price. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (at 19:01 and 22:40; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKHwG0I46k4&t=1141s).
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19. Rüfer CE, Moeseneder J, Briviba K, et al. Bioavailability of astaxanthin stereoisomers from wild (Oncorhynchus spp.) and aquacultured (Salmo salar) salmon in healthy men: a randomised, double-blind study. Br J Nutr. 2008;99(5):1048-54. doi:10.1017/S0007114507845521
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21. Axe J. This ONE Thing Controls Your Energy, Healing, and Health. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (at 10:57; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lH6GFrRVK4&t=657s).
22. Axe J. Top 10 Anti-Aging Foods. The Dr. Axe Show. 2017 (at 5:08; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBl5ejMg9AM&t=308s).
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25. Axe J. Fish You Should Never Eat: 12 to Skip & Safer Choices. DrAxe.com. 2026 (8 to 12 oz of low-mercury fish a week, including during pregnancy; wild over farmed salmon for its better omega-3 to omega-6 balance).
26. Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439. Fish guidance ("Choose wild, ocean-caught fish. Make sure it has fins and scales," "Hooked on Fish," ebook p. 84).
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31. Yoshida H, Yanai H, Ito K, et al. Administration of natural astaxanthin increases serum HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin in subjects with mild hyperlipidemia. Atherosclerosis. 2010;209(2):520-3. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2009.10.012
32. Sekikawa T, Kizawa Y, Li Y, et al. Effects of diet containing astaxanthin on visual function in healthy individuals: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2023;72(1):74-81. doi:10.3164/jcbn.22-65
33. Grigorian A, Tabatabaeyan A, Salesi M, et al. Astaxanthin supplement improves clinical outcomes, quality of life, and inflammatory factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized clinical trial. Food Funct. 2025;16(14):5850-5858. doi:10.1039/d5fo00949a
34. Villalaín J. Location and dynamics of astaxanthin in the membrane. Chem Phys Lipids. 2025;270:105512. doi:10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2025.105512
35. Wolf AM, Asoh S, Hiranuma H, et al. Astaxanthin protects mitochondrial redox state and functional integrity against oxidative stress. J Nutr Biochem. 2010;21(5):381-9. doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2009.01.011
36. McAllister MJ, Mettler JA, Patek K, et al. Astaxanthin Supplementation Increases Glutathione Concentrations but Does Not Impact Fat Oxidation During Exercise in Active Young Men. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2022;32(1):8-15. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2021-0138
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39. Waldman HS, Bryant AR, Parten AL, et al. Astaxanthin Supplementation Does Not Affect Markers of Muscle Damage or Inflammation After an Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage Protocol in Resistance-Trained Males. J Strength Cond Res. 2023;37(7):e413-e421. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000004408
40. Mashhadi NS, Zakerkish M, Mohammadiasl J, et al. Astaxanthin improves glucose metabolism and reduces blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2018;27(2):341-346.
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Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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