For the past month and a half, I’ve added a daily dose of Astaxanthin to my supplement mix on the advice of Dr. Andy Rosenfarb. I’ve also been dousing my eyes twice a day with the MSM eye drops he supplied me with the hopes that between the two, they will help my central core vision. Dr. Rosenfarb’s theory is that the combination of the two may help to clear out the scar tissue/pigment.
I hadn’t given it much thought until a couple of days ago, when I pulled out a paperback book and noticed that as long as I had good light, I could read it with NO reading glasses. This is amazing for me considering that when I first went to see Dr. Rosenfarb last Deceember, my near-sided vision was 20/125 in my right eye, 20/80 in my left eye.
I’d been curious about Astaxanthin even before Dr. Rosenfarb recommended it because I’ve read that it’s the strongest antioxidant around for the eyes.
Here are links to a couple of in-depth articles on its benefits. I’m particularly interested because I know from my last appointment with a retinal specialist (a year and a half ago) that I had cataracts forming — and this seems to do battle with them.
Here are some benefit highlights:
- Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: it is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
- Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at “singlet oxygen quenching,” which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing this singlet oxygen.
- Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta-carotene and lycopene do not), which has huge implications for the health of your eyes.
- It is soluble in lipids, so it incorporates into cell membranes.
- It is a potent UVB absorber.
- It reduces DNA damage.
- It is a very powerful natural anti-inflammatory.
- No adverse reactions have been found for people taking astaxanthin.
- It is virtually impossible to obtain the recommended daily amount of astaxanthin from diet alone because there are only two prime sources: microalgae and sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).
For those of you who are interested, here’s a list of other supplements that I’m religious about taking:
- Zeaxanthin
- DHA
- Vitamin D
- TUDCA (been out of this for a few weeks..but reordering it)
And here’s a link to the Astaxanthin I’ve been purchasing. It’s the highest dose I could find.
Happy Weekend!
Thanks for sharing! What are the dosages on the other supplements that you take?
Thanks, Erin.. You know…I honestly am not sure. I take a dosage of 500 something of DHA, and 5,000 something of Vitamin D — and I two tablets of TUDCA. I’LL HAVE TO LOOK AT DOSAGES…
Hi Ingrid,
Thanks so much for the blog that you do. I live in Australia and found that the company in the link you provided, didn’t ship to Australia. I have found one who does however at iherb.com and they also have tablets that are 12mg (one a day). These are stronger than the ones you are taking, therefore thought this info might be useful.
Ingrid,
Given that 400IU OF Vitamin E is meant to be detrimental to RP, is the fact that Astaxanthin is a lot stronger than Vit E a concern at all?. Has Dr Rosenfarb ever mentioned a comparison between the two of them to you?
Regards, Belinda
Hi Belinda,
Good question. Dr. Rosenfarb lumps Astaxanthin in more with Zexanthin and Lutein rather than Vitamin E. I really don’t know the answer to this — other than it seems to be helping my visual acuity because that — and the MSM drops — are the only things different. I’ll ask him about it though and see if he can provide a better answer that I can share on this blog.
I take aStaxanthin as well. I started doing the eye exercises. Is it just me or when doing the exercises do you forget to breathe? I seem to have to remind myself while doing them to remember to breathe. Funny.kind of like chewing gum and walking
😉
🙂
Yeah…I’m with you. I have to remind myself to breathe as well. It does take a lot of coordination and brain power to stay on top of it all:)
It’s very inspirational following your site . My family is plagued with around 9 cases of what we believe is X Linked RP. Of these cases 3 are my sons . I was wondering how the acupuncture with Dr. Rosenfarb is working out for you . I read a few months ago you were maintaining some good results with the treatment . Also were you ever genetically tested for what RP gene is causing your RP ? Thanks for the great information and keep up the great work !
Hello Ingrid,
well done for such informative website!
Just wondering about astaxanthin, does it include vitamin E? Cause I heard its not good for Rp…
many thanks & cheers,
Claire
so I’m a little confused. it would appear that unfortunately you cannot draw a causal relationship to either the MSM drops or the Astaxanthin. is that a fair statement? I was led here to your website in a quest to eliminate my floaters, but now I’m intrigued by your report that I might not need reading glasses anymore.
Hi Mark,
Sorry I’m just seeing your post now. I don’t know that i have answers – when I try something and it seems to help me -I post about it in case it’s something someone wants to try. I’m not a researcher and most of the experiences I write about are subjective. For me — a holistic health approach that combines diet, lifestyle, attitude, exercise, acupuncture and supplements is helping. But I can’t necessarily say that one thing is doing the trick. I think it’s a combination of everything working together. Hope this helps in some way.
Hi. Thanks for your report! Thought I’d share another astaxanthin product that contains 12 mg per capsule – Sports Research brand with coconut oil – 60 caps. I purchased from Amazon for $24.95. I’m recovering from Bell’s palsy which has effected my eye, so I’m searching for healing nutrients. I will purchase the MSM drops you mention. I appreciate it!