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Astaxanthin is a substance that more and more people are hearing about due to its clinicaly proven beneficial effects as an ingredient in skin skin treatment products and nutritional suplements. Astaxanthin belongs to a class of phytochemicals called terpenes and it is a caratenoid as well as a powerful antioxidant. One of the aspects that differentiates astaxanthin from other carotenoids that are commonly used in supplements and topical skin care products is that astaxanthin does not change or convert to vitamin A once it is inside of the body as other types of carotenoids often will.

Another positive feature of astaxanthin as a carotenoid is that it has been found to have up to ten times the posetive effect of other common carotenoids found in supplement and skin care products on todays market. The fact that astaxanthin does not convert to vitamin A is a crucial aspect aspect for consideration due to the fact that vitamin A can have toxic effects on the system if it is present in high concentrations. While much has been made of the need for vitamin A for the maintainence of healthy skin, the truth of the matter is that Vitamin A is readily available in many foods and also in suplement form.

As it appears in nature in its pure form, astaxanthin is pinkish-red in color which is one of the reasons why many of the organisms that produce and contain it will tend to be red in color. At the present time the main commercial source for astaxanthin is red algae which grows in thousands of forms in every ocean on the planet. Red algae is prolific and varies in size from larger leafy varieties to small microscopic forms.

To answer the call of growing demand for red algae due to the astaxanthin and other useful substances that are derived from it, commercial aquaculture farms are now producing it in ever greater quantities worldwide. OceanGrown International is one company that is spearheading much of the research and development into new products that contain astaxanthin that is derived from commercially produced red algae and one of their most recent introductions to the skin care product market is their OAVE line of products.

OGIs visionary founding partner Travis Martin recently put forth in an interview the companies core strategy for the coming future. ' Our policy with regards to product development is to diversify based on growth. That is that we intend to develop and offer to the consumer effective nutrition and weight loss management product lines to fit the demand for complete health requirements. From his statement it is clear that OGI intends to stay on the cusp of research into and the development of skin and health care products that rely on astaxanthin as an essential effective ingredient.

There are many common foods that contain astaxanthin that are available at the grocery store including food items items such as salmon, shrimp and lobster. Research into the eating habits of native Alaskans has determined that it is their high rate of consumption of these seafoods that contain high levels of astaxanthin that is a major contributory factor to their low rate of ischaemic heart disease as well as other common health maladies in their overall population.