Astaxanthin for exercise metabolism, performance and recovery
What it found
In mice, astaxanthin improved fat burning, endurance and recovery markers, but in people the results are mixed and mostly show no clear benefit.
Human studies have been small and few.
What they found
Studies in people
Metabolism in people
Four weeks of astaxanthin at 4 mg or 20 mg per day did not change fat or carbohydrate use during cycling in trained men. Blood glucose and free fatty acids were also unaffected.
Performance in people
One small study found a 5% faster 20 km cycling time trial after 4 mg per day for 4 weeks, but a larger study using 20 mg per day found no improvement in a 1 hour time trial.
Recovery in people
In resistance-trained men and youth soccer players, astaxanthin did not clearly reduce muscle soreness or blood markers of muscle damage. One study found a small effect on lactate dehydrogenase only.
Safety and tolerance
No adverse effects were reported in healthy people taking 6 mg per day for 8 weeks or 20 mg per day for 4 weeks. A single 40 mg dose was well tolerated, with three mild headaches reported.
Animal and lab studies
Fat burning in mice
In exercising mice, 3 to 5 weeks of astaxanthin increased fat oxidation by 21% and lowered carbohydrate oxidation by 12% during a 60 minute run. Muscle glycogen was also higher in supplemented mice.
Endurance in mice
Mice given astaxanthin for 3 to 5 weeks swam or ran longer before exhaustion. In one swim test, times were 2.27, 3.32 and 5.12 minutes for increasing doses, compared with 1.44 minutes in the control group.
What the authors conclude
“In contrast, the current efficacy surrounding astaxanthin supplementation in exercising humans is somewhat equivocal.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that animal and cell studies support astaxanthin for exercise, but human evidence is equivocal.
- They advise that future research is needed with better scientific rigor and appropriate methods before a robust conclusion can be made about astaxanthin as a supplement for exercising humans.
How it was done
Heavy exercise can produce damaging reactive molecules that overwhelm the body's own antioxidants. The authors wanted to see whether astaxanthin, a strong antioxidant, could help exercising people by improving metabolism, performance or recovery.
They reviewed studies in cells, mice and people. Human studies included trained cyclists and triathletes, resistance-trained men, and youth soccer players, with supplement doses from 4 to 20 mg per day for 3 weeks to 90 days.
What it can’t tell you
- Animal and cell results may not apply to people.
- The human studies were small and few, so their results are not definitive.
- Most human studies did not measure the proposed mechanism, so it is unclear why some results differed.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Edge Hill University, United Kingdom; University of Johannesburg, South Africa
The paper
- Title
- Astaxanthin in Exercise Metabolism, Performance and Recovery: A Review
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Brown DR, Gough LA, Deb SK, Sparks SA, McNaughton LR (2017). Astaxanthin in Exercise Metabolism, Performance and Recovery: A Review. Frontiers in nutrition. doi:10.3389/fnut.2017.00076Free full textPubMed 29404334DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error