The combination of astaxanthin and saw palmetto offers men a “dynamic duo” for maintaining prostate health and testosterone levels. While saw palmetto has been on the market for sometime as a promoter of prostate health, astaxanthin is a relatively newcomer to the market. Now, research suggests that by combining saw palmetto with astaxanthin, the health benefits of both may be significantly increased.
This combo will be of interest to men with enlarged prostates as well as the weightlifter looking to increase testosterone levels. Middle-aged men suffering from low testosterone levels or male pattern baldness, might also benefit from this potent combo.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a a form of testosterone that is known as “Bad Testosterone” because it can lead to male pattern baldness and prostate problems. DHT is produced in the body from testosterone (T). Saw palmetto helps to prevent DHT from forming.
Since it prevents precious testosterone from being lost to DHT it can effectively lead to an increase in T (testosterone) levels.
Astaxanthin was extensively reviewed in a previous post. Testosterone can be converted to the female hormone, estrogen, in men. This is especially true for middle-aged men with pot-bellies or with excessive alcohol consumption. Astaxanthin has been shown to block this process from occurring in the body.
An analogy as to how this combo works to maintain good testosterone levels is to think of your precious T being poured into a bucket. There are some round holes on the bottom of the bucket through which your T is leaking (DHT).
Imagine Saw Palmetto being round pegs that plug the holes to prevent the leaks. Now imagine there are square holes around the top of the pail. With the addition of the Saw Palmetto, the T level rises and starts to spill through the top square holes (E). Following this analogy, astaxanthin would be the square pegs that plug the top holes preventing the spillover into estrogen.
Well there are two approaches here. Either buy the combo supplement or buy the two supplements separately and take them together. Buying the combo supplement in most cases will cost more than buying them separately. However, it will be more convienent to take the combo as opposed to two separate pills.
4 Comments
Mike
alphasta is the combination of saw palmetto and astaxanthin. Is taking the supplemts as efetcive? If so, what is the ratio one should take? For exaxple, a recommended dose is 800MG.
How much of each supplement is required to make up the optimum blend?
Rob
Mike, the research on Alphastat was conducted with with two doses, 800mg and 2,000mg. Both doses were effective in raising testosterone and lowering DHT. Only the the stronger dose (2,000 mg) was effective in lowering estradiol (http://www.ergo-log.com/astaxanthinetestosterone.html).
Unfortunately, the saw palmetto/astaxanthin is listed as 200 mg of a patented formulation in the Aphastat product. Therefore there is no way to tell how much of these compounds are actually present or even the strength of the saw palmetto extract or if there was any standardization. I personally think this type of labeling is deceptive and an excuse to charge exorbitant prices for the product.
Since astaxanthin is usually formulated in the 2 to 4 mg range most of this 200 mg is going to be saw palmetto extract. A standardized saw palmetto extract is usually effective in the 300 mg range. So it would seem you could get the same or greater benefit by taking a good quality saw palmetto extract with a 4 mg of good quality astaxanthin twice to three times a day.
Tony
I found astaxanthin in 10 Mg. Dose from Puritan Pride. For some reason I am skeptical only because no one else offers that dosage amount. Can you comment ?
Thanks
Rob
A cursory review of astaxanthin supplements revealed several other companies providing high dose gel caps from 10 to 12 mg. One should keep in mind that when it comes to supplements and for a lot of other things in life; more is not necessarily better. Oftentimes, it is more effective to take smaller doses divided throughout the day than either one high dose or multiple high doses.
Astaxanthin is poorly absorbed from the digestive tract due to its low water solubility and also it’s rate limited; meaning only so much can be absorbed at one time. Astaxanthin requires fat to be absorbed so it is definitely a good idea to take it with some fat. So the question becomes, “How much astaxanthin can be absorbed at one time?” and is grist for a future post.
I’m guessing you’re concerned whether this dosage is too good to be true. Consumer Reports tested a variety of astaxanthin products and found they all contained the amounts listed on the bottle.
However, it is important that the astaxanthin be separated out from the cell matrix for bioavailabiltiy. The label should state that the astaxanthin was separated out by “Supercritical CO2 Extraction.” There is no statement on Puritan Pride’s Astaxanthin label of this processing method. Hmmmmm.