THERE'S no easy way to lose weight. You eat less, exercise and you still feel fat.
Vincent Wood has found a surer way of doing this. The international marketing manager for Fuji Chemical Industry, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, lost 1kg a month with intensive exercise, and by taking a super antioxidant called astaxanthin.
He used to weigh 77kg, now he is a trim 70kg. He describes it as a gentle way of losing weight.
"I recommend 30 minutes of light exercise, a balanced intake of food and 4mg of astaxanthin a day. It takes up to four weeks for the effects to be noticed," said Wood.
He was at Bio-Life Marketing Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur recently to give a talk on this "king of the carotenoid family". Astaxanthin is what gives salmon, prawns, crabs, lobsters and ikura (fish eggs) their colour. It's also produced by algae, some fungi, bacteria and a few higher class of plants.
"This is the new class of carotenoids that includes lutein and zeaxanthin (which help with vision). Astaxanthin is more oxygenated. It's able to protect your body cells as it penetrates the cell membrane or mitochondria and becomes a bodyguard against oxidation."
Wood said that in Norway and the United States, astaxanthin is fed to salmon in fish farms to prevent them from falling sick. Of course, astaxanthin is found naturally in wild salmon.
"Taking 6mg of astaxanthin daily is equivalent to eating 1.2kg of salmon fillets a day!"
The bright red crest of the cockerel contains astaxanthin. "The more intense the colour, the more attractive it is to the female!"
In Scandinavia and Japan, astaxanthin is fed to hens to make the egg yolks more orange. "You could pick up the yolk with chopsticks. It looks and tastes so much better and you get your astaxanthin in it."
A super microalgae called Haematococcus pluvalis also makes astaxanthin. It's present in rockpools in beaches and in the mountains where the environment is subjected to stress.
In such conditions, it goes into hibernation to make astaxanthin to protect itself from UVB radiation.
The Japanese company Wood worked for realised the benefits of this plant. It has since processed astaxanthin as health supplements and for cosmetic companies. Another plant source of astaxanthin is plankton, a food source for some fish.
Fuji Chemical Industry has a facility with state-of-the-art technology in Maui, Hawaii, and another in Gustavberg, Sweden, to grow the H. pluvalis, which is then processed in Japan.
"Astaxanthin helps manage sugar levels, with a better insulin response," said Wood. "It helps in protecting against kidney disease progression. It's also good for eye health, and better muscle endurance and recovery after exercise."
This means you won't feel all the aches and pains when you start exercising after laying off for a long time.
Best of all, it reduces wrinkles. "It's used by Japanese women for anti-ageing. Shiseido has a whitening supplement with astaxanthin in it."
It can be part of a strategy for weight management, with a balanced diet plan and exercise. "When people exercise, they get muscle stiffness and this makes it difficult for them to continue. Astaxanthin protects the muscle mitochondria, the power station of the body, and provides energy," said Wood.
This super antioxidant also increases your body's lipid metabolism, i.e. fat burning. Research shows that many enzymes involved in fat burning get activated with astaxanthin. It helps people maintain an exercise regime and achieve the targeted weight loss.
"In US trials where people were put on 6mg of astaxanthin a day for 12 weeks, over 90 per cent of them reported increased stamina levels and faster recovery after exercising. In Alaska, dogs are fed astaxanthin to make them stronger for pulling sleighs."
Wood recommends astaxanthin for retirees who want to increase their stamina. "Young people can take it for sports day."
Wood is still on astaxanthin, not to lose body fat but to maintain muscle tone. It's been 1 1/2 years since he started taking it. "I felt so good that I quit smoking."
New Straits Times/Asia News Network
This story was first published in the New Straits Times on Dec 1, 2008.
