Astaxanthin is a xanthophyll carotenoid. It is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties and as such has potential as a therapeutic agent in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Similar in structure to beta-carotene, this antioxidant also helps living organisms to quench, scavenge and trap free radicals inside its structure. Not only can it trap these harmful toxins effectively, it also has the ability to trap more types of radicals, such as singlet and triplet oxygen. Typically, a substance will lose an electron (a process that destabilizes the substance), when going through a metabolic process. Instead of sacrificing an electron, astaxanthin stabilizes these metabolic...