Astaxanthin is one of a group of natural pigments known as carotenoids. In nature carotenoids are produced principally by plants and their microscopic relatives. Animals cannot synthesize carotenoids and thus all natural carotenoids are first made in plants.As an antioxidant astaxanthin has been shown to be up to 500 times more powerful than Vitamin E and more than 10 times as potent as beta-carotene. As an antioxidant astaxanthin was shown in ORAC testing to be over 4 times more potent than Lutein. A variety of scientific studies have shown health benefits from astaxanthin. Because astaxanthin freely crosses the blood-brain and blood-retina barriers astaxanthin may help neutralize free-radicals in the eye and nervous system.