Dave, I'm so excited to talk to you because longevity is on the top of everyone's mind.

And with this podcast, we talk about mind and how mind changes the brain and the body.

There's so much talk in our current day and age about health span versus just increased lifespan.

You've spent over 25 years focused on one molecule. So what is the molecule and what made it worth that kind of level of commitment?

It's a pleasure to speak with you about this amazing molecule called astazanthin, which is actually,

it's a naturally occurring marine molecule that's present in microalge and salmon and

shrimp. And it's actually what gets salmon their beautiful pink and red coloration. And it turns out,

though, that in addition to just being a pigment, it's a really powerful and really unique

antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that turns out is systemically distributed throughout the whole body.

Microalgae are green when they start off life. And then when the sunlight hits them and stresses them,

they produce asazanthin as a defense mechanism to shield them against the UV light and the damaging

effects of the sun. And then from there, it works its way up the food chain. And so the scientists had this really great technology to grow this

microalgae. And at the time, there was only maybe less than 200 peer-reviewed papers. There were no

human clinical studies. But there were some intriguing hints in the research demonstrating that

it's a powerful antioxidant,

anti-inflammatory, and exceptionally safe. For the salmon, it's not just giving them their color,

but it's giving them strength and vitality. And without it, they probably wouldn't be able to swim upstream in that amazing strenuous journey to reproduce. Because ultimately, they're swimming

against the currents. They're not really consuming food. They're basically wasting away in this miraculous journey upstream. And the

asazanthan helps to protect their muscles against damage as they're swimming upstream. And then ultimately,

the salmon, when they lay their eggs, the asazantham is transferred to their eggs. And that's why

the eggs are red as well and protects

the eggs against the UV light in the shallow waters where the eggs are laid and then ultimately

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