Canthaxanthin a common yellow carotenoid pigment

Scientists first identified canthaxanthin, a common yellow carotenoid pigment, in edible mushrooms.  The chemical is also found in crustaceans, carp, green algae, Pacific salmon, herring and golden mullet.  As a pigment medium and antioxidant, canthaxanthin has been approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a food additive.  

Some tanning agents use this natural pigment, which, when ingested, can accumulate in the fat layer of the skin and produce a tan - like golden color.  Although Angle flavin antioxidant properties increase skin against ultraviolet ability in theory, but did not get the food and drug administration (fda) approved for the production of tanning agent or drug, because can cause skin color changing dose, there was a link with some side effects, including liver damage, aplastic anemia, and Angle of flavin retinopathy, etc.  

Researchers have begun studying the use of canthaxanthin to treat diseases that can cause a high degree of sunlight stimulation and sensitivity, including drug-induced light sensitivity, eczema, and erythrocytic protoporphyria.  In warmer seasons, when patients are more exposed to sunlight, doctors recommend 60 to 90 milligrams of xanthoxanthin daily.  Typically, patients take the drug for three to five months a year.  

People with allergies to vitamin A or carotenoids should not use this product due to similarities and A tendency to convert to vitamin A.  Canthaxanthin is soluble in fat and can be stored in the body for a long time.  It is for this reason, as well as the unknown effects on the fetus, that pregnant and nursing women should not use the drug.  

Canthaxanthin can produce unpleasant negative reactions, including diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, and red-orange body secretions.  It can also cause side effects such as itching, rubella or allergic urticaria.  Taking the drug has also been linked to aplastic anemia, a fatal disease in which the bone marrow cannot produce new blood cells.