Cellular Defense

Independently tested · Named ingredients

  • Unbox Health A+
  • AstaReal®, Japan
  • Vegan, tested in an NABL lab
  • SME Climate Hub
  • Plastic neutral, Plastic Collective certified
  • Antioxidant
  • 100% vegan softgel
  • Carrageenan-free

Cellular Defense

Cellular Defense

Pollution, sun and stress create free radicals that can damage your cells over time.

Cellular Defense gives you 4 mg of astaxanthin, a natural red antioxidant from microalgae and one of the most researched in the world, plus 7 vitamins and minerals that help protect your cells. One softgel a day.

4 mg natural astaxanthin + 7 vitamins and minerals. One softgel a day.

  • ic cell Cell protection

    Helps protect cells from oxidative stress
  • ic shield Immune support

    Supports normal immune function
  • ic bolt Everyday energy

    Supports normal energy-yielding metabolism
  • ic clipboard Clinically studied

    Astaxanthin backed by 70+ human studies
Choose your supply · 30 softgels per bottle
  • Fast shipping
  • COD available
  • Secure payment
  • NABL-tested batches

Independently tested · Named ingredients

  • Unbox Health A+
  • AstaReal®, Japan
  • Vegan, tested in an NABL lab
  • SME Climate Hub
  • Plastic neutral, Plastic Collective certified
View full details
  • Unbox Health A+
  • AstaReal® from Japan
  • 70+ human clinical studies
  • 100% vegan
  • Zero ocean harvesting
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Third-party verified

We didn't grade ourselves.

Label claims are easy to print and hard to check. So we sent Cellular Defense to Unbox Health, an independent testing platform, and let them check what's really inside. It came back with an A+ — and more astaxanthin per softgel than we promise.

Read the full Unbox Health report
UNBOXHEALTHLab results · Cellular Defense
A+ Unbox Health rating
9.8/10 Aggregate score
4.35 mg Astaxanthin measured (label: 4 mg)
10/10 Toxicity screening
unbox badge v2
Third-party verified

We didn't grade ourselves.

We sent Cellular Defense to Unbox Health, an independent testing platform. It came back A+, with more astaxanthin than we promise.

UNBOX HEALTH · LAB RESULTS
9.8/10 Aggregate score
4.35 mg Astaxanthin measured (label: 4 mg)
10/10 Toxicity screening
Read the full Unbox Health report

Who it's for

Made for days that ask a lot of your cells.

  • cd traffic

    The city commuter

    Hours in traffic and an AQI app you check before stepping out. Daily antioxidant support that fits in one softgel.

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    Long days outdoors

    Field work, travel, site visits, outdoor sport. For people who spend a large part of the day out in the elements.

  • cd football

    Active adults

    Training several times a week and building an antioxidant routine alongside good food and sleep.

  • cd label

    Nutrition-conscious individuals

    You read labels and want to know exactly what you’re taking. Named ingredients, an independently verified dose, and a fully vegan softgel.

Check with your doctor first if you are pregnant or nursing, under 18, or taking prescription medication such as blood thinners or immunosuppressants.

Inside every softgel

Every ingredient, and exactly what it does.

One clinically studied hero ingredient, from a named supplier — plus 7 vitamins and minerals. The full label is below.

The hero ingredient

AstaReal® astaxanthin

Natural astaxanthin from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, developed by AstaReal — part of Fuji Chemical Group, Toyama, Japan. Not synthetic, not fish- or krill-derived.

  • 70+ human clinical studies
  • 4 mg per softgel, daily
  • Japan Fuji Chemical Group
cd leaf

Haematococcus pluvialis under the microscope. The red at the centre of each cell is natural astaxanthin.

1. Shah MM et al. Astaxanthin-producing green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis: from single cell to high value commercial products. Front Plant Sci. 2016;7:531.

Sources

1. Shah MM et al. Astaxanthin-producing green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis: from single cell to high value commercial products. Front Plant Sci. 2016;7:531.

Before you buy any astaxanthin, check these five things

Use it on any brand, including ours.
  1. Natural or synthetic source?

    Natural, from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae
  2. A named, clinically studied ingredient?

    AstaReal®, with 70+ human clinical studies
  3. Has the dose been independently verified?

    Unbox Health measured 4.35 mg against our 4 mg claim
  4. Are batches tested for heavy metals?

    Every batch, by an NABL-accredited lab — reports below
  5. What is the capsule made of?

    Vegan corn-starch softgel — no gelatin, no carrageenan
Why each nutrient is here · and the full label
Astaxanthin (AstaReal®)

A natural carotenoid from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae that provides antioxidant support and may help neutralise free radicals.¹

Vitamin B2

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal energy-yielding metabolism.

Vitamin C

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal immune function and energy-yielding metabolism.

Vitamin E

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress.

Selenium

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal immune function.

Manganese

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal energy-yielding metabolism.

Copper

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal immune function and energy-yielding metabolism.

Zinc

Helps protect cells from oxidative stress; supports normal immune function.

Shell

Corn starch, carrageenan-free

label cd Tap to enlarge Full label · amounts per 1 softgel. Tap the image to read it in full.

Your first 12 weeks

What the research measured, week by week.

Astaxanthin works quietly. It builds up in the body over weeks, not days. Here is what human studies at doses around ours looked at, and when.

  1. Weeks 1–4

    Your levels build up

    Blood astaxanthin rose steadily over the first 4 weeks, and a marker of oxidative DNA damage came down.

    2 mg & 8 mg a day · 42 healthy young adults²

  2. Weeks 4–16 · 8 clinical trials

    Skin moisture and elasticity

    When researchers pooled 8 placebo-controlled trials, astaxanthin significantly improved skin moisture and skin elasticity compared with placebo.

    Skin moisture Improved
    Elasticity Improved

    2–12 mg a day · 4–16 weeks · 8 RCTs, 293 adults³

  3. Week 8

    Immune markers respond

    By week 8, markers of immune response, including natural killer cell activity, were higher than in the placebo group.

    2 mg & 8 mg a day · 8 weeks · same study²

  4. Week 10 · At our exact dose

    Skin under the sun

    At 4 mg a day, skin needed more UV exposure before it reddened, and lost less moisture, than with placebo.

    4 mg a day · 10 weeks · 23 healthy adults⁴

Why we recommend 3 months
Many human studies of astaxanthin run 8 to 12 weeks. The 3-month pack covers a full 12-week routine, and saves you 29%.

These are findings from published studies in specific groups of people, not a promise of individual results. Studies used natural astaxanthin from various suppliers. Astaxanthin is not a substitute for sunscreen.

2. Park JS et al. Astaxanthin decreased oxidative stress and inflammation and enhanced immune response in humans. Nutr Metab 2010;7:18. · 3. Zhou X et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of astaxanthin on human skin ageing. Nutrients 2021;13(9):2917. · 4. Ito N, Seki S, Ueda F. The protective role of astaxanthin for UV-induced skin deterioration in healthy people. Nutrients 2018;10(7):817.

Sources

2. Park JS et al. Astaxanthin decreased oxidative stress and inflammation and enhanced immune response in humans. Nutr Metab 2010;7:18. · 3. Zhou X et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of astaxanthin on human skin ageing. Nutrients 2021;13(9):2917. · 4. Ito N, Seki S, Ueda F. The protective role of astaxanthin for UV-induced skin deterioration in healthy people. Nutrients 2018;10(7):817.

Tested & transparent

Read the reports yourself.

Each batch is tested for purity and microbes, and third-party tested for heavy metals by an NABL-accredited laboratory.

View the lab reports · 4 PDFs

  1. How to take it

    One softgel. With a meal.

  2. ic pill
    Take 1 softgel daily

    Or as advised by a qualified healthcare professional.

  3. ic plate
    Pair it with food

    Astaxanthin is fat-soluble, so a meal with some fat helps absorption.

  4. ic calendar
    Keep it consistent

    Daily use matters more than timing. Store cool and dry; no fridge needed.

Clean nutrition. Clear conscience.

Good for you shouldn't cost the ocean.

Albae is built on algae — the original source of the nutrients most supplements take from the sea second-hand.

  • cd culture

    Zero ocean harvesting

    Our astaxanthin comes from cultivated microalgae — not krill, not fish, nothing taken from the wild sea.

  • cd greencells

    Named, traceable suppliers

    We tell you exactly where the key ingredient comes from: AstaReal®, Fuji Chemical Group, Japan.

  • Footprint we measure

    We measure our full footprint with the SME Climate Hub carbon calculator: 35.07 tonnes CO₂e across Scopes 1–3 in FY 2025–26, of which 1.968 t came from our own operations. See the full report →

The ocean's routeThe pink in salmon is astaxanthin that started in algae.
  1. Microalgae
  2. Krill
  3. Salmon
  4. You
The Albae routeWe skip the middle. Straight from the original source, with nothing taken from the sea.
  1. Microalgae, grown on land
  2. You
Plastic Collective Certified: 100 grams prevented from entering oceans per product sold

Plastic neutral: collecting plastic equal to our usage.

We’ve funded the collection of 1 tonne (1,000 kg) of plastic from the environment, at least as much as our estimated plastic footprint for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. The collection is done by the ASASE Foundation in Ghana, a project certified under Verra’s Plastic Waste Reduction Standard, and the credit was retired in our name on the Verra Registry.

The project is also certified for collecting ocean-bound plastic within 50 km of waterways and the sea, and for paying its waste pickers at least 10% above market price.

Read our plastic disclosure →View the Verra certificate →
1,000 kg plastic collection funded, Oct 2026 – Sep 2027
100 g* prevented from entering oceans per product sold
10%+ premium paid to waste pickers above market price
13 Oct 2026 credit retired on the Verra Registry in our name

*1,000 kg of Verra-certified collection divided by our forecast sales of 9,000 products for October 2026 to September 2027 comes to about 111 g per product, rounded down to 100 g. Plastic Collective checks our actual sales every year, and we buy more credits before we pass 10,000 products.

Reviews

What our customers say

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Still unsure? Write to our nutrition team.

Is this natural or synthetic astaxanthin?

Natural. AstaReal® astaxanthin is produced from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis in Japan, not made synthetically.

How do I know there's really 4 mg in each softgel?

Unbox Health tested it independently and measured 4.35 mg per softgel. You can download their report, plus our batch CoA and heavy-metals report, above.

How should I take Cellular Defense?

One softgel daily with food. Astaxanthin is fat-soluble, so a meal helps absorption.

Can I take it with other supplements?

Check with a doctor or nutritionist before combining supplements, so they can look at your full routine.

Is it safe if I'm on medication?

If you take blood thinners, immunosuppressants or other prescription medicines, consult your healthcare provider before starting.

Is it free from common allergens?

It contains no fish, shellfish, gluten or soy. If you have a known algae sensitivity, speak to your doctor first.

Who shouldn't take it?

Pregnant or nursing women should consult their healthcare provider first. Not intended for children without paediatric guidance.

What if I miss a few days?

Just resume your usual routine. Don't double up.