What Is Vitamin Q10?

VitaminQ10 is not a vitamin at all, but rather is the nutrient ubiquilone, an antioxidant. Ubiquilone is known by many names, including CoenzymeQ10 and CoQ10. The function of this nutrient within the body is twofold: powering the "engines" of each and every cell and also neutralizing the actions of free radicals.

Definition

• "Vitamin Q10" is one of the many names by which CoenzymeQ10, or ubiquinone, is known. The tag "vitamin" is a misnomer for this is a nutrient that acts as an antioxidant within the body. Other names by which ubiquinone is known are Q10 and CoQ10.

  CoQ10 is manufactured by the body, but in diminishing amounts as the body grows older.

Function

• Ubiquinone aids the mitochondria---the power house of each cell---to make energy. This nutrient acts as an antioxidant within the body, i.e., CoenzymeQ10 protects the body's cells from damage by free radicals.

  Antioxidants, ubiquinone among them, work to prevent the destruction of cells and cell activity that free radicals cause. Free radicals are chemicals that effect body cells, creating still more free radicals.

Benefits

• While every cell of the body benefits from having sufficient amounts of CoenzymeQ10 available within the body, the highest concentrations of the nutrient are found in "energy-demanding tissues, such as that of the heart, muscles and brain."

  If you imagine each and every cell of the body having its own little engine, you can imagine what happens to that engine's capacity to function without the essential nutrients it needs to do so, as CoQ10 is said to be. It would be like expecting your car's engine to operate efficiently if water was added to the fuel supply.

  Doctors John Ely and Cheryl Krone believe the benefit of oral supplementation of CoenzymeQ10 could be likened to the discovery of the "fountain of youth." Due to ubiquinone's ability not only to fuel the mitochondrial engines, but also its antioxidant properties, the doctors opine that physicians who are not recommending CoQ10 supplementation to their adult patients are virtually tellingl their patients to go ahead and age rapidly.

Expert Insight

• Traditional medicine has been slow to embrace the oral replacement of ubiquinone by its patients. Speculation might lead you to believe that since no major pharmaceutical company has jumped on the bandwagon to manufacture CoQ10---therefore no drug reps are giving samples to doctors or hawking the nutrient's benefits---that that is one reason why physicians are reluctant to embrace it.

  Whatever the reason, Ely and Krone advocate in their 2002 study of ubiquinone that "Failure to supplement by the aged, ill or stressed, can have tragic consequences in the form of irreversible damage in the brain, other organs, and mitochondria everywhere," (Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine).

  Dr. Gregory Fors also advocates the use of CoQ10 supplementation, citing the difficulties of all cells, but most certainly the energy-demanding cells of the heart, brain and muscle, to function properly in the absence of sufficient levels of CoenzymeQ10.

Sources

• Food sources of CoenzymeQ10 include "fatty fish, beef, soybeans, peanuts and spinach." CoQ10 oral supplements can also be found in health food and nutrition stores.

Caveat

• This article is not meant to replace or refute any advice from a medical practitioner or health care provider. Consult your physician before beginning supplementation with any nutrient.