What is Coenzyme Q10?
What is coenzyme q10? Let's start with what
is an enzyme. Enzymes or catalysts are helper substances
required for biological chemical reactions. These enzymes are not used
up or changed during the chemical reaction. Enzymes are specialized
protein molecules, which generally require a mineral, such as magnesium
or zinc, and a non-protein organic chemical, called a coenzyme. Examples
are vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, and Coenzyme Q10.
CQ10 is a fat-soluble vitamin-like
substance present in every cell of the body and serves as a coenzyme for
several of the key enzymatic steps in the production of energy within
the cell. It also functions as an
antioxidant. It is naturally present in small amounts in a
wide variety of foods, but is particularly high in organ meats such as
heart, liver and kidney, as well as beef, soy oil, sardines, mackerel,
and peanuts.
To put dietary
Coenzyme Q10 intake
into perspective, one pound of sardines, two pounds of beef, or two and
one half pounds of peanuts, provide 30 mg of
Coenzyme Q10.
Coenzyme Q10 is also
synthesized in all tissues. In healthy individuals normal levels are
maintained both by intake and by the body’s synthesis of
Coenzyme Q10.
The biosynthesis of Coenzyme Q10 from the
amino acid tyrosine is a multistage process requiring at least eight
vitamins and several trace elements. Coenzymes are cofactors upon which
the comparatively large and complex enzymes absolutely depend for their
function. Coenzyme Q10 is the coenzyme for at least three mitochondrial
enzymes (complexes I, II and III) as well as enzymes in other parts of
the cell. Mitochondrial enzymes of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway
are essential for the production of the high-energy phosphate, adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), upon which all cellular functions depend. The
electron and proton transfer functions of the quinone ring are of
fundamental importance to all life forms; ubiquinone in the mitochondria
of animals, plastoquinone in the chloroplast of plants, and menaquinone
in bacteria.
Virtually every
cell in the body contains Coenzyme Q10. Energy is produced in the
mitochondria area of the cell. This mitochondria area contains the
greatest amount of Coenzyme Q10. Coenzyme Q10 protects the body from
free radical damage. Coenzyme Q10 is a powerful antioxidant that aids in
metabolic reactions.
Coenzyme Q10 made
Nobel Prize winning science news. Coenzyme Q10 has demonstrated its
importance in cardiovascular muscle tissue health. Coenzyme Q10 is also
known as ubiquinone. (Derived from Ubiquitous that translates to
“existing everywhere”).
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