Ubiquinol (Q10, koenzym Q) Ubikinon
Tags
heart - Q10 - energi - cardiovascular health
Ubiquinol and Ubiquinone, also called Coenzyme Q, any of several members of a series of organic compoundsbelonging to a class called quinones. Widely distributed in plants, animals, and microorganisms, ubiquinones function in conjunction with enzymes in cellular respiration (i.e., oxidation-reduction processes). The naturally occurring ubiquinones differ from each other only slightly in chemical structure, depending on the source, the structures resembling those of the fat-soluble vitamin K and certain derivatives of vitamin E.
Heart health is of great interest across the United States, where many people are confident they can manage certain health issues through proper nutrition. It's no wonder, then, that Americans will spend an estimated $2.5 billion this year on dietary supplements such as Ubiquinol CoQ10 that support cardiovascular health.
The Fundamentals
To understand this nutrient, we need to start with a quick overview of enzymes.
Enzymes play important roles in our bodies - for example, they make it possible for us to digest the food we eat and unlock the energy in nutrients. Complex reactions throughout all of nature are made possible - and most efficient - because of these molecules. But to function, enzymes need help from something called coenzymes. These natural compounds assist an enzyme in doing a certain job such as digesting carbohydrates and protein in our body, or making the energy our organs need to function.
There are various factors that affect the levels of ubiquinone/ubiquinol in the body, including:
Certain medications
Sun exposure
Age (the bodies ability to synthasise uniquinone into ubiquinol decreases with age)
Statins,
Some beta-blockers
Some blood pressure medications
"For many years, there was just coenzyme Q10, also known as ubiquinone. Then there was something new on the market -- Ubiquinol. What is this new form? Does it play a different role than coenzyme Q10? What are its unique benefits?
Ubiquinol and coenzyme Q10 are in fact very similar molecules. But the small alteration that makes them different is what gives them their unique role in energy production. That change also makes a big difference in the bioavailability, transportability, and antioxidant activity in the body.† Read on to learn more about all of this.
The difference between Ubiquinol and CoQ10 lies in two electrons (along with the 2 hydrogen atoms, "H," that come with the electrons).
Not only can coenzyme Q10 switch into Ubiquinol, but Ubiquinol can just as easily give up those two electrons and hydrogens, and switch right back into coenzyme Q10. This does in fact happen many times a minute inside the body. When the electrons come on, the molecule is called "reduced," and when they come off, it is called "oxidized." This is why Ubiquinol is called "the reduced form of coenzyme Q10."
So what's the big deal? Well, this flipping back and forth between the two forms holds the key to the major role of coenzyme Q10/Ubiquinol in the body - producing energy from the food you eat. Does it get more essential? This is much like the way a car burns gas in the engine to provide the energy to keep it moving. In your body, the engines are little machines called mitochondria that are found inside almost all of your cells.
How is food turned into energy? The bonds that hold together a molecule of food, say sugar, contain lots of energy. By breaking those bonds, that energy is released and can be captured and used. The capturing mechanism is like a line of crisis workers who are quickly passing sandbags one to the next to get them to the site of use. Coenzyme Q10/Ubiquinol is like one of these workers, and what it is passing is the released energy, in the form of... electrons! So coenzyme Q10/Ubiquinol spends its day flipping back and forth as it passes electrons along to their final destination, while the energy is put into a usable form.
And you can also see how a deficiency in coenzyme Q10/Ubiquinol would have a great impact on the body's ability to produce energy."