A Quick CoQ10 Review

CoQ10 is a fat-soluble compound that is the pilot light to the energy furnace. Present in every cell in the body, CoQ10 is the essential component of electron transfer in the production of ATP from ADP.

CoQ10 exists in two forms, ubiquinol, and ubiquinone. Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ10 and ubiquinone is the oxidized form of CoQ10.

Ubiquinol vs. Ubiquinone

Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ10 which allows it to convert ADP>ATP. CoQ10 in its ubiquinol form can donate electrons to free radicals and reduce their damage. It helps to protect lipid membranes against peroxidation, protect cellular DNA, and cellular proteins. 

Ubiquinone is the oxidized form of CoQ10. It is converted in the body to ubiquinol during Complexes I and II in the electron transfer chain. It has also been shown that 80-95% of circulating CoQ10 in the form of ubiquinol after taking a ubiquinone supplement.

However, this conversion decreases with age. Patients with congestive heart failure were also found to have decreased ubiquinol levels. There are also studies that show decreases in ubiquinol levels in patients with hyperlipidemia and liver disease.

Who should take Ubiquinol?

• People over 50
• Clients with hyperlipidemia
• Clients on statin therapy
• Liver Disease
• Mitochondrial disorders
• Congestive heart failure
• Genetic CoQ10 deficiencies
• Exercise Intolerance

Advantages of Ubiquinone

• Most healthy individual convert ubiquinone to ubiquinol. 80-90% of circulating CoQ10 following oral ingestion of ubiquinone supplement is in the form of ubiquinol.
• Consider combining with CoQnol for a comprehensive intake of CoQ10
• Consider using with Mitochondrial NRG for mitochondrial support

After considerable research it is interesting to bring you up to speed on documented evidence of things which answer the question. “Why is the human brain deteriorating faster than the rest of the body?”

There are a multitude of factors and today’s article will touch on a few and also provide some solutions.

For starters I find it disturbing and somewhat criminal that a common blood pressure medication called calcium channel blockers has been proven radiologically on MRI to cause brain shrinking. Research has shown that these drugs cause deterioration of the I.Q. within 5 years’ use.

Another medication used to lower cholesterol called Lipitor causes a decline in brain function. It is important to know that statin cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor poison the liver’s synthesis of cholesterol. This in turn will starve the brain of cholesterol needed to repair the brain, renew worn out membranes, and stave off Alzheimer’s.

In fact, an excellent book, “Lipitor Thief of Memory” written by the respected medical doctor, former astronaut, aerospace medical research scientist, flight surgeon, and family doctor, Dr. Duane Graveline, shares his rapid mental decline after taking the drug Lipitor. Worth reading.

Even with all this hard evidence can you believe the pharmaceutical industry has created a potent drug which combines both the calcium channel blocker and a statin called Atorvastatin/Amlodipine (Caduet). Talk about a double punch to optimal brain function!

Moving on to another documented contributor of Alzheimer’s, we can’t forget the unavoidable heavy metals. We all have them in us and they poison brain repair enzymes, leading to Alzheimer’s.

For example, there is no one who doesn’t have aluminum in them, from eating out, aluminum cookware, aluminum flocculation agents in municipal drinking waters, aluminum in baking powders used in breads, processed and restaurant foods cooked in aluminum vats, industrial and vehicular exhausts, deodorants, antacids, and many other sources.

Aluminum causes the nerves in the brain to actually get tangled up (neurofibrillary tangles) as well as make a glue-like substance (called amyloid) to gum up the normal workings of the delicate brain electricity..

Now to provide some nutritional answers to reduce amyloid production we need to look no further than Phosphatidylserine (PS). This nutritional powerhouse has shown to perk up memory, and stave off Alzheimer’s.  One interested case showed PS in 3 months return the memory back to where it was 12 years earlier.

Most recently there has been evidence how DHA is an amyloid eater.

Well here is something even easier: green tea. Real organic green tea has over 3 catechins or polyphenols. They have been found to be potent preventers of amyloid deposition in the brain. Sencha Premium Organic Green Tea is by far the best I have found.

This short article is simply a glimpse of the research you won’t see promoted on CNN or Fox News. Of course this is sad. There is another side of the clinical management of many diseases that the public will rarely if ever be shown unless you are a reader of my weekly health reports or other alternative or functionally oriented heath professional reports or journals.

The take away from today’s article is to “NOT” be your own doctor but seek out the assistance and help from someone trained and skilled in functional medicine who can properly evaluate you and outline a personalized program to help you get well.

Compliments from Functional Medicine University