Ubiquinol (CoQ10, MitoQ) - THE Supplement For More Energy

If I could recommend one supplement to give you more energy, reduce excessive inflammation, and relieve brain fog, that would be Ubiquinol!

CoQ10

CoQ₁₀ (coenzyme Q₁₀) is a coenzyme present in all respiring eukaryotic cells; it is primarily concentrated within our mitochondria. CoQ₁₀ accepts electrons in complex II of our mitochondrial electron transport chain and is crucial for cell energy transportation. CoQ₁₀ shuttles electrons across our inner membrane of our mitochondria and, in doing so, plays an essential role in our electron transport chain. CoQ₁₀ biosynthesis occurs from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine to create a benzoquinone structure, and the combination with an isoprene side chain using acetyl-CoA. CoQ₁₀ is metabolized in all tissues, and our liver eliminates any excess from our body through bile release into our stool, which we later expel. Finally, CoQ₁₀ supplementation can easily cross our blood-brain barrier, improving neural mitochondrial health and function.[1] [2]

Ubiquinol

Ubiquinol is a lipid-soluble form of CoQ₁₀ found in nearly every cell, tissue, and organ within our body. Your body produces ubiquinol from the CoQ₁₀ produced by our cellular mitochondria or from any CoQ₁₀ within your food (red palm oil and animal hearts are rich in CoQ₁₀). Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ₁₀ and is a double electron donor within complex III of our electron transport chain. Ubiquinol is a potent antioxidant that can regenerate other antioxidants such as vitamin E and C. The highest concentrations of stored ubiquinol within our body are within our brain, heart, kidneys, and liver! Ubiquinol as a supplement was not easily accessible by the public before 2000 because ubiquinol oxidized easily and was not shelf stable. Japanese scientists stabilized ubiquinol and have made it available worldwide. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol were prescription medications in Japan, but are now available freely as supplements. Finally, ubiquinol supplementation can cross our blood-brain barrier and improve neural mitochondrial health and function.[3] [4]

CoQ₁₀ is an electron acceptor within complex II of our mitochondria, and when it accepts electrons, it becomes ubiquinol. Ubiquinol is a potent antioxidant and electron donor within complex III of our mitochondria, and when it donates its electrons, it becomes CoQ₁₀ again. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol are used in significant quantities by our mitochondria. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol production and utilization switch back and forth within our mitochondria, depending on our cellular need to donate or receive electrons. Both have different uses for improving one’s health.[5]

Is MitoQ Supplementation Worth The High Cost?

MitoQ is a CoQ₁₀ supplement conjugated to triphenylphosphonium cation giving it a positive charge. “MitoQ consists of a lipophilic cation, triphenylphosphonium, attached to ubiquinone by a saturated 10-carbon alkyl chain. Once inside the mitochondria, ubiquinone is reduced to its active ubiquinol form by Complex II. Mechanistically, the lipophilic cation is attached to antioxidants, such as vitamin E and coenzyme Q. These lipophilic cations attached antioxidants were preferentially taken up by mitochondria due to a charge difference between mitochondria (with a negative charge) and lipophilic cation-based antioxidants (with a positive charge). These antioxidants accumulate first in the cytoplasm of cells, due to a negative plasma membrane potential. They later enter mitochondria and accumulate several hundred fold within the mitochondrial matrix. They then rapidly scavenge free radicals in the mitochondria and protect mitochondria and cells from oxidative insults.” The triphenylphosphonium cation acts as a potent antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, converts CoQ10 into ubiquinol, and is often reused within our mitochondria to reduce oxidative stress further. MitoQ is water-soluble, does not have to be taken with food, and can cross our blood-brain barrier. Many in vitro and in vivo studies (some human clinical trials) show how efficient MitoQ is in improving mitochondrial health.[6] [7] [8]

Is MitoQ more efficient than taking a standard CoQ₁₀ supplement? I believe so. Is it more valuable than taking ubiquinol? I do not know if it is worth the substantial price difference. You can purchase a bottle of Jarrow Ubiquinol for around thirty dollars, and a bottle of MitoQ costs around sixty dollars. Finally, there is one in vivo study that shows that supplementation of large amounts of MitoQ (the dosage that causes kidney damage is unknown, and more human studies need to be performed), leading to concentrations of MitoQ within our kidneys of five hundred nmol/L might cause mitochondrial swelling and death, causing kidney damage. If you are suffering from kidney failure (reducing your body’s ability to metabolize MitoQ and causing more to be concentrated within our kidneys), it would probably be better for you to supplement with ubiquinol, which has been shown in studies to improve kidney function.[9] [10]

Health Benefits of Taking Ubiquinol

Ubiquinol relieves excessive inflammation by decreasing mitochondrial oxidative stress by improving the function of our electron transport chain, improving cellular respiration and increasing the production of the protective mitochondrial enzyme superoxide dismutase, reducing oxidative stress. Ubiquinol also lowers or can help regulate normal blood pressure with relatively few side effects. CoQ₁₀ and mostly ubiquinol supplementation is vital for anyone who is suffering from heart disease or heart failure because it has been shown in studies to increase the ejection fraction (the percentage of blood that leaves our heart when it contracts) potential of our heart, relax blood vessels (relieving blood vessel constriction and blood vessel spasms), and calm arrhythmias (improving the electron transport chain of our mitochondria should improve the electrical conductivity of our heart and also by relieving heart tissue spasms.)[11] [12] [13] [14]

Ubiquinol can also help repair your gum health and relieve excessive gum inflammation if you suffer from gum disease. Supplementation with ubiquinol has been known to reduce or even relieve bleeding gums! Ubiquinol supplementation might also improve diabetic complications by relieving excessive inflammation, preventing/improving diabetic neuropathy/retinopathy, reducing non-fasting glucose levels, improving vascular health, relieving insulin insensitivity, and preventing and improving cardiovascular disease. Our liver and kidney mitochondria produce CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinolin large amounts to help facilitate the mitochondrial energy needed for proper detoxification processes. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol supplementation improved liver function in people with liver disease and kidney function in people with renal disease, elevating their quality of life. Finally, it reduces oxidative stress and improves mitochondrial function within our brain. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol supplementation enhances cognitive ability, relieves brain fog, prevents and relieves headaches and migraines, reduces seizure frequency/severity, and enhances stroke recovery.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Anyone over thirty should take a ubiquinol supplement instead of CoQ₁₀ if they primarily try to get the antioxidant benefits of supplementing with a quinone. The main reason is that our body has difficulty converting CoQ₁₀ into ubiquinol after age thirty. Organic red palm oil has one of the highest natural concentrations of food-sourced CoQ₁₀, followed by the heart organ meats of animals, which are also high in CoQ₁₀. CoQ₁₀ and ubiquinol are absorbed within our small intestine since they are lipid-soluble and require bile and pancreatic lipase for absorption. Taking them with a meal that contains healthy fats can also increase absorption.[21] [22]

Possible Ubiquinol Side Effects

The only theorized significant “side effect” (other than the systemic few allergic reactions or gastrointestinal upset reported with ubiquinol supplementation, which can happen with any supplement or drug) is that ubiquinol may have a rebound effect if quickly discontinued if you had been taking the supplement for a while. The rebound side effects are that you have less energy, feel weaker, have poor exercise recovery, experience brain fog, and your blood pressure might increase marginally for about a week. Your body synthesizes less CoQ₁₀ and converts less ubiquinol when supplemented. If you discontinue the supplement quickly, your body can have difficulty producing CoQ₁₀ in the amount needed to function optimally for a few days. Also, less mitochondrial biogenesis occurs because they function at enhanced efficiency. Increased mitochondrial biogenesis should occur after ubiquinol supplementation has stopped, but may take a few hours or days to return to normal. Taking the right combination of ubiquinol with PQQ dosage-wise (a molecule that increases mitochondrial biogenesis) might override less mitochondrial biogenesis occurring and reduce or eliminate the rebound effect. Based on someone’s weight and mitochondrial health, it can be tricky to recommend a proper dosage. However, from what I have read in the medical literature, ten milligrams of PQQ per one to two hundred milligrams of ubiquinol should be sufficient. The production of less CoQ₁₀ by our body and a reduction in mitochondrial biogenesis are the known reasons for the rebound effect.[23]

Ubiquinol and CoQ₁₀ supplements are considered very safe, and people have taken supplementation amounts of twelve hundred milligrams daily for the long term with little to no side effects. The half-life of CoQ₁₀ is thirty hours, and ubiquinol is forty-eight hours; both should be taken with meals that contain a source of fat to increase absorption. Finally, I mainly recommend the supplementation of ubiquinol over CoQ₁₀ because its price has decreased over recent years; it works better, and there is a slight price difference between the two.[24]

Recommended Ubiquinol Supplements

Dosage Recommendations: I recommend taking one hundred milligrams with breakfast and one hundred milligrams with lunch if needed.

[1] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2785862/

[3] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925443914000477

[5] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[6] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925443913002846

[7] https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2018/8575263/

[8] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.10787

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5880956/

[10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20878200

[11] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19096107

[13] https://openheart.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000326

[14] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circ.134.suppl_1.14946

[15] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4576635/

[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5427137/

[18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22036465

[19] https://bjd-abcd.com/index.php/bjd/article/view/251/441

[20] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3796195/

[21] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[22] https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/75/2/98/2965109

[23] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

[24] Know, Lee. Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine. Chelsea Green Publishing, February 12, 2018.

Ubiquinol (CoQ10, MitoQ) – THE Supplement For More Energy