Coenzyme -Q10 not only in cosmetics
Ubiquinone, better known as Coenzyme Q10, is a powerful antioxidant found naturally in almost every cell in the body; its main function is to convert ingested food into energy and store it, so that it is ready for use when the body needs it.
It is produced naturally by the body, but its concentration as its production is less with aging, as well as in cases of malnutrition or certain degenerative diseases.
Coenzyme Q10 is contained in the mitochondria and in the presence of oxygen, this substance, participates in the formation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a compound that stores more than 90% of the energy necessary for metabolic actions.
Coenzima Q10: le proprietà
Coenzyme Q10, a very important substance for the wellbeing and beauty of the body, it is fundamental in the management and prevention of some diseases of different kinds, such as:
- Infarct: recent research has shown that taking regular Q10 supplements helps prevent new heart attacks on those who have already had one.
- Heart failure: the intake of ubiquinone, naturally associated with medications and under close medical supervision, would help to better manage heart failure by acting on swelling in the legs and making breathing easier.
- Arterial hypertension: Coenzyme Q10 helps to control hypertension, demonstrating its effects within 4-12 weeks; however new studies are still trying to confirm this benefit.
- Hypercholesterolemia: people with a high cholesterol level, generally show a low concentration of Q10 compared to the average, so its intake would help to support hypercholesterolemia.
- Diabetes: Supplements based on coenzyme Q10 can improve heart health, blood glucose levels and help manage hypertension in people with diabetes.
Other important effects of Coenzyme Q10: ubiquinone, so named for its presence in all cells of the human body, has other notable capacities on the body, such as:
- Anti-oxidant action: it counteracts the action of free radicals and therefore oxidative stress, proving to be very useful in diseases such as Parkinson’s.
- Anti-aging action: fights the loss of collagen and elastene, thus reducing the signs of passing time, such as wrinkles or so-called “crow’s feet”. For this reason it is a substance that is widely used in cosmetics and anti-aging creams.
- Strengthens the immune system: helps to fight infections and the formation of free radicals, stimulating the functionality of the body’s natural defenses.
- Stimulates the metabolism: helping the cellular respiration, it burns a greater quantity of stored lipids, as the body is forced to consume more energy.
- Helps to endure fatigue: Coenzyme Q10, increasing energy, allows a better tolerance to fatigue: this is why it is very useful for those who practice a sport.
Coenzyme Q10: the foods that contain it
To get all these benefits from ubiquinone, of course, you need to take daily doses through the right foods.
It is present in foods of plant origin such as soy, bran, wheat germ, spinach, broccoli, but we find a very high concentration of Q10 even in foods such as fatty fish, then sardines, mackerel, salmon, and in organ meats, as liver, chicken and eggs.
Moreover, pepper also interacts positively with Q10, since the piperine contained in it is able to increase the plasma absorption of the active ingredient.
Like other vitamins or substances produced by the body, ubiquinone can also be taken through supplements; this, however, is advisable only in those cases in which we find a strong lack of Q10, which can be given by diseases and diseases or more simply by aging, as mentioned above. Moreover, this should not be confused with a “deficit from Q10”, a true hereditary disease.
The supplements that are on the market are almost always in the form of tablets or capsules “sun” or associated with other elements, such as selenium or vitamins, and obtained from the fermentation of beet or cane, or in any case from the natural fermentation of other substances vegetables or animals. In this case, however, the intake of Q10 meets the gastric processes, which may compromise the assimilation; it is for this reason that to avoid this problem it is preferable to resort to a liquid supplement.
The integration of Coenzyme Q10 can also lead to secondary and undesirable reactions, even if the side effects are quite rare in that ubiquinone is a molecule already synthesized by our body. However, among these we find nausea, diarrhea, headaches and rashes.
Coenzyme Q10: when it is good to avoid it
Coenzyme Q10 certainly has beneficial effects on the whole organism, but there are situations in which the integration of this substance is highly inadvisable, especially if you decide to do your own thing without hearing the opinion of a qualified doctor, as this could interfere with therapies in place, making them ineffective or otherwise inadequate.
This is especially when you are being treated with one of the following drugs:
Finally, an interaction to keep in mind is that between statins (the most used drugs to control cholesterol levels in the blood) and coenzyme Q10, even if in this case it is the drugs that negatively interfere, leading to a reduction in ubiquinone.
