The Original Q10 from The Inventor of Q10 Supplements

Because the body produces Q10 of its own and because there is Q10 in almost any diet, it is seemingly impossible to categorize supplementation with Q10 as doping. Q10 acts as a coenzyme (supporting enzyme) in the cells and thus also in the muscles' energy producing mitochondria. We can produce some Q10 in the liver, and, in addition, we get minor amounts of Q10 from the diet. Many athletes do take supplements of Q10 to counteract declining Q10 levels, and the Q10 supplements are not categorized as doping.

To date, more than 40 scientific studies have been published, showing that, once it has been absorbed, the ubiquinone form of Q10 has a relatively good bioavailability and efficacy. However, not much evidence has been published on the bioavailability and efficacy of QH (ubiquinol).

Various Q10 products are available either as tablets or as capsules. The Q10 content may be in the form of crystals or granules, encapsulated in liposomes, in micelles attached to nanoparticles or dissolved in oil.

The size alone of the Q10 molecule - it has a considerable size, approx. 5.5 nm long and 864 times heavier than a hydrogen atom - means that Q10 is basically not an easily absorbed substance. The Q10 raw material is an organic orange brown crystalline powder and Q10 crystals are too large to be absorbed into the body. The uptake of unprocessed Q10 powder and of tablets is therefore very poor. In addition, Q10 is a fat-soluble substance that has to be absorbed in the small intestine along with fat. It is possible to attach other substances to the Q10 molecule that will make it somewhat more water-soluble, but doing so will make the big Q10 molecule even bigger, whereby the advantage disappears, and the Q10 complex will still largely be fat-soluble. It sounds impressive to state that a Q10 product is three times more absorbable than a competing product, but if the competing product simply consists of Q10 crystals with a less than 1% absorption rate, the claim is not particularly impressive. Producers of Q10 supplements have to treat the Q10 raw material in a special way in order to achieve an effective absorption. The most bioavailable Q10 products are dissolved in a vegetable oil in which the crystals must be dissolved completely.

The effect of Q10 is not immediately felt, but can be experienced after some time of use, either directly or indirectly. An example of the latter could be that you suddenly forget to take your usual nap.

Many so-called energy-based products get their effect from caffeine and caffeine-like substances from various plants that stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete stress hormones. Coenzyme Q10, on the other hand, is present in all body cells and is part of the cells’ natural way of producing energy. Thus, the biochemical processes in the body and the experience are not the same for these two different types of products. The fact that you may not feel an immediate effect of Q10 may also be due to one or more of the following factors:

• You are taking a Q10 product with low bioavailability
• You take your Q10 between meals and not together with fat
• You have reduced fat absorption from the gut
• You are so young that your Q10 level is still high
• You are taking medicines that reduce the body's own production of Q10 to a degree that requires a higher compensatory Q10 dosage
• You take Q10 for supper and will therefore only experience the maximum level in the blood at night while you are sleeping (it takes approx. 6 hours from ingestion until Q10 reaches its maximum level in the blood)
• You need more time. It takes a month or longer before the body's tissues are sufficiently saturated with Q10
• You need a higher dose
   

Since Q10 is a fat-soluble substance, it is important to take it with a meal that contains some fat. After intake of Q10 the maximum amount of Q10 in the blood can be measured approximately 6 hours after ingestion. Therefore, many will find it optimal to take Q10 for breakfast, or perhaps at lunchtime. If you already take a daily supplement of fish oil, it will be beneficial to take your Q10 supplement with the fish oil. If you take more than 1 capsule of ubiquinone per day, the absorbability will be larger if you divide the daily dose throughout the day – i.e. 1 capsule at breakfast and 1 capsule at lunch time – rather than taking the entire daily dose at once. The effect of a daily Q10 supplementation may be noted after a short period of time.

It is recommended to avoid taking very high doses of Vitamin E (>250 mg) while taking Q10.

The trace element selenium is part of the seleno protein thioredoxin reductase, which helps in reducing ubiquinone to ubiqionol in the body.

Furthermore, you can take a supplement of the amino acid carnitine, which interacts closely with Q10 in the cells' mitochondria. Carnitine helps with the transport of fatty acids into the mitochondria, and Q10 is involved in the oxidation process that converts these fatty acids into energy in the form of ATP.

It is possible to increase the body's own production of Q10 by exercising and by optimizing the intake of nutrients. The cell's production of Q10 is a complex process involving many biochemical steps. In order for the body to produce Q10, there is a need for a vitamin B complex, vitamins C and E, selenium and magnesium and several trace elements. A lack of one or more of these nutrients will affect the body's Q10 production considerably. An increase in available Q10 in the body will usually be larger with the aid of even a small daily supplement of Q10.

Our diet does not contain much Q10. On average, we only get between 3-6 mg Q10 daily from the diet (Pravst I, et al., 2010.)

Cereal products usually contain Coenzyme Q9, whereas soybeans do contain some Q10. There is also some Q10 in walnuts, almonds, oil-rich fruits and green vegetables, especially spinach. Furthermore, fish contains Q10, especially sardines, which contain twice as much Q10 as beef. Even so, one would have to eat one pound of sardines, two pounds of beef, or 2.5 pounds of peanuts in order to get 30 mg of Q10.
 

In studies in which Q10 has been tested, daily doses up to 1500 mg have not caused adverse effects of a serious nature. There have only been a very few cases of adverse effects of a mild nature. Symptoms like headache, dizziness, nausea, constipation, diarrhea and indigestion can occur in rare instances. It cannot be excluded, however, that some of these symptoms may originate from the capsule material or added vegetable oil, and not from the Q10 itself.

Dietary supplements are made in strengths that allow sustained intake. Also, Q10 is generally considered a very safe substance. Long-term studies of more than 5 years as well as studies with high daily doses have shown that it is safe to take supplements of Q10 for a long period. In addition, supplementation of Q10 does not reduce the body's own production of the substance. After cessation of supplementation, the body's Q10-level returns to the same level as before. This is proof that Q10 supplementation does not affect the body's ability to synthesize it. Everything indicates that you can safely continue to take Q10 for life.

Q10 is a redox molecule. It is best known for its oxidized form, ubiquinone, which is the only kind of Q10 that has been available as a supplement ever since the first Q10 preparations were introduced in Europe shortly after 1990. Globally, ubiquinone has also been the only form of Q10 whose effect has been documented in scientific studies, until the introduction of ubiquinol. Ubiquinol, the reduced form of Q10, was first brought to the market in 2006. Since then, ubiquinol has been marketed as active Q10 although it is not more active than ubiquinone. All in all, there is not much scientific evidence on ubiquinol. In other words: Almost all documentation on the prevention and treatment of Q10 deficiency states has been performed with ubiquinone, and this includes research studies using Bio-Quinone capsules.

At the molecular level, the difference between ubiquinone (oxidized Q10) and ubiquinol (reduced Q10) is not big. Ubiquinol has two extra hydrogen ions and forms, in conjunction with oxygen, a so-called hydroxyl group on the head of the Q10 molecule, which is a quinone ring.

The two forms of Q10, however, have quite different roles in the body. Ubiquinol donates electrons, whereas ubiquinone receives electrons.  Ubiquinol performs an important function as an antioxidant in the body, but in the cells' energy producing mitochondria, the two forms constantly switch from the one form to the other - that is, from the oxidized to the reduced form and back again. Thus, one cannot say that one form of Q10 is more active or more important than the other.

The two forms of Q10 also have different colors. Normal Q10 is a clear orange, yellowish substance, whereas reduced Q10, which is oxidatively unstable, has a milky-white color. It is therefore easy to test whether the product you buy is normal or reduced Q10. The Q10 that we produce in the body's cells is oxidized Q10, whereas 90-95% of Q10 circulating in the blood is in the form of reduced Q10.

Q10 from the diet consists of both ubiquinone and ubiquinol, about half of each. Both forms are absorbed in the intestine along with fat. Q10 is slowly transported from the lymph into the blood. Already during the passage through the intestinal wall into the lymph, the absorbed ubiquinone is being converted into reduced ubiquinol. Consequently, there is no good reason to choose a product containing ubiquinol, as your body is able to absorb and convert ubiquinone from the gut to ubiquinol. The body is naturally able to reduce ubiquinone Q10 by itself.

Q10 product's ability to be absorbed from the intestine is one of its most important aspects. Ubiquinone of good quality has been found to be absorbed better than ubiquinol. A few unsubstantiated reports suggest, however, that products with ubiquinol may be relevant to a very small percentage of people who have impaired uptake of Q10 from the gut.

Finally, ubiquinol preparations are usually more expensive to buy than ubiquinone preparations.

Yes, you can read about the mechanism in textbooks on human biochemistry. Moreover, there is now a great deal of evidence from scientific studies on the consequences of this effect. The type of medication in question is commonly referred to as "statins". Statins are a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that act by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which reduces the body's production of the substance mevalonate. From mevalonate, several substances are formed in the liver, including cholesterol and Q10. You cannot lower the body's cholesterol production in this way without also lowering its production of Q10.

There are different types of statins working in different ways, and they are not equally strong. The most common complaint about the adverse effects of statins is muscle pain. The pain occurs when the muscles have to work with too little energy. However, not everybody experiences adverse effects from statins.

The effect differs from individual to individual depending on how much Q10 is required to normalize the body's Q10 level during statin treatment. You should consult your doctor in such cases.

Our needs for Q10 are individual. Healthy young people usually have no need for supplementation of Q10. Healthy adults could take 30 - 100 mg daily. Middle-aged and elderly people usually take 100 mg daily. People in medical treatment have been given up to 300 mg daily - occasionally even more than that.

From the moment you swallow a Q10 softgel capsule, which is best absorbed with a meal that contains some fat, it will take about six hours before Q10 reaches its maximum level in the blood from the lymphatic vessels. There is also a threshold value for the blood level of Q10 that has to be attained before the tissue can absorb the Q10 sufficiently. This threshold value of serum Q10 has not been established with certainty, but is believed to be at least 2,5 ug/ml.

In practical terms, this means that it is advisable to start with a slightly higher daily dose and then reduce the dose after some time if necessary. Take Q10 for at least a month, but do not expect maximum absorption in the tissue until after at least six months of use.

Pharma Nord's Q10 comes from a fermentation process. Common to the Q10 that is in our preparations is that the extracted Q10 is identical to the form that the body itself produces and that it is a pharmaceutical grade as opposed to Q10 in food grade quality as well as to synthetic forms of Q10.
 

No. Pharma Nord's Q10 softgel capsules are pharmaceutical grade. The gelatin used meets all EU regulations regarding BSE / TSE risk and is therefore considered to be completely safe to use.

All animals are examined before and after slaughter at an authorized slaughterhouse prior to approval. The gelatin is produced exclusively from bovine (cow) hides from animals approved for human consumption. Risk materials like brain and spine are not used for gelatin production. Animals from risk countries are not used at all.

The gelatin capsules provide good protection for the content throughout the shelf life, but it is possible to cut a small hole in the softgel capsules with a pair of scissors and squeeze the content of the capsule out in a spoon or directly into your mouth. However a small residue of Q10 will remain on the inside of the capsule using this method.

Yes. Pharma Nord gets the bovine gelatin for its Q10 products from a supplier whose gelatin is Halal certified. The certification comes from the Halal Department of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium.

Pharma Nord's Q10 is intended for storage in the original package at room temperature. We test our preparations in heating cabinets, so we know that they are effective until the expiry date. After that, they will still be effective for some time if they have been stored correctly, but after the expiry date, our warranty for the efficacy and safety of the preparations will cease and we advise against  the use of preparations with expired expiration dates.

The softgels can tolerate a temperature higher than room temperature, which will not damage the content, even if they become very soft, but the temperature should not exceed 86° F (30° C) for a long period of time.

Refrigerator?
As a rule, we advise against storing the capsules in the refrigerator, partly because of high humidity and because very cold softgels are likely to reduce the absorbability. If the refrigerator is the only option to keep the storage temperature down, you can store them in a refrigerator, but preferably in an airtight container. Do not use the softgels directly from the refrigerator, but let them warm slightly up first. Then they should work as normal.