Our body needs energy to live. It absorbs most of it through food and drink. In each of our cells, mitochondria work like small power plants to convert the nutrients we take in with food into the universal energy carrier ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Coenzyme Q10 plays a key role in this process, known as oxidative phosphorylation. Q10 is considered a vitaminoid because it is structurally related to vitamin K and vitamin E. The reduced, phenolic form is called ubihydroquinone or ubiquinol (QH 2 for short). and is the active Q10 form.
Organs such as the heart and lungs, which require a lot of energy, have a particularly high concentration of Q10. The body can produce the coenzyme itself. However, production decreases after the age of 30. A balanced diet serves as an external source for Q10 intake. Fish, meat, pulses, nuts, vegetable oils and vegetables such as cabbage, spinach and broccoli are particularly rich in Q10.
If the body does not have enough Q10 available, it cannot produce enough energy in the form of ATP. In addition, a lack of the coenzyme increases the proliferation of free radicals and thus leads to oxidative stress. An important task of our immune system is to protect us from these free radicals, which can be released by environmental influences, stress, medication, cigarettes, alcohol, but also by competitive sports. By binding them in the body, antioxidants protect against free radicals.
Coenzymes are low-molecular, non-protein components of enzymes. The word goes back to the Latin cum ( together, with ). The complex organic molecules (vitamins, nucleotides) are usually only loosely or temporarily bound to the protein portion of the enzyme (apoenzyme). Many enzymes are only active in the presence of coenzymes. Coenzyme Q10 was first isolated from cattle hearts in 1957 by Fred L. Crane. One year later, Karl August Folkers was able to decipher the chemical structure of Q10. The health benefits of the coenzyme were soon recognized in Japan in particular. Q10 was manufactured industrially there and approved as a drug for the treatment of heart failure as early as 1974. Today, the Japanese company "Kaneka" is the market leader in the production and distribution of ubiquinol. Ubiquinol is the active form of coenzyme Q10, also known as ubiquinone or coq10.