the wonders of co-enzyme Q10

Gbex says: Coenzyme Q10 (also known as ubiquinone, ubidecarenone, coenzyme Q, and abbreviated at times to CoQ10 (pronounced "ko-cue-ten"), CoQ, Q10, or Q) is a 1,4-benzoquinone, where Q refers to the quinone chemical group, and 10 refers to the number of isoprenyl chemical subunits.

This oil-soluble substance is present in most eukaryotic cells, primarily in the mitochondria. It is a component of the electron transport chain and participates in aerobic cellular respiration, generating energy in the form of ATP.

Ninety-five percent of the human body’s energy is generated this way.

Therefore, those organs with the highest energy requirements—such as the heart, liver and kidney —have the highest CoQ10 concentrations.

Meat and fish are the richest source of dietary CoQ10. The compound is non-equally distributed among different tissues of the same animal source, depending on their function. Different levels can be found in the heart, liver, muscle etc.. CoQ10 levels over 50 mg/kg can be found in beef, pork and chicken heart and chicken liver.

Dairy products are much poorer sources of CoQ10 compared to animal tissues, while a modest amount can be found in butter – 7 mg/kg.

Substantial differences in reported CoQ10 contents have been observed in fish, in particular mackerel and sardine. Mackerel and herring were recently studied in detail, and the highest CoQ10 level was also found in the heart tissue (105-148 μg/g).

while lower concentrations were found in the body tissue (mackerel: 67μg/g in the red tissue, 15μg/g in the white tissue; herring tissue: 15–24 μg/g). Flat fish, eels and other bottom fish have lower contents of CoQ10. Low CoQ10 levels were also found in salmon (4-8 mg/kg), despite its significant fat content. Fish and shellfish represent an important dietary source of CoQ10 (estimated at 9%-22% in different countries).

Vegetable oils are also quite rich in CoQ10. Very different results can be found in the literature for CoQ10 levels in soybean, corn and olive oil. Soybean, rapeseed and olive oil are also good sources of CoQ10. Some oils, particularly corn oil, are much richer in CoQ9 than in CoQ10.

Peanuts, sesame seeds, and pistachio are the richest CoQ10 representatives within nuts and seeds, with levels over 20 mg/kg. Many other nuts are also good sources of this compound.

Within vegetables, parsley, and perilla are the richest CoQ10 sources, but significant differences in their CoQ10 levels can be found in the literature. Broccoli, grape, and cauliflower are modest sources of CoQ10. Most fruit and berries represent a poor to very poor source of CoQ10, with the exception of avocado, with a relatively high CoQ10 content.