The mitochondria are the cells' energy
powerhouses, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential component of
healthy mitochondrial function. CoQ10 is required to convert the
energy from fats and sugars into usable cellular energy. Yet, the
body's production of Co10 declines significantly with advancing
age. With an ample amount of CoQ10, mitochondria can work most
efficiently throughout the entire body - including the most densely
populated area, the heart. CoQ10 is also a potent antioxidant, helping protect proteins,
and DNA of mitochondria from oxidation and supporting mitochondrial
function.
More people are supplementing with CoQ10 than ever
before. One reason is increased awareness that "statin" drugs used to
lower LDL and cholesterol deplete CoQ10 levels in the blood, and
possibly the tissues.
What most doctors don't know, however,
is that normal aging may result in more of a reduction in CoQ10
than taking statins. For example, while statin drugs have been
shown to reduce plasma CoQ10 by nearly 40%, the aging process
reduces CoQ10 levels in the heart muscle wall by 72%. What is
particularly frightening is the deficit caused by the dual
effects of aging and statin drug use that can result in severe
depletion of cellular vitality.
CoQ10 is notoriously difficult to absorb. When it
comes to choosing a CoQ10 supplement, the primary factor is how many
swallowed milligrams actually make it into your bloodstream. A recent
study showed that in seriously ill patients, conventional ubiquinone
CoQ10 was hardly detectable in the blood whereas ubiquinol resulted in
significant blood level increases and subsequent clinical improvements.
Scientific studies show that ubiquinol absorbs up
to 8 times greater than ubiquinone, and higher levels of ubiquinol
remain in the blood far longer than ubiquinone. In studies measuring
exercise-induced fatigue, ubiquinol was 90% more effective than
ubiquinone. In middle-aged mice, ubiquinol was shown to be 40% more
effective in slowing measurements of aging compared to ubiquinone.
Life Extension offers the highly bioavailable ubiquinol form of CoQ10 in
a patented delivery system with a superior absorption level.
This formulation contains an ingredient called
PrimaVie® shilajit that research shows doubles levels of CoQ10 in
mitochondria.
Shilajit
has been shown to help restore and
sustain cellular energy. The latest studies reveal that when shilajit is
combined with CoQ10, cellular energy gains substantially increase.
In a breakthrough preliminary study in mice, the
combination of CoQ10 and shilajit produced a 56% increase in cellular
energy production in the brain - 40% better than CoQ10 alone. In muscle
there was a 144% increase, or 27% better than CoQ10 alone.
Researchers have found that shilajit
works to boost CoQ10's beneficial effects by:
-
Stabilizing CoQ10 in its superior ubiquinol form,
thereby prolonging its action at the cellular level.
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Facilitating more efficient delivery of CoQ10 into
the mitochondria, resulting in greater cellular energy output.