Saturday, November 1, 2008

Coenzyme Q10 and the Ubiquinone System

I've been cleaning the house today and noticed BOY how much garbage and junk quickly accumulates. Often it's painful to face the facts... and the havoc and entropy!

You know... it's like the ol' coyboys in my favorite Western movies who needed a few shots of WHISKEY to take away the PAIN when the bullets were taken out of the wounds...

YIKES.

I have to admit I can't stand house cleaning. Allergic is a good word. I don't have asthma any longer (thanks to TYP and therapeutic doses of Vitamin D3) but I'm still allergic... CAN'T STAND IT. Some of my best friends and neighbors have let their 'professional' help go recently (with the increase in costs from PETROL etc)... I let mine go a year ago after we moved... Boy... can you spell M-I-S-E-R-Y...???

Occasionally I'll do this trick and invite my most Martha-Stewart-girlfriends over for dinner. I figure they can SHAME me into cleaning... of course it works and the house will be sparkling clean for about 10minutes...

Unfortunately sometimes I invite my friends over and I get busy and fail to have time to clean. I just hope that I can get them liquored up and blur their vision to the dirt rings in the toilet and the dust accumulating... NNNNAAAWWWWTTTT... they DON'T IMBIBE... what was I thinkin??!


How can a family of 6 generate so much waste? And one cat? And several house spiders?

For one, I've been losing some hair (though reversing after stopping my DARN synthetic hormone LNg for birth control) so... yeah go ahead make the dog comparisons... I admit I shed... Long hairs ALL OVER THE DARN HOUSE.

How does our mammalian bodies handle waste and garbage? Is it pollution? Or does everything to some extent get recycled???

Co Q10 helps with recycling of crucial antioxidants and vitamins in our mitochondria and membranes. Coenzyme Q10 is a crucial component of the TrackYourPlaque program.

Other benefits include:
--Counters the depletion of Co Q10 that occurs with Statin use
--Reduces Lipoprotein (a) 12% -- Check out the TYP Report
--Recycles our natural antioxidants like Vitamin E, Glutathione, etc
--Reverses heart failure--Plays an critical role in anti-aging, neuroprotection, cardioprotection and reduction in hyperinsulinemia/diabetes/MetSyn


Curr Neurovasc Res. 2005 Dec;2(5):447-59.The emerging role of coenzyme Q-10 in aging, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes mellitus.Dhanasekaran M, Ren J.
Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82701, USA.
Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone, 2-methyl-5,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone), soluble natural fat quinine, is crucial to optimal biological function. The coenzyme Q molecule has amphipathic (biphasic) properties due to the hydrophilic benzoquinone ring and the lipophilic poly isoprenoid side-chain. The nomenclature of coenzyme Q-n is based on the amount of isoprenoid units attached to 6-position on the benzoquinone ring. It was demonstrated that coenzyme Q, in addition to its role in electron transport and proton transfer in mitochondrial and bacterial respiration, acts in its reduced form (ubiquinol) as an antioxidant. Coenzyme Q-10 functions as a lipid antioxidant regulating membrane fluidity, recycling radical forms of vitamin C and E, and protecting membrane phospholipids against peroxidation. The antioxidant property, high degree of hydrophobicity and universal occurrence in biological system, suggest an important role for ubiquinone and ubiquinol in cellular defense against oxidative damage. Coenzyme Q-10 is a ubiquitous and endogenous lipid-soluble antioxidant found in all organisms. Neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus and especially aging and Alzheimer's disease exhibit altered levels of ubiquinone or ubiquinol, indicating their likely crucial role in the pathogenesis and cellular mechanisms of these ailments. This review is geared to discuss the biological effect of coenzyme Q with an emphasis on its impact in initiation, progression, treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and carcinogenic diseases.

PMID: 16375724






Other illuminating references:
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    Antioxidant and prooxidant properties of mitochondrial Coenzyme Q.
    Arch Biochem Biophys. 2004 Mar 1;423(1):47-56. Review.
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The richest food sources of natural Coenzyme Q10:
--Organ meats: heart, liver, etc
--Fish, seafood, mollusks
--Meat: grass fed meat, poultry

10 comments:

Stephan Guyenet said...

Yet another nutrient that we can make, but not quite well enough. It's not alone:

vitamin A
long-chain omega 3
others?

It's another reason why we're robbing ourselves by restricting our animal food intake to muscle tissue.

Dr. B G said...

Carotenoids (lutein, astaxanthin -- many exist and we've only identified a few), Taurine, Citrulline and other essential amino acids...

I ate offal growing up (not a lot) but it was quite delicious. We'd marinate gizzards, liver, and tiny chicken hearts in honey, soy sauce and rice wine then bake for a little while. Much better than cookies...!! Hhhmmm... Kidneys -- like them too -- esp sauteed with ginger. Never tried the adrenal glands though -- I think my mom would cut them clean but don't recall.

Have you been to dim sum? Cantonese restaurants where carts of delicious 'offal' like tripe, chicken's feet, blood pudding (cubed) and goodies like shrimp dumplings are wheeled to your table?

-G

Anonymous said...

We breezed through SF one day last week on our way to visit friends in Mendocino County. We walked through Chinatown in the late afternoon as crowds gathered to shop for dinner; it was interesting to note many of the restaurants along Stockton St (the "food market" street) offered lots of traditional foods on the menu, such as offal and preserved vegetables, things one doesn't see in the typical "Americanized" Asian restaurants. The fish markets were great, too, with live fish and huge live frogs in buckets under the tables out front. Can't get any fresher than alive!

Dr. B G said...

Hey Anna!!

I'm sure you had a great time in the Bay!!

China town has great sausages -- esp the PORK BLOOD ones HHHHHhhhmmmmmmm!!

You turned me onto marrow... who knew how nutritious it is? For cats and humans!! YOU ROCK Girl!! Kitchen GODDESS!!!

-G

Drs. Cynthia and David said...

I second Anna's comment about the traditional meats. We visited our local Chinese market (Mountain View Market in Mountain View,CA) and noticed the amazing variety of meats available. There was the usual butcher shop cuts and live and sashimi grade fish, but also liver, kidney, tongue, snouts, innard bits I didn't even recognize, tripe... We bought some beef liver, goat and duck to try. They have a huge amount of vegetables and ethnic seasonings too. I don't know where people get the idea that the Chinese eat rice and vegetables without meat (The China Story). Maybe if you're eating the nutrient dense organ meats, you don't need as much, but it's clearly a big part of their culture.

Dr. B G said...

Cynthia/David,

The Bay Area sure is great isn't it??

I haven't read the book yet so I'm sorry I can't comment. But since I'm Chinese and have grandparents on 3 sides who have lived a 'rural' existence, I can attest that they ate small portions of fish and meats at nearly every meal. Chinese are not wasteful and so I imagine that the pigs that my grandparents raised were eaten in their entirety. After they moved and lived with us in California, they often served pigs' feet, ears, tongue, etc!! You name it... we probably ate it!

Delish... And extremely nutritious. The only time I had calve brain (a delicacy in Europe and France) was when my maternal grandmother prepared it. Not bad -- very creamy. She also used to 'forage' in our neighbors' yards picking these 'weeds' (they were actually a special type of chirvelly vegetable and made these awesome rice flour/pork dumplings with them. (She also saved our urine to water her garden and vegs! My kids get a kick out of that story!)

-G

Anonymous said...

One of my "to do" items while in SF was to eat at Encanto, home to great offal, but we were in town only the one night of the week they were closed. So we ate around the corner from our hotel at Farm & Fish in the Mark Twain Hotel, which was pretty good (featuring local & seasonal cuisine). I had pork cheeks & house-pickled veggies (not lacto-fermented, though).

I also was able to make a quick stop at The Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Napa en route to our friends in Mendocino. I purchased a few ounces each of pork & duck rillettes (as well as rabbit terrine), which was rather fun as I had just read about rillettes for the first time this week in the Fat: An Appreciation for a Misunderstood Ingredient book. It was like being a kid in a candy store, a bit overwhelming with foods I usually only read about.

Dr. B G said...

Hi Anna,

WOOW!! That sounds so wonderful!! I can see you as a restaurant reviewer as well! Your adventures (like your European travels) are incredible fun to read. AND MY mouth always drools........HHHhhmmm!

-G

Anonymous said...

I feel for you! The reason I'm sat here now reading your blog is that I'm drenched in sweat.

The reason for that is, I put off doing the spring cleaning for a few reasons, then we had plumbers in so I also have to go round vacuuming up plumber droppings. In midsummer. I'm also doing a bunch of other decluttering, recabling etc. but slowly.

Could do with some Co-Q10 for the house (and garden)

Like a lot of things I've trialled it and found little difference in my test restults or how I feel with or without it, which suggests I'm getting enough in my diet. Fish, shellfish, grass fed meat check! Next week I'll buy some liver and eat it with fava beans and a fine chianti. No actually with bacon and runner beans.

Dr. B G said...

trinkwasser,

You crack me up!! :)

I've trying to hunt forage down some grassfed heart to get CoQ10... have to special order from Whole Foods then I forget to pick up.

Yes -- agree! Wish I had coQ10 for my house too. I need a second wife *haa!* My husband agrees!

-G