CoQ10 is a Powerful Antioxidant
Oxidants
Oxidants, (also called pro-oxidants, free radicals, reactive oxygen species, ROS) are chemicals generated as by-products of the body’s everyday processes. They can cause damage to cells by attacking the three main classes of cellular building blocks: lipids, nucleic acids (DNA), and proteins. Such “oxidative damage” is believed to play a role in both aging and disease. The body is armed with an array of natural anti-oxidants (including superoxide dismutase (SOD), vitamin E, carotenoids, and coenzyme Q10) to counteract this oxidative damage.
Free radicals are actually atoms or molecules that are formed when weak chemical bonds split. They contain unpaired electrons. Since electrons are most stable in a paired rather than an unpaired state, free radicals indiscriminately pick up electrons from other atoms, trying to capture the needed electron to gain stability. Generally, free radicals attack the nearest stable molecule, “stealing” its electron. When the “attacked” molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical itself, beginning a chain reaction ultimately resulting in the disruption of a living cell by causing damage to cell membranes, proteins, and genetic material (DNA).
Sources of Oxidants
Free radicals are generated throughout the body as a result of normal biological processes and in response to environmental stresses (ionizing radiation, x-rays, ozone, heavy metals, alcohol, unsaturated fat and more). A major source of free radicals is metabolism, which occurs in the mitochondria (mitochondrial electron transport). This is where nutrients are metabolized into energy using the oxygen we breathe. Oxygen is transformed (reduced) by metabolism into water by a process that includes the transfer of electrons to molecules in the mitochondria, including coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Mitochondrial electron transport, however, is imperfect and incomplete transfer of electrons can generate harmful pro-oxidant molecules.
Another major source of free radicals is the immune system. White blood cells use a mixture of pro-oxidants to attack invading organisms such as viruses and bacteria. When these pro-oxidants are released by the white blood cell in response to an invader, they damage the invader but can also cause damage to the “self”. This is an unavoidable consequence of natural immunity.
To prevent oxidative damage, the body has a defense system of antioxidants, also called “free radical scavengers”. Antioxidants act by ending the free radical chain reaction before vital molecules are harmed. They neutralize free radicals by donating one of their own electrons. They end the electron “stealing” reaction without becoming free radicals themselves, because they are stable in either form. They act as scavengers, helping to prevent cell and tissue damage that could lead to aging and disease.
Coenzyme Q10 is a potent antioxidant because it is can counteract the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species in tissues, act as a scavenger of oxidizing free radicals, and interrupt an oxidizing chain reaction to minimize the damage caused by free radicals.