The original documented Q-Symbio Q10 - 100 mg

To date, more than 40 published science studies have been conducted and serve to show that coenzyme Q10 in the form of ubiquinone, once it has been absorbed, has a relatively good bioavailability and efficacy. In contrast, there is not much evidence to support the bioavailability and efficacy of QH (ubiquinol).

Q10 products are available as tablets or in capsule form. The Q10 ingredient itself can be in the form of crystals or granules, encapsulated in liposomes, in micelles attached to nanoparticles, or dissolved in oil.

The size of the Q10 molecule alone (it has a considerable size, approx. 5.5 nm long and 864 times heavier than a hydrogen atom) means that Q10 is essentially not that easy for the body to absorb. Q10 as a raw material is an organic orange brown crystalline powder and Q10 crystals are too large to be absorbed by the digestive system. The uptake of unprocessed Q10 powder and Q10 in tablet form is therefore very poor. What makes it even more challenging is that Q10 is a lipid-soluble substance and must be absorbed in the small intestine together with some kind of dietary fat. It is possible to attach other substances to the Q10 molecule to make it slightly more water-soluble. However, doing so will just increase the size of the Q10 molecule even more, so there is no advantage. The Q10 complex will still largely be lipid-soluble.

It may sound impressive when a manufacturer claims to have a Q10 product that has three times better absorption than its competitors. However, if it turns out that the product in question simply consists of Q10 crystals with an absorption rate of less than 1%, the claim is basically unsubstantiated. Manufacturers of Q10 supplements must treat the Q10 raw material in a special way to make it absorbable. The Q10 formula with the best assimilation is ones where Q10 is dissolved in a vegetable oil solution and where the Q10 crystals are completely dissolved.
 

The effect of taking a Q10 supplement is no felt immediately. It takes some time for the active ingredient to make its way to the cells. What is more, people feel the effect in different ways. Some may feel a direct energy surge, while others may feel a somewhat more indirect effect – such as not having the same need to take their afternoon nap.

Many so-called energy boosters work because they contain caffeine and caffeine-like substances from various plants that stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete stress hormones. Coenzyme Q10, on the other hand, is present in all the cells in the body and is a natural and inherent constituent of the cells’ energy metabolism. Consequently, the biochemical processes in the body and the effect that is obtained is not the same for coenzyme Q10 and the other energy boosters. The delayed of taking Q10 may also be due to one or severa of the following factors:

• You are taking a Q10 product with poor absorption and bioavailability
• You take your Q10 between meals and not together with dietary fat
• You have reduced intestinal fat absorption
• You are relatively young, which means that your natural coenzyme Q10 levels are still high so you essentially don’t have a need for supplementation
• You are taking pharmaceuticals that interfere with the body's endogenous Q10 synthesis to a degree that requires a higher compensatory Q10 dosage
• You take Q10 at dinner time, which means that your Q10 blood levels peak at night where you are sleeping (it takes approx. six hours from ingestion until Q10 reaches its maximum level in the blood)
• You need more time. It takes a month or longer before the body's tissues are sufficiently saturated with Q10
• You need a higher dose
   

Since Q10 is a lipid-soluble substance, it is important to take it with a meal that contains a certain amount of fat. The maximum Q10 levels in the blood reach their highest level approximately 6 hours after ingesting the capsule. For that reason, many people prefer to take Q10 with their breakfast or perhaps at lunchtime. If you are already in the habit of taking a daily fish oil supplement, you might as well take your Q10 capsules at the same time because the fish oil, being a dietary fat itself, aids the absorption of Q10.

If you take more than one Q10 capsule per day, you are better off by splitting up the dose and taking one capsule at breakfast and one at lunch time. This is because there is a natural limit to how much Q10 the body can absorb at once. After a certain level, the uptake curve bends. This means that the body is still able to absorb Q10 but the relative uptake is declining, which means you get relatively less out of increasing your intake.   

It is best to avoid taking very high doses of vitamin E (>250 mg) while taking Q10.

The trace element selenium is incorporated in the selenoprotein thioredoxin reductase, which helps in process of reducing ubiquinone to ubiqionol in the body. By combining a selenium supplement with your Q10, you can support the body’s ability to utilize Q10.

You can include a supplement of carnitine, an amino acid that interacts closely with Q10 in the cells' mitochondria. Carnitine helps convey fatty acids into the mitochondria, where Q10 is involved in the oxidation process that converts these fatty acids into energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
 

Dietary supplements are made in doses that allow prolonged intake. Beaides, Q10 is generally considered to be a very safe substance. Long-term studies of Q10 supplementation for over five years and studies using high daily doses of Q10 have shown that long-term supplementation with Q10 even at high doses is completely safe. Another thing worth mentioning is that Q10 supplementation does not in any way affect the body's endogenous Q10 synthesis. Once you discontinue your use of the supplement, the body's Q10 status returns to its pre-supplementation level.  This probably offers the best proof that Q10 is safe to take for shorter or longer periods.

Q10 is a redox molecule which means that it can occur in an oxidized and a reduced form. The oxidized form of Q10 (ubiquinone) is the form of the compound that is best known because it has been available in supplement form ever since Q10 was introduced to the European market in the early 1990s. The majority of scientific studies worldwide have been conducted with ubiquinone, so this form of Q10 is better documented than its reduced form – ubiquinol. Ubiquinol did not enter the market until around 2006. Ever since, it has been heralded as the “active” form of Q10 but the term is misleading. Ubiquinone and ubiquinol are equally active – they just have different functions.  

At the molecular level, the difference between ubiquinone and ubiquinol is negligible. Ubiquinol has two extra hydrogen ions. In conjunction with oxygen, it forms a so-called hydroxyl group on the head of the Q10 molecule, which is a quinone ring.

Ubiquinone and ubiquinol, however, have quite different roles in the body. Ubiquinol donates electrons, whereas ubiquinone receives electrons.  Ubiquinol performs an important function as an antioxidant in the body, but inside the cells' energy-producing mitochondria, the two forms constantly switch from the one form to the other (from oxidized to reduced and back again). It is therefore incorrect to state that one form of Q10 is more active or more important than the other.

The two forms of Q10 also have different colors. Normal Q10 is a clear orange or yellowish substance, whereas reduced Q10 has a milky-white color and is rather unstable because it is vulnerable to oxidation. This feature comes in handy if you wish to test if a Q10 preparation contains reduced or oxidized Q10. Simply pierce a capsule and squeeze out the substance. If it is yellowish, it’s ubiquinone. If it is milky white, it’s ubiquinol. The Q10 that we produce ourselves in our cells is oxidized, whereas 90-95% of circulating Q10 in the blood is in the form of reduced Q10.

The Q10 in our diet consists of both ubiquinone and ubiquinol, about half of each. Both forms are absorbed in the intestine together with fat. Q10 is then transported slowly from the lymph into the blood. During its passage through the intestinal wall into the lymph, the absorbed ubiquinone is converted into reduced ubiquinol. Therefore, there is not much point in supplementing with Q10 in the form of ubiquinol, because the ubiquinone we absorb in the gut is easily converted into ubiquinol by the body.  

What does make a difference, however, is how well a Q10 preparation is absorbed in the digestive system, regardless of what form of Q10 it contains. High-quality ubiquinone has been found to have better absorption than ubiquinol. According to a few unsubstantiated reports, products with ubiquinol may be relevant for a very small percentage of people who have impaired uptake of Q10 from the gut. Other than that, the arguments for using ubiquinol are quite limited. And it certainly doesn’t make things any better than ubiquinol is much more expensive to manufacture than ubiquinone, and it is also a substantially more vulnerable Q10 source that can easily convert into ubiquinone inside the capsules when exposed to oxygen.

What is Uniqinol?
Uniqinol is the commercial name of Pharma Nord's ubiquinol preparation.

Cholesterol-lowering statins interfere with the body’s endogenous Q10 synthesis. The mechanism is described in text books on human biochemistry. Moreover, scientific studies have looked into the consequences of this effect. Statins belong to a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that act by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which reduces the body's production of a substance called mevalonate. Several substances are formed from mevalonate in the liver, including cholesterol and Q10. When you block the synthesis of cholesterol, you also block its Q10 synthesis, because Q10 is a downstream product of HMG-CoA.

There are different types of statins and they work in different ways. Some are stronger than others and doses vary. The most common adverse effect observed with statin use is muscle pain. The pain occurs because the muscles are forced to function with an energy shortage caused by the lack of Q10. Not all statin users experience this problem.

Research shows that supplementation with Q10 can mitigate statin-induced muscle pain. The positive effect of taking Q10 varies from person to person and depends on how much extra Q10 is needed to compensate for the statin-induced loss. It is a good idea to consult your physician if you want to find the proper dose.
 

The need for Q10 varies from one person to another. Some are better at utilizing Q10 supplements than others. Healthy, youngsters usually have no need for a Q10 supplement, whereas healthy adults may benefit from taking 30-100 mg daily. Middle-aged and elderly people usually take 100 mg daily. Some take 100 mg x 2 daily. Doses of up to 300 mg per day have been given to people in medical therapy, in some cases even higher doses.

Generally speaking, no. However, few people are reported to have experienced sleep interruptions after taking Q10 in the evening before going to bed. If this happens, simply take your Q10 supplement with your breakfast or lunch, instead.
 

No. All Pharma Nord's Q10 softgel capsules are pharmaceutical-grade, which means that the gelatin they are made of complies with all EU regulations with regard to BSE/TSE* risk and is therefore completely safe for human consumption.

In other words: All animals are examined both before and after slaughter at an authorized slaughterhouse before they can be approved. The gelatin is produced exclusively from cows approved for human consumption and checked for mad cow disease. Animals from at-risk countries are not used at all. During manufacture, the substance is sterilized at 140 degrees before being dried into the final product.

*BSE = Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease).
  TSE = Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (collective term for a number of diseases which can affect sheep, goats and cattle).

No, only if you are allergic to the substance.
Pharma Nord uses this dye in some Bio-Quinone GOLD versions as part of our quality assurance to ensure capsule quality and also to ensure that the ingredient quality remains the exact same right up to the product's expiry date.  Another purpose has been to protect the ingredients against degradation from light. We strive to manufacture all our products using the most environmentally friendly components. At the same time, we need to stick with the excipients that are most effective at ensuring the quality of our products.

Caramel coloring, including E150 C, is among the oldest and most widely used dyes. They are found in almost any industrially manufactured food. Ammonia caramel is a substance approved for use in food up to a daily limit of 200 mg/kg body weight. This is equivalent to 12,000 mg for a person who weighs 60 kg. Just for the sake of comparing, one Bio-Quinone Gold capsule contains approximately 25 mg which is a negligible amount compared to all the other sources of ammonia caramel we encounter in our daily lives.
 

Soybeans have a high content of isoflavones, which are also called phytoestrogens. There are different opinions about these substances, which can also be found in soybean oil, but in any case, some people want to avoid them.

Pharma Nord's soya oil is of pharmaceutical quality, which means that it is completely purified from protein substances and phytoestrogens. It is also analyzed for the content of these substances in an external laboratory. This analysis shows that the soy oil in Pharma Nord's Q10 capsules is completely free of estrogen and estrogen-like substances. Therefore, this oil does not need to be allergy labeled.

The soybean oil in Pharma Nord’s Q10 preparations is also GMO-free.
 

Yes. The bovine gelatin Pharma Nord uses in its Q10 products is bought from a supplier whose gelatin is Halal-certified. The certification comes from the Halal Department of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium. An exception is the preparation Q10 Green which has a vegetable capsule.
 

Pharma Nord's Q10 is intended for storage in the original package at room temperature. We test our preparations in heating cabinets, so we know that their effect remains the same until the expiry date. After they have expired, they will still be effective for some time if they have been stored correctly, but our warranty for the efficacy and safety of the preparations will no be valid after the product expires. We actually advise against taking preparations after they have exceeded their expiry date.

The softgel capsules can tolerate a temperature higher than room temperature. This will not damage their content, not even if the capsules become very soft, but prolonged exposure to temperatures higher than 86° F (30° C) should be avoided.

Can I put the product in the refrigerator?
As a general rule, we advise against storing the capsules in the refrigerator, partly because of the high humidity but because very cold softgel capsules may have reduced absorbability. If the refrigerator is the only option for reducing the storage temperature, make sure to store the capsules in an airtight container. Do not use the capsules directly when you take them out of the refrigerator. Let them warm up slightly at room temperature first. In that case, they will work properly.

The fact that the body produces its own Q10 and the compound is part of our natural diet makes it virtually impossible to categorize Q10 as doping. It serves as a coenzyme in all our cells and is a natural part of the energy metabolism in our mitochondria in muscle tissue and organs. Many athletes take a Q10 supplement to compensate for the age-related loss of the substance but it is no different from taking a vitamin or mineral supplement. Q10 is a natural component of human biochemistry, not a synthetic stimulant.