The ‘mother of all enzymes’ is here

Think Popeye fortifying himself with spinach. Think the Wonder Twins activating their powers. Or Narda swallowing that magic stone and turning into Darna.

These, of course, are symbolic representations of the power that Coenzyme Q10 can give human beings, based on the latest scientific findings. While it won’t make superheroes out of mortal men, it is widely believed to give them a much-needed energy boost and also supposedly to prolong life.

Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is a powerful antioxidant found in every cell of the body. Thus, it’s also commonly referred to as ubiquinone (from the word "ubiquitous" and because this enzyme belongs to a class of compounds called quinones). Scientists say CoQ10 is also found in foodstuff, like sardines and mackerel, pork and beef hearts, peanuts and soya oil though only in small amounts. Unlike vitamins, CoQ10 is manufactured by the body. The amount, however, is not sufficient enough to provide significant health benefits. Since it is said to peak until the age of 20 on the average, and declines after 50, the elderly need to replenish the lost CoQ10 through ingestion.

Through the years, many health benefits have been attributed to the CoQ10. It is believed to help in treating heart diseases, including congenital heart failure, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease and even cancer. Apart from boosting energy levels and strengthening the immune system, it’s also supposed to improve memory and delay aging, help prevent blood clots, decrease bad cholesterol, relieve chest pains, among others.

As an antioxidant, CoQ10 is believed to "hunt down and eliminate the free radicals that damage the DNA, lipids or other cell parts." According to the June 1998 issue of the Medical Observer, CoQ10 is said to protect the body cells because it can spare any electron-deprived cell an extra electron. If you recall your biology lessons, a molecule that loses an electron will steal the latter from another molecule and the filching process continues down the line until a structural damage occurs, resulting in the cell’s susceptibility to medical problems (read: disease and other disorders), thereby further weakening the body’s ability to produce healthy cells. The CoQ10, through a process called cell respiration, is used by the cell to "produce energy for cell growth and maintenance inside the cell." Think of a wall. Nobody can bring down a fortified wall that’s well-guarded by alert soldiers.

Its discovery considered one of the most important medical breakthroughs, the biomolecule CoQ10 was first isolated from beef heart mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell which produces energy for the body) by Dr. Frederick Crane of the US in 1957. The following year, Prof. Karl Folkers and his team at Merck Inc. discovered the enzyme’s exact chemical structure. (OK, OK if you really wanna know, it’s 2, 3 dimethoxy-5 methyl-6 decaprenyl benzoquinone. Don’t sweat it though and let the experts handle these tongue-twisting, headache-inducing jargon). Folkers was also the first to synthesize and produce the enzyme by fermentation (yes, basically the same way a wine is made). In the 1960s, a Japanese professor named Yamamura used a related compound – Coenzyme Q7 – in a pioneering effort to treat congestive heart failure. A decade later, Gian Paolo Littarru of Italy, in partnership with Folkers, noted "a deficiency of CoQ10 in heart disease sufferers." By mid-’70s, as if they ingested huge amounts of CoQ10 themselves, Japanese pharmacists began producing the enzyme in its purest form and in such large quantities, paving the way for other scientists to conduct larger and sustained clinical trials.

In the Philippines, the coenzyme’s introduction to the public came only in the late ’80s through Dr. Ricardo Fernandez, an ENT specialist at the Makati Medical Center. At that time, he says, a gram of CoQ10 cost $1,000 or so, which resulted in the enzyme being tagged as "the most expensive antioxidant there is."

"I first read about CoQ10 in a biochemical book during my Pre-Med days. It’s important in that it bridges the two major life processes of our body’s cells – food metabolism and oxygen utilization. It seems that Coenzyme Q10 bridges these two major life processes, thus burning food as fuel with oxygen we breathe. You take this out in the equation, then you’ll have a situation that’s akin to a big traffic accident," says Fernandez who, early on, has been aware of the importance of enzymes in the body. Our life is dependent on enzymes, he says, and without these, we can’t function.

After finding out that the product was being manufactured in Japan, he tried getting in touch with a Japanese trading company. Several phone calls later, the company got back to him and the doctor called up Pascual Laboratories and asked if they could manufacture the drug for him. At that time, too, the doctor was friends with the late Chona Kasten’s husband, Hans Kasten, who was then buying imported products that kept him young, healthy and feeling young. One of these is CoQ10, which cost him P2,000 per bottle. "I’m on the side of the patient and my goal was to make this nutrient affordable to the public," says Fernandez who provided Pascual Laboratories with the raw material in its pure powder form. Thus, AddLife was born. Unlike other CoQ10 products being marketed in other countries, Fernandez assures that AddLife users are getting the real thing, no additives whatsoever, at a very affordable price.

Calling it the "nutrient of the next century," Fernandez believes CoQ10 will be a boon to mankind, a wonder nutrient that is the "mother of all enzymes." Fernandez, quoting Dr. Emil Bliznakov’s book, The Miracle Nutrient, Coenzyme Q10, says that CoQ10 produces energy which, in turn, produces life. The book also cites laboratory tests done on mice whose lifespan was found to have increased by 56 percent after getting doses of CoQ10.

Fernandez’s own experiences with his patients told him there’s really more to this so-called miracle nutrient than meets the eye. Hypertensive patients having their blood pressure return to normal. Cardiac patients getting their physical strength back. Elderly patients becoming more "alive," so to speak. These are just some of the results he has observed in his patients after supplementing their diet with AddLife CoQ10. Fernandez cites patients who got cured of gingivitis after taking the nutrient on a regular basis. In a nutshell, the more CoQ10 molecule present in the body, the faster oxygen is generated, the more energized the immune system becomes, resulting in the quicker healing of wounds.

He says even his mother-in-law’s "chaotic blood chemistry and high blood pressure" returned to normal six months after she started taking the nutrient. Observations from friends also point to the advantages of taking CoQ10. Some friends, who found themselves over-imbibing alcohol one night, share stories of hangover-free mornings. Some menopausal women report having their periods back while others report that the nutrient made them more active than the usual. Fernandez, who is subjected to a lot of stresses as he goes about his daily duties, himself swears by the benefits of CoQ10.

"I take it three times a day, sometimes more when I am involved in a lot of activities," says Fernandez, who is an associate board examiner of the Philippine Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and executive training officer at Makati Medical Center’s Department of ENT-Head and Neck Surgery.

As AddLife CoQ10 is classified as an over-the-counter nutrient, it is not allowed to make any medical claims. Although he is very much into preventive medicine, Fernandez clarifies that he’s also very conventional and conservative when it comes to treating his patients. He emphasizes that one has to maintain a balance between following the norms of conventional medicine and the complementary benefits such dietary supplements and nutrients offer. "All I am concerned about is to look for ways and means to be able to help patients and I think one of these is through the CoQ10," he says.

With the kinds of stress human beings are subjected to these days, perhaps it’s time we put up the necessary defenses within and without. And CoQ10 might just be the "force field" everyone needs to fend off the deadly effects of modern-day diseases.