When you get down to it, the basic difference between life and death is energy - and Coenzyme Q10 is vital for your cells to produce more energy.

The actual energy powerhouses of your cells are the mitochondria. Most cells have 100's or even 1,000's of them.

These mitochondria pull both oxygen and food fuel (usually sugar - glucose - and, sometimes, fat) from your blood and combine them to create ATP.

You run on ATP - and CoQ10 (also known as ubiquinone) is a vital compound your mitochondria need to make ATP.

Just about every cell in your body has a natural supply of CoQ10, but, of course, this goes down as we age.

That's why CoQ10 has been a popular supplement for several decades. People take it to make sure their mitochondria have all they need to make plenty of energy.

Now your skin can benefit from applying CoQ10 in a topical lotion or cream.

The more energy your skin cells produce, the more effectively they resist aging and signs of damage. CoQ10 is the primary source of energy for skin cells working hard to maintain and repair your skin.

So, CoQ10 triggers two usually separate benefits for your skin:

* As a necessary component of how your mitochondria generate ATP to power your cells, it literally gives your skin cells the energy they need to protect and repair themselves.

* As an antioxidant, it helps protect your skin from oxidative damage.

CoQ10: a Powerful Antioxidant

Your skin of course is the part of your body most exposed to the outside world. So it must suffer cold, hot, dry and humid air; smoke; air pollution; tobacco, and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

All of this causes oxidative stress to your skin cells and lowers their capacity to rebuild and rejuvenate themselves. Over time, this results in visible skin damage, wrinkles, and sagging skin.

Oxidative skin damage also results in problems you can't see:

* Skin inflammation

* Damaged lipids

* Glycated proteins

* DNA mutations

* Inefficient mitochondria

 Add up everything about oxidatively stressed skin, and you can see we're talking about aging skin.

Also, these conditions - especially inflammation and damaged DNA - can lead to skin cancer.

Yet, CoQ10 helps prevent, repair, and even reverse many of the signs of aging skin.

What Makes CoQ10 so Good for Skin?

It's found mainly in the outer layer of your skin, where it's most needed. That's your natural supply.

It's lipid-soluble. That means it dissolves and moves through fats.

This is important for a skin nutrient you rub on with a cream or lotion. The active ingredient must get through the thick, fatty layer of your outside skin so it can penetrate deeply.

That also means, using CoQ10 along with or as part of sunscreen is not an optimal, efficient strategy. Sunscreens form a layer over your skin to block it from the sun's UV radiation. But that also blocks CoQ10 - or other antioxidants - from getting below the surface of your skin.

Therefore, it's best to use a CoQ10 lotion or cream as part of your daily skincare routine - when not going out into direct sunlight.

What Scientific Studies Have Found

Topical CoQ10 lowered wrinkle grade scores.

Pretreating human skin cells with CoQ10 before exposing them to UV radiation decreased DNA damage by 70%.

Human skin cells are given CoQ10 display increases in energy production.

CoQ10 inhibits the enzyme collagenase. This helps to prevent collagenase from weakening the collagen that holds your skin tight, firm, and elastic. Collagen degradation is a primary cause of wrinkles.

CoQ10 promotes healthy, normal fibroblasts. Fibroblasts make both collagen and the extracellular matrix, which also supports your skin's structure. Having plenty of fibroblasts is essential to having healthy, youthful-appearing skin.

Researchers had 20 subjects with light-damaged skin apply CoQ10 around one eye every day. Their other eye received a placebo. After six months, the mean wrinkle depth around the eyes treated with CoQ10 was reduced by 27% - compared to their other eye.

Factors that Use Up or Reduce Your Body's CoQ10 - Besides Aging

* Taking statin medicines

* Genetic mutations

* Oxidative stress

* Cancer

* Heart disease

Food Sources of CoQ10

Of course, eating these foods isn't the same as putting cream or lotion on your skin, but the high amounts of CoQ10 they contain may help energize every cell in your body, including your skin:

* Organ meats such as liver and kidneys

* Fruits such as strawberries and oranges

* Fatty fish such as mackerel and sardines

* Nuts, including pistachios and sesame seeds

* Oils such as soybean and canola oil

* Legumes, such as beans, lentils, and peanuts

* Vegetables such as broccoli and spinach

CoQ10 Supplementation

90 to 200 mg per day is the typical range recommended.

However, antioxidant supplementation is problematic. Therefore, I suggest that if your major concern is with the health and appearance of your skin, you stick with a topical lotion or cream containing CoQ10.

That way, you're not risking your body's capacity to manufacture its own CoQ10 for other parts of your body.

However, adding a CoQ10 lotion or cream to your daily skincare routine will likely reduce the depth of your wrinkles and help prevent new ones - and skin sagging.

It also appears to protect your skin against further insults and damage. 

It should keep your skin looking younger for longer - and keep it as healthy as possible. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHVDnNc5wD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do-l2zqf2jk

https://www.getroman.com/health-guide/coq10-benefits/

https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2021/8/topical-coq10-for-skin

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coenzyme-q10