Brain Health and Antioxidant Support with PQQ

Interviewer: Doctor, we hear a lot about a supplement called PQQ. Can you first of explain what that stands for and what it is?

Dr. Derrick DeSilva: Well, PQQ is a B vitamin-like substances. And nature reported this about 8 or 10 years ago, and the cover of nature said, "the first Vitamin discovered in 55 years", because we haven't found any new vitamins over the past many decades quiet honestly. It's a B vitamin-like substance. It has not been classified as a vitamin yet, but it has a lot of similar effects.

Interviewer: What classifies a vitamin and why is like but not quiet a vitamin?

Dr. Derrick DeSilva: Well, the way it works is Biochemically. What does it do? There are certain, for example, coenzymes Q10 is  a cofactor. It is a part of Biochemical process that allows a nutrient to go from point A to point B. And each of these has  certain Biochemical functions that classify things as minerals, vitamins, cofactors, enzymes, etc. So different properties give them different vitamins or mineral properties. 

Interviewer: So can you explain exactly PQQ does and what some of the benefits might be?

Dr. Derrick DeSilva: One of the things that I'm really excited about with PQQ is like most other supplements or unlike most other supplements, excuse me, PQQ has not only antioxidants properties, but it has neural protector properties. A lot of people will say don't the two of those things go together. Yes, they may actually go together. A lot of patients will say to me well I'm taking Vitamin E, I'm taking Salina, I'm taking Beta Keratin, there antioxidants, but what it tell people is that every single antioxidant has a different function it gets to the same end effect, but how it gets there is different. The analogy I always use is of a house. You want to get into the house. You can use the front door, you can use the back door, you can use the side door, you can use the window, and you can even go in through the basement door. The mechanism of how you get into the house is different, but the end result of getting into the house is the same, getting inside. Antioxidants are the same way. Vitamin E may go in the front door, Beta Keratin may go in the side door, Salina may go in another way, and Co Q10 may go through the window. And PQQ is another one of those antioxidants that has a different effect, and the other thing that I'm really excited about is the neural protective mechanism of PQQ.  Protecting the nervous system. Again, one the biggest concerns that my patients voice what can I do to protect my brain as I get older, and this amazing substances has those neural protective effects and human clinical studies have shown that the data is there, the data is there.