The letter Q in its name stands for quinone. The word quinone is used to describe any molecular structure which consists of a six-sided carbon ring with an atom of oxygen attached to the top and bottom by a double bond. One example of quinone is vitamin K, the nutrient so essential to the normal clotting of blood at the time of injury. Then we add to this basic quinone structure a side chain of 5 carbon atoms and we turn it into a coenzyme Quinone. If we hook another unit of 5 carbon atoms onto the first unit of 5 carbon atoms, we would call this CO Q-2.
Natural food contains all kinds of quinones.
Our body extracts them from the food we eat, takes apart the side chains of different lengths and then attempts to put them all together as Co Q-10. Our body goes to all that work because only the quinone with a side chain of 10 units of 5-carbon atoms will work as a cofactor for the enzymes in our body. The reason all of this is so important is because Co Q-10 is a key factor in the creation of energy in every cell of our body. Without energy, the cell can not do the work it was designed to do. It can not even carry out the basic function of staying alive.