90 days of cell activity

Whether at rest or play, your body is in a state of constant work and flux that’s invisible from the surface. Geckos can regrow tails, deer can regrow antlers and, while humans can’t quite renew a severed limb (though your liver can regrow even after 75% of it has been removed from surgery¹), you have an ace up your sleeve when it comes to repairing damage acquired through life – cellular regeneration.

Every day, changes are happening within your body on a cellular level that keep you going and determine how well you operate. One of those processes is cell regeneration, which is the natural process of replacing or restoring damaged or missing cells to full function. You may not feel this cell turnover directly, but the health of your cells as they replace themselves has a major influence on your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. When your cells have been stocked up with MitoQ, they’re primed to perform at their best during the cellular turnover process that occurs within your body over days, months, years – and an entire lifetime.

“MitoQ gets into your bloodstream very quickly after you take it but the immediate effect you may feel depends on how stressed your cells are, your lifestyle and general health”, explains Dr Brendon Woodhead, MitoQ’s Head of Research and Development. “Some people may feel an immediate effect from day one, but for others this may take much longer - that is why we recommend taking it over a longer period of time (90+ days). For some people, they may not feel it is working at all, but a lot is actually happening at the cellular level such as protection from oxidative stress and support for energy production and cellular repair. The effects of this can be more subtle and gradual over time.”

What is cell regeneration?

Constant cellular turnover means old cells are discarded, and new cells are generated at a pace that differs depending on the body tissue. It means cells even have a “birthday” that can be figured out by carbon dating its DNA².

Essentially, you could be 45, but most of your body may be 10 years old. Much like the ship of Theseus, your whole body is gradually changed by these microscopic replacements. The blueprint of what makes you, you is maintained and passed on to every new cell in a trick of biology that is as elegant as it is useful.

Let’s delve deeper into your inner world and see just what happens to your cells in a time-lapse of 90 days:

1 week

Stomach

It’s said that you are what you eat, but have you ever considered the importance of how your stomach eats?! The stomach and small intestinal lining contain the most often replenished cells in the entire body. The gut is a hostile environment filled with bacteria, toxins, mutation-causing agents, and cell stress³. Constant tag-teaming from old cells to new means the body can reduce damage whilst never failing to preserve the integrity of the internal barrier that keeps these potentially harmful organisms and molecules away from other precious tissues⁴.

We put our intestine through a lot; its job is to constantly break down food, absorb nutrients and eliminate waste, a huge task and one that’s vital to our wellbeing. But the small intestine does suffer inevitable damage as it continually does its thing. To counter this, it is a highly regenerative organ – in fact, it is the most regenerative in the human body. Continual cell renewal of the inner intestinal lining, called the epithelium happens over a five- to seven-day period. This allows the epithelium to withstand the wear and tear to keep this part of the digestive system in top shape.

Under a month

Taste buds

Have you ever thought about exactly why we have taste buds? The little bumps on your tongue are actually groups of specialized taste receptor cells clustered together, designed to respond to chemicals in food and tell you if it’s sweet, salty, sour, bitter or umami tasting. It’s another clever design of nature that allows you to consider whether what you’re eating is desirable or potentially dangerous – and ultimately allows humans to derive joy from the taste of something sweet and sugary. Taste bud cells are replaced around every 10 days, meaning that a single taste bud will contain a mosaic of younger and older cells. They’re replaced constantly because food temperature and texture can damage these cells⁵ – and what a tragedy it would be if we couldn’t enjoy the taste of a choccie bar!

Bones

It may surprise you to hear that bone is not dead tissue. Our skeleton continues being remodeled through life, adjusting its architecture as needed⁶. Different cells in your bones will live longer than others. The most often replaced cells are bone osteoclasts. These cells ‘resorb’ old bone, breaking it down into the bloodstream to repair microdamage and allow new bone to be formed⁷. Bone osteoclasts are replaced every 2 weeks so that they cannot resorb TOO much bone, keeping the balance just right^{7, 8}.

The skin

The skin is actually the largest organ of the body. Millions of individual cells form the skin, doing the job of protecting us from infection and germs. It’s basically composed of two parts: the epidermis, which forms a barrier, and the dermis, which provides support to the epidermis⁵. The epidermis undergoes constant cellular turnover to replace dead or damaged cells.

Surface layer skin cells turnover around every three weeks⁹. Skin tissue needs to heal from wounds and can easily accrue damage like cuts and scrapes. To cope with this wear and tear, new skin cells are constantly produced to fortify your body’s frontline to the outside world. You may still bear scars and skin irregularities that tell the tale of a life well-lived – these may remain because they form deep in the dermis, like a tattoo for example. When it is in repair mode, your skin contracts to close a new wound quickly, with your skin cells furiously laying down collagen fibers like hurried builders – the result is a slightly messy matrix of tissue that looks different from the rest of the skin¹⁰. Those scars are a beautiful ode to the way our body rushes to protect us at all costs.

Lungs

Breathing – it’s the key to life and our lungs are the key players. The tiny air sacs called alveoli at the end of your bronchial tubes are responsible for taking up oxygen when you breathe in and shrinking when you breathe out, to get rid of carbon dioxide. They may be small but they do a huge job when it comes to your respiratory system. If alveoli become injured, one type of alveoli cell can turn into stem cells to eventually become new alveoli cells. It is thought this cell cycle occurs about every 28 days.

One month after taking MitoQ

2 months +

Sperm cells

The birds and bees, flowers and trees...started off as sperm cells and ovules. Whilst a female is born with all egg cells ready to go for the lifetime ahead (though this is still being tested), males constantly produce new sperm cells. Each sperm cell divides, grows, and matures with a lifespan of approximately 64 days. Why so often, and so many? It's always better to be prepared – here, redundancy is a good thing. A fresh (and massive) supply of sperm cells simply increases the odds so that fertilization is more likely to take place¹¹. Quality is just as important as quantity. Sperm cells’ ability to swim up to the egg – and the ability of the egg to develop into an embryo – is reliant on cell energy^12,13. Normal, healthy mitochondria are needed to make that happen. Sperm and egg health starts with cell health.

1-2 months after taking MitoQ

3 months +

Red blood cells

¹¹Blood cells originate from stem cells within bone marrow and must be constantly replaced, as normal blood cells last for a limited time. When these stem cells divide, they can become many different cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. Red blood cells are the ones that carry fresh oxygen throughout the body and will circulate through your body for 120 days. White blood cells are the ones that help the body fight infection, which can have a lifespan anywhere from a few hours to a few days, and platelets – which help your body form clots to stop bleeding – take 10 days to regenerate.

However, the body can trigger additional production as needed. For instance, when the number of red blood cells decreases (like it does when you give blood), the kidneys produce and release erythropoietin - a hormone that stimulates the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. Likewise, different messengers will trigger more white blood cells to help fight infection, or more platelets in response to bleeding.

Tissues and vessels

While on the subject of blood, we must mention some very important cells that are essential to blood supply: endothelial cells. These form the linings of the blood vessels including the entire vascular system, from the heart to the smallest capillary, and are remarkable in that they can adjust their number and arrangement depending on the body’s needs. Tissue and growth repair would not be possible without endothelial cells’ work in extending and remodeling blood vessel networks. As an example, if a part of the wall of the aorta is exposed due to damage, nearby endothelial cells flourish and head in to cover the surface. Studies have shown non-human endothelial cells begin to regenerate from a couple of months (in the liver and lungs) to years (in the brain and muscles).

Liver

The liver is an incredible organ and is known to have more than 500 vital functions in the body. One of its main roles is that it basically acts as the body’s filter system. Due to its rich blood supply, it has an amazing capacity to repair and regrow itself. It takes these hardworking cells up to three years to regenerate

Three+ months after taking MitoQ

In non-human studies, three months of taking MitoQ has been shown to help support metabolic health (in other words, the delicate balance of your blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, carbohydrates, fats, and general metabolism) by the sustained reduction of oxidative stress. In four months, it has also been shown to help liver function by supporting the pancreas.

90+ days of MitoQ

We recommend taking MitoQ consistently for 90+ days to see real change. Why 90+ days?

Your cells are extremely busy over a 90-day period with regeneration happening in different cells all over the body. So is MitoQ. Once it neutralizes a free radical, it continues to be recycled and works repeatedly in your cells, helping to restore old and new cells alike.

MitoQ can have noticeable effects in under a month. For some people, the results are almost instantaneous.

Don’t just take our word for it – record your progress yourself using MitoQ’s wellness tracker. We suggest tracking your mental focus, energy, stress, sleep, afternoon crashes and more over our recommended 90-day period to reveal how MitoQ has been improving your cell health and daily life.

Rest assured, if it’s helping you feel better, that’s because it all starts small – working away in the heart of your cells. As your cells grow, die, and renew over days, weeks, months, and years, MitoQ is there, combatting cell stress to help them do what they do best: keep you living your life to the fullest.

Summary

The human body is in a constant state of cellular renewal, with different types of cells regenerating at various rates. From the rapidly renewing cells of the digestive system to the slower turnover of liver cells, this process is crucial for maintaining health and repairing cellular damage. Understanding these cycles highlights the importance of supporting cellular health through proper nutrition and supplements like MitoQ, which can help optimize cellular function and energy production over time.