antioxidant · for chronic fatigue
PQQ
Prompts your cells to build new mitochondria, the parts that make energy.
Say that in clinical terms
Stimulates formation of new mitochondria, enhances cellular energy production, reduces oxidative stress.
How strong is the research?
Evidence evidence
Only one studyIndustry fundedLow-quality evidence
1 paper read, 1 supporting.
Who was studied: Healthy adults who said they felt tired, not people with diagnosed chronic fatigue.
How much to take
daily
10–20 mg
Benefits accumulate over weeks as new mitochondria form.
Before you take it
- No NIH/IOM Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) established — PQQ is not a recognized essential nutrient with a Dietary Reference Intake; no formal UL has been set by any major regulatory body.
- EFSA (2017) concluded PQQ disodium salt (BioPQQ™) safe under intended conditions of use at up to 20 mg/day for healthy adults; NOAEL from 13-week rat studies was 100 mg/kg bw/day, yielding a margin of safety of ~344 at the proposed human dose.
- Safety not established for pregnant or lactating women — EFSA's novel food authorization explicitly excludes these populations; supplemental use should be avoided in the absence of adequate safety data.
- PQQ can interfere with glucose dehydrogenase–PQQ (GDH-PQQ)–based glucometers, producing falsely elevated blood glucose readings — a clinically relevant concern for individuals self-monitoring blood glucose with such devices.
- No well-characterized human drug–drug interactions are documented in published clinical literature; potential interactions remain largely uninvestigated.
- Long-term human safety data are limited; most clinical trials span 8–12 weeks, and no controlled study beyond 12 weeks has been identified.
What we make of it
One pilot trial of 17 people, and every human trial appears industry-funded.
The detail
The entire positive human evidence rests on a single pilot with 17 participants, far below what is needed for confidence. All the human trials appear to be funded by the industry that sells it.