The joyous Spring Festival gatherings have come to an end. The lingering flavors of hot pot and barbecue still remain on the tip of the tongue. However, the "indulgent mode" of staying up late to watch dramas and toasting has silently taken a toll on our livers. After resuming work, do you often feel tired and lacking in energy, have a poor appetite, and even notice a dull complexion and frequent breakouts in the mirror? Beware, these could be "distress signals" sent by the liver! (Of course, some of these symptoms might just be due to reluctance to go back to work, just kidding!)
欢乐的春节聚会已经结束。火锅和烧烤的余味仍然萦绕在舌尖。然而，熬夜追剧、喝酒的“放纵模式”已经悄然对我们的肝脏造成了伤害。复工后，你是否经常感到疲劳、精力不足，食欲不振，甚至发现面色暗淡和镜子中的痘痘频发？当心，这些可能是肝脏发出的“求救信号”！（当然，有些症状可能仅仅是因为不愿回到工作岗位，开个玩笑而已！）

As the body's "detoxification factory", the liver works around the clock to metabolize toxins and break down fat for us. The sumptuous feasts and disrupted schedules during the Spring Festival have undoubtedly overloaded it. According to data from the National Health Commission/ "China Health Statistics Yearbook", during the Spring Festival, the detection rate of abnormal liver function has increased by an average of 25% - 35% compared to before the festival (alcoholic liver injury and fatty liver account for the highest proportion). And the abnormal rate among the young group (20 - 40 years old) exceeds 45% (usually caused by metabolic disorders due to a combination of staying up late, drinking, and high - fat diets).肝脏作为人体的“排毒工厂”，日夜不停地工作，帮助我们代谢毒素和分解脂肪。春节期间丰盛的宴会和不规律的作息无疑给肝脏带来了巨大的负担。根据国家卫健委发布的《中国卫生健康统计年鉴》数据，春节期间的肝功能异常检测率较节前平均上升了25%-35%（酒精性肝病和脂肪肝所占比例最高）。而年轻人群（20-40岁）的异常率超过了45%（通常是由于熬夜、饮酒和高脂肪饮食等多种因素导致的代谢紊乱所致）。

Consumers are increasingly aware in their daily lives that liver protection is urgent. Tmall Health released the "Insight into Consumption Scenarios and Populations in the Health Care and Nourishment Industry", showing that demand scenarios closely related to work have increased, such as vitality replenishment and workplace recovery.消费者在日常生活中越来越意识到肝脏保护的重要性。天猫健康发布的《洞察大健康行业消费场景与人群》显示，与健康和营养密切相关的需求场景有所增加，例如活力补充和工作场所恢复等。

Data Source: Tmall Health "Insight into Consumption Scenarios and Populations in the Health Care and Nourishment Industry"数据来源：天猫健康《洞察医疗健康和营养行业消费场景与人群》
Note: The statistical caliber of UV growth rate is from June 2023 - June 2024 vs June 2022 - June 2023注：UV增长率统计口径为2023年6月-2024年6月与2022年6月-2023年6月对比

Consumers hope to replenish their vitality in the fast - paced life to meet the daily challenges. People aged 25 - 30 are more concerned about special medical foods, those aged 30 - 34 pay more attention to health foods that supplement vitamins and minerals, and prefer to buy portable products to meet immediate needs in life. Men over 40 years old prefer health - preserving teas. In terms of the "workplace recovery" demand, office workers hope to adjust the healthy operation of various organs in the body to achieve a better state for efficient work and social interaction. They pay more attention to eye care, intestinal health, liver care, and emotional well - being.消费者希望在快节奏的生活中补充活力，以应对日常挑战。25-30岁的人群更关注特殊医学食品，30-34岁的人群更注重补充维生素和矿物质的保健食品，并且倾向于购买便携式产品以满足生活中的即时需求。40岁以上的男性则更偏好养生茶。在“职场恢复”需求方面，办公室工作人员希望调整身体各器官的健康运作状态，以达到更好的工作和社会互动效果。他们更加关注眼部护理、肠道健康、肝脏保养以及情绪福祉。

Data Source: Tmall Health "Insight into Consumption Scenarios and Populations in the Health Care and Nourishment Industry"数据来源：天猫健康《洞察医疗健康和营养行业消费场景与人群》


In recent years, the market for liver - protecting and liver - nourishing products has shown strong and stable consumer demand. The popularity of topics related to liver nourishment and protection on domestic online social platforms has increased by 40.5% year - on - year. The core functional demands that consumers care about mainly include: promoting metabolism and detoxification, dietary regulation, improving physical and mental states, and sobering up from alcohol. The challenges faced by the industry lie in how to more accurately meet the increasingly refined and specific needs of consumers, and how to expand more usage scenarios and innovate product categories while ensuring product effectiveness.近年来，护肝养肝产品市场显示出强劲且稳定的消费需求。国内在线社交平台上与养肝护肝相关话题的受欢迎程度同比增长了40.5%。消费者关心的核心功能需求主要包括：促进新陈代谢和排毒、饮食调节、改善身体和心理状态以及解酒。行业面临的挑战在于如何更准确地满足消费者日益精细化和具体化的需求，以及在确保产品有效性的同时，如何拓展更多使用场景和创新产品类别。

Data Source: CBNData, "2023 Whole - Channel Population Research Data on Health Products"


PQQ Regulates Energy Metabolism

Animal and cell culture studies have shown that PQQ is beneficial for reducing the accumulation of visceral and liver fat. In addition to inhibiting lipogenesis, PQQ can also increase the number and function of mitochondria, thereby improving lipid metabolism. In addition to diet - induced obesity, PQQ also improves programmed obesity in offspring through maternal supplements and alters the gut microbiota, thus reducing the risk of obesity. In the progression of obesity, PQQ alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction and obesity - related inflammation, thereby improving the progression of obesity - related comorbidities, including non - alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. Overall, PQQ has great potential as an anti - obesity agent and for preventing obesity - related complications [1].

Image Source: Reference 1

PQQ Improves Liver Injury

The liver - protecting mechanisms of PQQ include but are not limited to: 
① Significantly improving acute alcoholic liver injury by reducing liver marker enzymes, including serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and increasing the levels of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH - Px), and catalase (CAT) in the liver. ② It can also significantly reduce the content of liver triglyceride (TG) and malondialdehyde (MDA). 
③ Alleviating alcohol - induced oxidative damage by activating the NF - E2 - related factor 2 (Nrf2) - mediated signaling pathway and inhibiting the Toll - like receptor 4 (TLR4) - mediated nuclear factor - κB (NF - κB) signaling pathway [2].
 

Image Source: Reference 2


In liver - protecting products, pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is often used in combination with other liver - protecting ingredients due to its antioxidant and mitochondrial - protective effects.
 Silymarin stabilizes the liver cell membrane, and PQQ reduces oxidative damage by protecting mitochondria. The combination of the two can comprehensively support liver repair and function maintenance.
 As a precursor of GSH, NAC replenishes the antioxidant reserve, and PQQ reduces mitochondrial oxidative stress, jointly reducing the burden on the liver.
 Curcumin alleviates the inflammatory response, and PQQ protects mitochondrial function. The combination improves fatty liver and hepatitis - related damage. It can also be paired with black pepper extract to improve the absorption rate of curcumin.
 Milk thistle supports liver cell repair, and PQQ enhances mitochondrial energy metabolism, promoting liver regeneration.
 B - group vitamins support enzyme activity, and PQQ optimizes mitochondrial efficiency, jointly enhancing liver metabolic capacity.
 Zinc and selenium strengthen the endogenous antioxidant system, complementing the exogenous antioxidant effect of PQQ.
 Choline promotes fat transport, and PQQ enhances mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, jointly improving non - alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
 Alpha - lipoic acid (ALA) and PQQ jointly scavenge free radicals to protect liver cells from oxidative damage.

Image Source: Brand's Taobao product details page


[1] Mohamad Ishak NS, Ikemoto K. Pyrroloquinoline-quinone to reduce fat accumulation and ameliorate obesity progression. Front Mol Biosci. 2023 May 5;10:1200025. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1200025. PMID: 37214340; PMCID: PMC10196175.
[2] Qian L, Yang F, Lin X, Jiang S, Zhang Y, Tang Y. Pyrroloquinoline quinone ameliorates liver injury in mice induced by cyclophosphamide. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Apr;29(20):30383-30393. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-17990-6. Epub 2022 Jan 8. PMID: 34997497.