Coenzyme Q10 is one of the ten types of coenzyme Q that are found in nature but the only one that humans use. While it is a very important fat-soluble antioxidant, it’s most beneficial for enhancing heart health and circulation. This is because CoQ10 helps the heart use oxygen and energy effectively, which is crucial. The organs in your body that have the highest energy needs, including your muscles, heart, brain, and kidneys, have the highest concentrations of Q10. CoQ10 supplements optimize the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively, which is why it is known best as a supplement for heart health. But that's not all the CoQ10 benefits, read on to learn more.
Increased Need for CoQ10
Your body produces CoQ10, but as you age—especially after the age of 40—its production begins to decline to such a level that by the time you are in your sixties, your CoQ10 levels are only about 10% of what they were when you were in your thirties. Supplementing with a good-quality coenzyme Q10 can help replenish this shortfall and produce significant benefits for our health at a time in people’s lives when they need it most. Some studies have shown that as many as 75% of people are deficient in coenzyme Q10.
However, aging is not the only CoQ10 benefit. Exposure to toxins and pollutants results in severe oxidative stress from free radicals, which deplete coenzyme Q10 and create a great need for more. Illnesses that put stress on the immune system will also deplete your coenzyme Q10 resources, as it enhances tissue oxygenation.
Additionally, certain drugs and some medical conditions can deplete CoQ10 and signal an insufficiency.
Symptoms of CoQ10 Deficiency
Research has shown that some conditions can be caused by a deficiency in a substance called CoQ10. You may have a CoQ10 deficiency if you experience the following symptoms:
- high blood pressure
- poor circulation
- and/or headaches
Types of CoQ10 Supplements: Ubiquinone vs Ubiquinol
Ubiquinone vs ubiquinol; the two main supplemental forms of CoQ10 that you will find in health food stores. The original form, ubiquinone, is the industry standard and has been thoroughly studied for years. The latest, more active form of CoQ10 is ubiquinol, the biologically active form used best by the body.
- Who should take ubiquinone? Most naturopathic doctors and nutritional MDs will usually recommend standard ubiquinone CoQ10 over biologically active ubiquinol for their patients taking Q10 as a daily nutritional supplement for overall health enhancement.
- Who should take ubiquinol? Ubiquinol is usually reserved for those who need CoQ10 for therapeutic purposes such as angina, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor circulation, cancer, immune support, fibromyalgia, and others.
CoQ10 Benefits
Uses of Coenzyme Q10 in Cardiovascular Diseases
If you have any kind of heart health concern—or even a family history of it—CoQ10 ubiquinol should be one of the supplements in your daily regimen. The clinical evidence supporting CoQ10’s effectiveness in most cardiovascular concerns is vast. Study after study links CoQ10 deficiency to heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and more.
CoQ10 Ubiquinol Protects from Bad LDL Cholesterol
High cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart attacks and strokes. The "bad" cholesterol is harmful because it is far more susceptible to oxidative damage from free radicals than the "good" HDL cholesterol. Once oxidized, LDL cholesterol then damages arteries, causing lesions to form and eventually causing arterial blockages that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. CoQ10 can prevent this. As a fat-soluble antioxidant, CoQ10 ubiquinol/ubiquinone can protect the bad LDL cholesterol from free radicals, as it, too, is a fat. Water-soluble antioxidants such as vitamin C or selenium cannot do this to the same extent, making CoQ10 the ideal nutritional supplement.
CoQ10 Supplement and Side Effects from Statin Drugs
Statins are a common class of medication prescribed by conventional doctors to reduce high cholesterol. While they are effective at keeping it low, they have a few nasty side effects, the most common of which is muscle pain. People taking this medication experience statin-related muscle pain and fatigue because their CoQ10 is being depleted! These side effects are usually alleviated by taking 100–400 mg of coenzyme Q10 daily.
CoQ10 Supports Healthy Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is sometimes called a "silent killer," as it often goes unnoticed until a major cardiac event. It can occur for various reasons, including high blood viscosity, narrowing of the arteries, and weak heart muscle. CoQ10 can help support healthy blood pressure by addressing each of these concerns. It helps the blood to be less viscous, thus making it flow through arteries and veins with less force exerted on blood vessel walls.
By reducing the oxidation of cholesterol, CoQ10 reduces the progress of the narrowing of the arteries. In addition, as the most important muscle in the body, the heart requires Q10 more than any other. The heart is always pumping and needs a steady supply of ubiquinone or ubiquinol to continue its thousands of daily beats. Since CoQ10 is the spark plug for all muscular contractions, the heart must pump blood effectively. Without enough CoQ10, the heartbeat can be erratic or even cause palpitations, causing blood pressure to rise. The preferred form of CoQ10 for supporting high blood pressure is the ubiquinol form. It has been clinically proven to reduce high blood pressure more quickly and effectively than standard ubiquinone.
Coenzyme Q10 and Heart Failure
CoQ10 benefits include helping support heart failure. It plays an important role in energy production and cellular health outside of providing antioxidant protection. For patients with heart failure, the chances of hospitalization (and re-hospitalization for complications) are high. In one double-blind trial, researchers studied the effects of CoQ10 supplementation on patients with congestive heart failure. Subjects were randomly assigned either a placebo or CoQ10 at a dose of 2 mg per kg of body weight per day. After one year, the group taking CoQ10 required fewer hospitalizations than the placebo, and incidences of pulmonary edema and cardiac asthma were also reduced. The researchers concluded that "supplementation with coenzyme Q10 could be an effective adjunct therapy to standard medical treatment because it reduces hospitalization rates in patients with chronic heart failure.”
CoQ10 Supplement and Angina
Your heart is the most important muscle in your body, pumping blood that delivers oxygen and important nutrients. When your heart doesn’t get enough oxygen-rich blood, it can cause chest pain or discomfort called angina. CoQ10 helps to enhance energy production and circulation in the heart muscle, it pump blood more efficiently.
Coenzyme Q10 Anti-Aging Benefits
CoQ10 and anti-aging go hand in hand because this supplement has anti-aging properties, and as an antioxidant, it protects the body against environmental pollutants and other substances that cause aging. The free-radical theory of aging is generally accepted as one of the major external causes of the aging process. CoQ10’s ability to stabilize free radicals can make a dramatic difference in reducing the DNA damage free radicals cause, which can lead to the premature aging of tissues and the individual cells of which they are made. In addition, coenzyme Q10 helps to improve circulation, which improves the flow of nutrients and oxygen to tissues, thus keeping them healthier for longer.
Q10 Benefits For Mitochondrial Health & and Energy
When people take ubiquinone or ubiquinol CoQ10, they usually notice a substantial increase in mental and physical energy. As you read above, coenzyme Q10 offers benefits for mitochondrial health and is needed by every muscle in the body. Muscles use a type of energy called ATP; each muscle cell uses it to perform the contractions that result in any type of movement, whether it's simply the diaphragm making the lungs inhale or running a marathon. CoQ10 is needed to make ATP; without enough, the muscles will fatigue sooner and to a greater degree. Many athletes take CoQ10 supplements, especially the ubiquinol form, to enhance their ATP production. Naturopathic doctors often recommend their patients with fibromyalgia (who have chronic muscle weakness) take CoQ10 for this exact reason.
CoQ10 Supplement and Brain Health
As an antioxidant, CoQ10 supports brain health because oxidative stress has been shown to contribute to the development of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. CoQ10 has been used in some studies as a treatment for these diseases because it helps prevent oxidative damage in neurons (nerve cells). In animal studies, CoQ10 benefits also include neuroprotective effects. People who supplement with CoQ10 regularly have better cognitive function than those who don't take it regularly. Some studies suggest that CoQ10 may help improve memory function in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is often an early sign of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
CoQ10 and Headache
People who experience headaches regularly have found that taking Coenzyme Q10 supplements has helped to reduce or eliminate their symptoms. Many people have reported headaches as a symptom of CoQ10 deficiency, which is one reason why this supplement might help with your headache pain. In one study, researchers tested frequent headache sufferers for CoQ10 deficiency and gave CoQ10 to those who were deficient. The patients who received CoQ10 reported fewer headaches and less disability from their headaches than those who did not receive the supplement.
Food Sources of Coenzyme Q10
The average daily dietary intake of CoQ10 is between 3 and 6 milligrams, with evidence suggesting that half of this is in reduced form (ubiquinol).
While it is not practical to get therapeutic or supplemental doses of coenzyme Q10 from our food, it is interesting to note that it is indeed present in our food in small amounts. The highest amount, of course, is contained in beef hearts, with smaller amounts in fish such as sardines and spinach. To get 100 mg of coenzyme Q10, you would need to eat 5.5 pounds of beef liver, 20 pounds of white mackerel, or 37 pounds of broccoli. However, supplementing with a high-quality supplement will help you replenish your stores of this vital nutrient.
Coenzyme Q10 Supplements
CoQ10 Supplement Dosing
As you've seen, CoQ10 benefits many aspects of health. The following are some of the therapeutic applications and clinical dosing for CoQ10:
- Deficiency from statin drug use: This can usually be reversed with doses of 100 to 400 milligrams per day.
- Migraine prevention or treatment: In one successful study on CoQ10 supplementation for headaches, researchers administered 1 to 3 mg of CoQ10 per kg of body weight.
- Hypertension treatment and management of angina: In studies, doses of 100 to 200 milligrams per day were administered.
- Reduced blood flow due to atherosclerosis: A meta-analysis found that CoQ10 supplementation in doses of 150 to 300 mg per day for up to 12 weeks resulted in a clinically significant 1.7% increase in blood flow.
- Heart failure: In studies showing a reduced risk of complications from heart failure, subjects were given 2 mg of CoQ10 per kg of body weight.
CoQ10 Supplement Formats
Both ubiquinol and ubiquinone are best taken in a soft gel capsule. As a fat-soluble nutrient, CoQ10 is best absorbed by the digestive system in an oil base; the oil transports it across cell membranes in the villi of the gut lining, giving it superior activity. The soft gel capsule delivery format is the only capsule format that permits the oil base.
CoQ10 Supplement Precautions
Coenzyme Q10 may decrease the effectiveness of warfarin. The following prescription medications deplete coenzyme Q10, and supplementation is strongly advisable: hydralazine, thiazide diuretics, cholesterol-lowering medication, sulfonylureas, beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, chlorpromazine, clonidine, methyldopa, diazoxide, biguanides, and haloperidol.
CoQ10 Supplement FAQs
How much coenzyme Q10 should I take?
Most doses of CoQ10 will range between 100 and 400 mg per day. Refer to our guidelines for dosing in the Coenzyme Q10 Supplements section.
Does science support coenzyme Q10?
Scientific literature has shown that CoQ10 benefits heart health, cognitive function, and mitochondrial health, among many other benefits.
What depletes our body's coenzyme Q10?
The following factors can deplete your body's levels of coenzyme Q10: aging, stress, certain diseases (including cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease), medication (including statins prescribed to lower cholesterol levels in patients with high blood pressure or heart disease), and poor diet (diets high in processed foods tend not only to be low in antioxidants but also contain lots of omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils that are pro-inflammatory).
Where can I buy a CoQ10 Supplement?
You can find CoQ10 at most health food stores.
