The Extensive Benefits of CoQ10
All cellular energy production is dependent on the creation of CoQ10. When young, levels are high because the body knows it is a valuable antioxidant that serves growth and energy production. As we get older, the production of this critical antioxidant declines, and we do not get its protective benefits. Common signs that CoQ10 is low include wrinkled skin, poor energy levels, cardiovascular problems, and vision problems.
When the body needs to fight against aging free radicals, antioxidants are needed to support this process (1, 2). CoQ10 is one of these antioxidants that works to protect our cells including in the heart, pancreas, liver, and kidneys. It is interesting that in addition to our own cells, this Co-enzyme is also found in animals, plants, and bacteria. It must be important!
Importance of CoQ10
It is important to know that Co-enzyme Q10 is directly associated with many diseases and low levels of it in our body may cause unwanted illnesses. Considering its importance, it is vital to support the body’s ability to make this critical nutrient. This become even more important when you realize that the body does not store large amounts of CoQ10 and that it must be synthesized continuously.
There are very important functions in the body which are supported by Q10. The most important is generating energy inside of our cells. It protects our cells as an antioxidant and keeps them safe from oxidative damage. Many cosmetic companies attempt to capitalize on this effect by adding it to makeup and other skin products. The intention is to protect skin cells from oxidative damage and therefore keep them young and looking a certain way.
Signs of Low CoQ10
The most common diseases that can occur if we don’t have enough CoQ10 include:
Mitochondrial diseases (3)
Vitamin deficiency, such as vitamin B6
Excessive Oxidative Stress
Systemic Inflammatory Conditions
Neurodegeneration
Brain Fog
Low energy
…and just about any chronic disease
Many studies have been performed, but it is yet to be agreed upon whether or not healthy people would benefit from supplementation with CoQ10. Most people, if they are healthy, can produce it in their own cells with proper nutrition and lifestyle strategies. However, those with chronic diseases may have an increased need.
Best Dietary Sources
The body is able to produce its own CoQ10 as-needed, however during times of increased stress, this ability may be diminished. This is when consuming CoQ10-rich foods can be very helpful.
Q10 is a powerful antioxidant and naturally, we can find it in some specific foods, like meat. If we want to help ourselves in the aging process, we might consider the following meat as our choice next time we decide to eat:
- Pasture-Raised Chicken or Beef
- Heart, Kidney or Liver
- Fish – The best is to use oily, fatty fish. Your choice can be mackerel, trout, sardines, wild Alaskan salmon, tuna or herring
- Dairy Including: Pasture-Raised Butter & Egg Yolks
In case, you are not so happy to have meat on your table, there are other foods that can also serve as a source of this valuable nutrient:
- Fruit – Be careful with too much sugary fruit as excess sugar intake is a source of blood sugar imbalances and drainage of CoQ10. The top fruits for CoQ10 include: Avocados, Black Currants, Strawberries, Grapefruits, and Apples
- Vegetables – Broccoli, Natto, Sweet Potato, and Cauliflower
- Nuts and seeds – Pistachios, Walnuts, Sesame Seeds, and Hazelnuts
- Oils – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Supplements
In addition to eating the right foods, supplementing with CoQ10 may provide some benefits as well. CoQ10 is readily available in most health food stores and supplement shops, however not all are created equal. Pharmaceutical Grade is typically what I would recommend, such as this one here.
CoQ10 is a well-known supplement and can sometimes also go by the following names: Coenzyme Q10, CQ10, ubidecarenone, and ubiquinone. There is also a new form of CoQ10 that is referred to as Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) that some claim to be more effective.
When you want to order Q10, it is good to know there are different forms including tablets, hard and soft shell capsules, and liquids such as oral sprays. There is not a generally agreed upon form that is superior.
CoQ10 is fat-soluble, so if you use a supplement it will be important to consume with a fat source. Additionally, for added antioxidant benefits, consume with antioxidant-rich foods like vegetables, herbs, and spices as evidence suggests that antioxidants provide synergistic benefits.
Generally speaking, CoQ10 supplementation is likely not necessary under the age of 18. Dosages range from 30-1000 mg daily, however this is highly variable toward the individual. Some sources suggest that supplementing in the evening is best, however this may be something to test out for yourself.
Health Conditions Associated with Co-Enzyme Q10
As we said at the beginning of this article, medical references are important when we speak about dietary supplements, almost in the same relation as when we speak about real medications. That is why we would like to mention some expert opinions about specific conditions that are connected to CoQ10. These references are mentioned on the list by Mayo Clinic and their professional staff. According to the evidence-based data, these conditions are as follows (4, 5):
- Heart conditions – CoQ10 helps to mitigate the effects of increased LDL cholesterol, likely due to its antioxidant effects. In this way, CoQ10 might make a good base for heart disease prevention.
- Physical performance can be directly influenced by low levels of Co-enzyme in our cells because it is involved with ATP production. Low CoQ10 could slow ATP production and decrease energy output to muscle cells, inhibiting physical performance
- Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases linked to mitochondrial health may be influenced by Coenzyme Q10 levels.
- Migraines – it is not so clear how, but if we take a look at new results of research, higher dose of Q10 may prevent this intolerable pain
- Statin-induced side effects – Supplementing this antioxidant alongside statin treatment may provide a safety guard against many statin-induced side-effects.
There are also some medical references from the University of Maryland medical center that are desirable to mention because, from them, we can also find out how using Co-enzyme Q10 can help in some other medical conditions (6):
- Taking within 3 days after suffering a heart attack and continuing daily may help avoid subsequent heart attacks and reduce chest pain.
- Q10 alone or along with other medications may be used in order to help prevent heart failure. Considering the mitochondrial density in the heart, having adequate amounts of this nutrient are necessary to keep it healthy.
- May help to support optimal cholesterol levels alone or in combination with statins.
- Blood Sugar control may be improved with supplementation although more research is needed to confirm this benefit.
- Supplementing during chemotherapy treatment may help improve outcomes by mitigating excessive oxidative stress and protecting the heart from damage.
- Heart surgery outcomes may be improved with supplementation.
- Periodontal disease, known also as gum disease can be influenced by a lack of Q10
Additional Benefits
As always, not all scientific literature agrees. However, there are additional benefits that may be notable of mentioning.
- Some preliminary evidence suggests that CoQ10 may improve fertility in both males and females.
- May improve immune function and therefore build resilience toward a number of different immune threats such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
- There are some indications that people who suffer from angina might get better life through improved exercise ability thanks to the Co-enzyme
- As has been mentioned, it is common to add Coenzyme Q10 to beauty and cosmetic products where it may provide an anti-aging effect against wrinkles.
What Depletes CoQ10?
The official data of University of Maryland Medical Center strictly define some drugs that can deplete Co-enzyme Q10. If you are currently using any of the following medications, it may be advantageous to also add a supplement to your health regimen (7):
- Different types of Tricyclic antidepressants, shortly known as TCAs include: Amitriptyline, Clomipramine, or Protriptyline
- Antidiabetic medications where Sulfonylureas drugs are the most important to note include: Chlorpropamide or Tolazamide
- Cardiovascular medications such as Alpha2-adrenergic agonists like Clonidine, and Beta-blockers such as Atenolol, Bisoprolol and other similar medications. Vasodilators such as Hydralazine are also part of this group.
- Among the medications for lowering cholesterol, it is important to mention fabric acid derivatives where Gemfibrozil is the main representative, together with Statins, or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors like Atorvastatin, Cerivastatin, Lovastatin, and similar
- Different Thiazide diuretics such as Indapamide or Metolazone
- Psychotherapeutic medications also deplete CoQ10, these include Phenothiazine derivatives where Fluphenazine and Promazine are the representatives, or Thioxanthene derivatives, such as Thiothixene
This is only a partial list so if you are using any kind of medication, do your research to find out if what you are taking regularly could be hampering your antioxidant defense systems.
Further Research
Considering the amount of preliminary evidence available and obvious importance of CoQ10 within the body, ongoing research will be needed to guide future recommendations on supplementation. The National center for complementary and integrative health is planning on guiding future research on the following (8, 9):
- How Q10 effects muscle pain in people who are using statin therapy
- The possible influence on breast cancer alone and along with conventional treatments
- Fertility, particularly in older women
There are current developments for people who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease for example. Preliminary studies at Cornell University in the U.S. have shown promising results, however ongoing research is necessary (10).
Side Effects
As with all supplements or medications, there is the potential to experience side effects. It is helpful to understand what these might be before beginning a supplement protocol so they can be preemptively monitored for. If you notice any negative effects while supplementing, you will want to stop taking it until they subside.
Medicine Net, a website run and edited by a team of doctors states that CoQ10 only offers the potential of a few minor side effects (11). One of the most common side effects appears to be digestive upset, however this can be easily avoided by lowering and splitting your dose throughout the day.
While side effects are not common, and are typically minor, monitor for the following:
- Digestive upset including diarrhea, nausea, rashes, headache, fatigue, dizziness, trigger allergies and even heartburn.
- Decreasing of blood sugar levels, which may cause problems for people with diabetes
- Lower blood pressure, that can be dangerous for those who already suffer from it and have regular therapy
- May not be safe for young children and pregnant or nursing mothers
- One should be careful if taking thyroid medications or blood thinners together with Q10 because there are possible interactions
- Always look up any potential interactions that CoQ10 may have with any medications you are currently taking
- Loss of appetite is one additional possible side effect, as well as light sensitivity and irritability
Conclusion
CoQ10 is an antioxidant found in many different living organisms and is absolutely vital for health. As a mitochondrial-support nutrient, this makes it a broadly applicable to many different health conditions. Considering mitochondrial dysfunction is at the root of most chronic diseases today, taking steps to support them is a good idea.
Consequently, an expanding body of evidence is eluding to a wide-range of benefits of having enough of this antioxidant in your body. Additionally, side effects are relatively rare and mild in nature.
While this nutrient can be derived in small amounts from food sources, using a pharmaceutical grade supplement, such as this one, can be a great way to boost overall health and performance on a daily basis.
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Sources For This Article
1. Examine: Coenzyme Q10 (Link)
2. Examine: Coenzyme Q10: Citations (Link)
3. Hernández-camacho JD, Bernier M, López-lluch G, Navas P. Coenzyme QSupplementation in Aging and Disease. Front Physiol. 2018;9:44. PMID: 29459830
4. Mayo Clinic: Coenzyme Q10 (Link)
5. PubMed Health: Coenzyme Q10 (PDQ) (Link)
6. University of Maryland Medical Center: CoQ10 (Link)
7. University of Maryland Medical Center: Drugs that Deplete CoQ10 (Link)
8. NIH: Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) (Link)
9. WebMD: Vitamins & Minerals Health Centre: Coenzyme Q10: CoQ10 (Link)
10. Cornell: Research (Link)
11. Medicine Net: Medical Definition of Coenzyme Q10 (Link)
Another amazing, comprehensive, do-good-for-humanity, article!
While I agree with just about everything you say, I’d like to make a point… heart tissue (beef heart, lamb heart, chicken heart) is the richest source of CoQ10 that exists in nature… that said, there’s more to the story than “experts” recommending 100 to 200mg of exogenous CoQ10 per day. I hope that you will read this entire response so that you will know the importance of endogenous production and how to best support it in harmony with our biology.
One ounce of fresh, raw whole bovine heart that you’d get from your local farmer (or) butcher has a whopping 10 mg of CoQ10. That said, even if you consumed a plateful of grass fed heart, say 6 ounces, you’d be getting approximately 60 mg of CoQ10.
Like I said, there’s obviously more to the story when it comes to managing your CoQ10 status at the tissue level (hint, hint: endogenous production is pretty important here). There is really nothing that exists in “nature” that would have regularly supplied “supra physiological” amounts of CoQ10 that are found in many CoQ10 supplements today. In fact, research points to us requiring up to 500 mg per day of CoQ10. If the average CoQ10 content of the western diet is only 5 mg per day, then food contributes only about 1 percent of daily CoQ10 requirements — the balance comes from endogenous production (within the body).
Synthesis of CoQ10 indispensably requires the B vitamins (vitamins B2, B6, B12, folate, niacin and pantothenic acid) along with several trace elements, including selenium, which protects CoQ10 from oxidation. Deficiencies in any of these nutrients result in reduced synthesis of CoQ10 and cause many other adverse effects as well.
So how do we manage our CoQ10 status at the tissue level… in our hearts, and in our livers and in our brains (not just in our blood)… Eat traditional foods that contain high amounts of CoQ10 such as grass fed liver, grass fed heart and grass fed brain. Don’t do this for the CoQ10 content… Do this because these foods provide the vitamin and mineral content to support endogenous production of CoQ10.
In summary, the vitamin and mineral content of foods is therefore of greater importance for maintaining CoQ10 status than their CoQ10 content. Remember just how smart nature is… Most of the foods that contain significant amounts of CoQ10 are also rich in many of the nutrients required for CoQ10 synthesis (heart, liver and brain). These foods were prized by our early ancestors for a reason which is why their traditional diets included the frequent and nourishing consumption of nose-to-tail organ meats.
The CoQ10 dosage regimen/recommendation widely depends on the quality of the product. There are so many terrible products out there today. For example, look only to clinical trials. For example: The Q-Symbio study was a 2-year clinical trial on patients with severe Heart Failure (NYHA class III & IV) and they were “only” taking 100mg myoqinon three times a day and still reduced mortality by 43% as compared to placebo + standard therapy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25282031
The quality of the product is definitely something to take into account Myhill!
Thank you for your reply, Dr. Jockers,
Really quick, I was curious whether you have tried that particular brand
(Bio-Quinone) or are familiar with it? I am curious about your thoughts from
a health professional point of view. There is so much information about
different brands and while this one seems good and I also feel energized,
I would still love feedback from a doctor.
Thank you
I am not very familiar with that brand Myhill! This is what I use: https://store.drjockers.com/products/brain-supercharge-capsules
After 6 or 8 months of taking statins (before I wised up, ditched all Big Pharma poisons, and fired the conventional cardiologist who had me on half a dozen “medications” and told me to stop eating eggs and to use margarine instead of butter), my maximum nonstop walking distance was reduced from about 5 miles to about a quarter of a mile. That was almost 8 years, and the problem in my legs (called “intermittent claudication”) never went away. I had read about the effects of statins on the liver’s production of CoQ10, so I had been taking a quality brand supplement ever since, but I never got my max walking distance above half a mile. I figured I was just crippled for life and would just have to live with it, even though long distance walking out in nature was the only form of exercise I ever actually enjoyed doing.
A couple of months ago I stumbled across a supplement that combines 200mg of CoQ10 with 20mg of PQQ, one capsule daily. Two weeks after starting it, I was astonished to find my max nonstop walking distance had suddenly increased to one whole mile. A week later it was up to 2 miles, and now after just 7 weeks it is 6 miles at an average walking speed of 3 mph!
I hope we’ll soon be seeing a lot more scientific investigation of how CoQ10 combined with PQQ can work to reverse the damage caused by statins so much better than CoQ10 alone. I’m guessing it must have something to do with the epigenetic switching on and off of genes, either in the cell’s nucleus or in the mitochondria themselves. If that turns out to be the case, it strikes me as possible that six or eight months of taking this new relatively expensive supplement will leave the damage that the statins caused permanently undone, which is to say my “disease” will literally have been cured and I can go back to using CoQ10 alone and save a lot of money.
Thank you Greg! I always appreciate you sharing as you continue you on your healing journey! Blessings!
Hello Dr. Jockers,
I am taking 100 mg of Co Q-10 for cholesterol and triglyceride reduction, and I am having positive results. The bottle label says that there is 2% or less content of aluminum oxide.
Are there any brands that do not contain aluminum? Is aluminum a necessary component of the manufacturing process?
Thank you
Hey Tom, There are definitely different quality products on the market of which many I am not familiar with. This is the Co Q-10 supplement that I take without aluminum oxide.
Hey Dr Jockers, you forgot to mention that the Statin drugs also cause BLINDNESS!. and EYE DAMAGE! I was taking “Simvastatin” for several years and in 2018 I started getting black lines across both eyes and 3 months later was blinded in my left eye twice about 3 months apart. after a battery of tests it was proven the drug caused the blindness as it subsided but I have been left with the black lines across both of my eyes apparently my optic nerve is damaged as the Eye Dr said there is nothing wrong with my eyes. ALSO the side effect information I got from the pharmacy made no mention of any kind of eye problems “I have that in hand” ALSO if you know of a good ATTORNEY that takes drug cases send me an email with their name as I want to sue the drug Co. for DECEPTION and EYE DAMAGE..
I’m so sorry to hear about this Gary! Thank you for sharing this information! I will be praying for your healing!