The benefits of CoQ10 have been shown by studies to treat a variety of conditions including high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
CoQ10, or coenzyme Q10, is a naturally produced mitochondrial enzyme found in every cell in your body. CoQ10 benefits include the production of ATP–the main cell-growth energy source and maintenance needed to power several of the biological processes of the body. CoQ10 also works as an antioxidant to protect the body against molecules damaging.
CoQ10 can be obtained either from food sources or as a nutritional supplement. In CoQ10 the highest foods are salmon, sardines and beef liver.
What causes the deficiency of CoQ10?
CoQ10 may be deficient due to a number of factors, but cholesterol-lowering statin medicines are the most common. Statin medicines reduce cholesterol by inhibiting a liver enzyme called HMG Co-A reductase, reducing the ability of the liver to make LDL cholesterol. However, the same way that blocks LDL cholesterol also prevents CoQ10 production.
In addition to the use of statin medication, CoQ10 defects were due to a number of conditions: chronic fatigue syndrome; fibromyalgia; Alzheimer’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; atherosclerosis (arterial plaque), high blood pressure; male infertility; insulin resistance (diabetes).
Low coQ10 levels were also found in patients with certain cancers: myeloma, lymphoma, and breast cancer, lung, prostate, pancreas, colon, kidney, and head and neck.
Can you test the levels of your CoQ10?
In case you are currently taking or have a diagnosed disease or condition (see the list above), you can ask your doctor for laboratory work to test your CoQ10 levels. Your doctor may order two lab tests:
Coenzyme Q10 Profile: For test information click here.
Mitochondrial profile: This test is particularly useful for chronic tired patients as it gives an indication that mitochondrial physiological disease is responsible for the symptoms of mitochondria.
However, laboratory testing is not absolutely essential to start supplementing CoQ10. Indeed, CoQ10 testing is rarely ordered unless the patient is suspected of a kind of mitochondrial or chronic fatigue syndrome. Most integrative doctors advise patients with dysfunctions in any of these areas not to have any kind of tests performed on CoQ 10 “therapeutic trials,” especially if they are taking a statin medication.
What Are the Benefits of CoQ10?
CoQ10 is a natural immune booster that is highly effective. Medical research has shown that coenzyme q10’s health benefits include use as a therapeutic treatment for these different conditions:
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Angina (chest pain)
- Coronary heart disease and other heart conditions (such as cardiomyopathy)
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack) and heart failure
- Protect the heart from toxicity from Anthracycline chemotherapy (doxorubicin)
- Diabetes
- Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
- Parkinson’s disease (at high doses)
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Migraines
- Infertility
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Gum disease (periodontitis)
- Breast and other hormonal cancers
- Muscular dystrophies
The benefits of coenzyme q10 also include enhanced exercise performance. Several studies have found that the addition of CoQ10 (60 to 100 mg) improves aerobic power, anaerobic threshold, exercise and/or recovery after exercise in both trained and untrained athletes. In a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the addition to CoQ10 led to higher muscle concentrations and maximum oxygen consumption while increasing time to exhaustion.
How can you take CoQ10?
CoQ10 supplements are made up of two main sources: vitamin K and ubiquinol. Ubuquinol is the purest form of CoQ10, as it regenerates other antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E. Be sure to take the form of ubiquinol (or ubicinone) over the form of vitamin K when purchasing a CoQ10 supplement.
Most inclusive doctors advise healthy people under the age of 60 to take a minimum daily dose of 50 to 100 mg CoQ10 if the mitochondrial function is to be boosted.
When you’re over 60 or on a statin medicine, the recommended dose is increased to 100-200 mg daily.
If you’ve had a recent heart surgery, heart attack or heart failure, the recommended amount is between 200 and 300 mg per day.
Very high doses of coQ10 (up to 1 200 mg daily) are not recommended for people with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or muscular dystrophy, but only under the supervision of a doctor.
CoQ10 is fat-soluble, so it is best absorbed in a meal containing fat or oil.
You are also advised to split the dosages, taking half of your CoQ10 daily in the morning and the rest in the afternoon, which increases your blood level significantly.
The supplement’s clinical effect is not immediate and can take up to eight weeks to obtain coenzyme q10 benefits.
Are there any interactions between drug products and CoQ10?
If you are taking any prescription medication, be sure to talk to your doctor or integrative physician before starting a CoQ10 supplement. CoQ10 may interact with the following medicines:
- Daunorubicin and doxorubicin (chemotherapy drugs).
- Blood pressure medications. CoQ10 reduces blood pressure; therefore, your blood pressure should be carefully monitored and decreased during the taking of CoQ10.
- Medicines for blood-thinning. As Coenzyme Q10 is structurally similar to Vitamin K, it may potentially increase the effects of blood-thinning medicines such as Coumadin.
- Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors for HIV/AIDS.
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