Coenzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10, is a compound that helps generate energy in your cells. Your body produces CoQ10 naturally, but its production tends to decrease with age. Fortunately, you can also get CoQ10 through supplements or foods.
Health conditions like heart disease, brain disorders, diabetes, and cancer have been linked to low levels of CoQ10. It is not clear whether low levels of CoQ10 cause these diseases or are a result of them. One thing is for certain: plenty of research has revealed CoQ10’s wide range of health benefits.
CoQ10 is a compound made by your body and stored in the mitochondria of your cells. The mitochondria are in charge of producing energy. They also protect cells from oxidative damage and disease-causing bacteria or viruses.
CoQ10 production decreases as you age. Thus, older people seem to be deficient in this compound.
Some other causes of CoQ10 deficiency include:
- Nutritional deficiencies, such as vitamin B6 deficiency
- Genetic defects in CoQ10 synthesis or utilization
- Increased demands by tissues as a consequence of disease
- Mitochondrial diseases
- Oxidative stress due to aging
- Side effects of statin treatments
Research has shown that CoQ10 plays several key roles in your body.
One of its primary functions is to help generate energy in your cells. It’s involved in making adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is involved in energy transfer within cells.
Its other crucial role is to serve as an antioxidant and protect cells from oxidative damage. Excessive amounts of free radicals lead to oxidative damage, which can interfere with regular cell functioning. This is known to cause many health conditions.
Given that ATP is used to carry out all the body’s functions and oxidative damage is destructive to cells, it is not surprising that some chronic diseases have been linked to low levels of CoQ10.
CoQ10 is present in every cell of your body. However, the highest concentrations are found in organs with the greatest energy demands, such as the heart, kidneys, lungs and liver.
It May Help Treat Heart Failure
Heart failure occurs when these problems affect the heart to the point that it is unable to regularly contract, relax or pump blood through the body. To make matters worse, some treatments for heart failure have undesirable side effects, such as low blood pressure, while others could even further reduce CoQ10 levels.
In a study of 420 people with heart failure and also another study treated 641 people with CoQ10 or a placebo for a year show that treatment with CoQ10 could assist with restoring optimal levels of energy production, reduce oxidative damage and improve heart function, all of which can aid the treatment of heart failure.
It Could Help with Fertility
As you age, CoQ10 production slows, making the body less effective at protecting the eggs from oxidative damage. Supplementing with CoQ10 seems to help and may even reverse this age-related decline in egg quality and quantity. Similarly, male sperm is susceptible to the effects of oxidative damage, which may result in reduced sperm count, poor sperm quality and infertility. Several studies have concluded that supplementing with CoQ10 may improve sperm quality, activity and concentration by increasing antioxidant protection.
It Might Help Keep Your Skin Young
Some internal damaging factors include cellular damage and hormonal imbalances. External factors include environmental agents, such as UV rays.
Harmful elements can lead to reduced skin moisture and protection from environmental aggressors, as well as the thinning of the layers of the skin. Applying CoQ10 directly to the skin can reduce the damage from internal and external agents by increasing energy production in skin cells and promoting antioxidant protection.
It Could Reduce Headaches
Abnormal mitochondrial function can lead to an increased calcium uptake by the cells, the excessive production of free radicals and decreased antioxidant protection. This can result in low energy in the brain cells and even migraines.
Since CoQ10 lives mainly in the mitochondria of the cells, it has been shown to improve mitochondrial function and help decrease the inflammation that may occur during migraines.
It Could Help with Exercise Performance
Oxidative stress can affect muscle function, and thus, exercise performance. Similarly, abnormal mitochondrial function can reduce muscle energy, making it hard for muscles to contract efficiently and sustain exercise.
CoQ10 can help exercise performance by decreasing oxidative stress in the cells and improving mitochondrial functions.
It Could Help with Diabetes
Oxidative stress can induce cell damage. This can result in metabolic diseases like diabetes. Abnormal mitochondrial function has also been linked to insulin resistance.
CoQ10 has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and regulate blood sugar levels. Supplementing with CoQ10 might also help increase CoQ10 concentrations in the blood by up to three times in people with diabetes who typically show low levels of this compound.
One study showed that consuming CoQ10 for 12 weeks for people with type 2 diabetes could reduce fasting blood sugar levels and HbA1C. CoQ10 might also help prevent diabetes by stimulating the breakdown of fats and reducing the accumulation of fat cells that could lead to obesity or type 2 diabetes.
It Might Play a Role in Cancer Prevention
Oxidative stress is known to cause cell damage and affect their function. If your body is unable to effectively fight oxidative damage, the structure of your cells can become damaged, possibly increasing the risk of cancer.
CoQ10 may protect cells from oxidative stress and promote cellular energy production, promoting their health and survival.
It Is Good for the Brain
Mitochondria are the main energy generators of brain cells and tends to decrease with age. Total mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to the death of brain cells and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The brain is very susceptible to oxidative damage due to its high fatty acid content and its high demand for oxygen and enhances the production of harmful compounds that could affect memory, cognition and physical functions. CoQ10 may reduce these harmful compounds, possibly slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
CoQ10 Could Protect the Lungs
Of all your organs, your lungs have the most contact with oxygen which makes them very susceptible to oxidative damage. Increased oxidative damage in the lungs and poor antioxidant protection, including low levels of CoQ10, can result in lung diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
A study demonstrated that supplementing with CoQ10 reduced inflammation in individuals who had asthma, as well as their need for steroid medications to treat it. Another study showed improvements in exercise performance in those suffering from COPD. This was observed through better tissue oxygenation and heart rate after supplementing with CoQ10.
Dosage and Side Effects
CoQ10 comes in two different forms — ubiquinol and ubiquinone.
Ubiquinol accounts for 90% of the CoQ10 in the blood and is the most absorbable form. Thus, it’s recommended to choose from supplements containing the ubiquinol form.
The standard dose of CoQ10 ranges from 90 mg to 200 mg per day. Doses up to 500 mg seem well tolerated, and several studies have used even higher doses without any serious side effects.
Because CoQ10 is a fat-soluble compound, its absorption is slow and limited. However, taking CoQ10 supplements with food can help your body absorb it up to three times faster than taking it without food.
Your body does not store CoQ10. Therefore, its continued use is recommended to see its benefits.
Supplementing with CoQ10 appears to be well tolerated by humans and have low toxicity. Participants in some studies showed no major side effects taking daily doses of 1,200 mg for 16 months. However, if side effects appear, it is recommended to divide the daily dose into two to three smaller doses.
Food Sources of CoQ10
While you can easily consume CoQ10 as a supplement, it can also be found in some foods. It appears that CoQ10 is similarly absorbed in capsule form or through foods.
The following foods contain CoQ10:
- Organ meats: Heart, liver and kidney
- Some muscle meats: Pork, beef and chicken
- Fatty fish: Trout, herring, mackerel and sardine
- Vegetables: Spinach, cauliflower and broccoli
- Fruit: Oranges and strawberries
- Legumes: Soybeans, lentils and peanuts
- Nuts and seeds: Sesame seeds and pistachios
- Oils: Soybean and canola oil
Whether you consume more foods with a high CoQ10 content or take supplements, CoQ10 could benefit your health.
Source: Healthline by Arlene Semeco, MS, RD
