By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

July 18, 2016

• What is CoQ10 and why do you need it?
• Why everyone over 40 should be taking this enzyme
• The secret to choosing the best CoQ10 for you

Everyone “gets” the idea of taking a multi-vitamin to help offset nutritional deficits. They quickly grasp the importance of supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids to boost their intake of these heart- and brain-healthy fish oils.

But what about CoQ10?

CoQ10 is one of those supplements everyone over the age of 40 should take, every single day. It’s also one that’s least understood by most folks.

It’s not a vitamin. It’s not a mineral. So what is it and why do you need it?

Well, it may just be the most important enzyme in your body. And while the need to supplement with it may not be quite as obvious as taking a multi-vitamin, it’s just as crucial. Maybe even more so.

CoQ10 was discovered about 60 years ago. And in terms of science, we’re still making discoveries on the role this enzyme plays on your general health; energy levels and longevity too.

One thing is readily apparent…

This enzyme is critical to life. It’s found in just about every cell of your body. And it’s responsible for around 95% of the energy consumed at the cellular level.

Why Everyone Over 40 Needs CoQ10

The most important job CoQ10 has is to power up your mitochondria. These are the energy factories in your cells that produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This process is what creates all of the energy necessary to fuel the demands of your heart, muscles, liver and other organs.

In addition, CoQ10 helps the waste management units in cells, technically known as lysosomes, clean up debris. This rids your body of misfolded proteins, damaged mitochondria and other waste products that can damage your cells.

The problem is your CoQ10 levels peak when you’re about 20. And by the time you hit your 40’s or 50’s, your stores of CoQ10 could be running low enough to be a factor in those chronic diseases involving highly metabolic tissue, where cellular energy production is critical.

CoQ10 deficiencies have been found in people with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Deficiency is also linked to dementia, immune system conditions, gum disease… even tinnitus.

And those who take statin drugs are at the highest risk of suffering from depleted levels. This is because statins hinder your body’s ability to produce CoQ10 from the same pathway that decreases cholesterol production… just a little further down the line.

If you’re running low on CoQ10, you might experience muscle weakness and lethargy which may indicate an insufficiency phase. Chest pain, heart failure and high blood pressure are indications of deficiency.

I have yet to meet anyone over the age of 40 who wouldn’t benefit from adding more CoQ10 to their cells. The trick is making sure you get the right amount, in the right form.

The Secret to Choosing the Best CoQ10 for You

The amount of CoQ10 you get from food is minimal. You simply can’t get enough to sustain optimal levels.

This is an important note, because maintaining healthy levels of CoQ10 is vital to your health. This is especially true when it comes to your heart. In fact, it’s so powerful it can even help patients with heart disease and those who have had bypass surgery.

If you have heart disease, it could help improve cardiac output and cut your risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. And in patients who undergo bypass surgery, taking as little as 150 mg daily before surgery have better recoveries and are able to get out of the hospital faster.

It also reduces your chances of a second heart attack, lowers blood pressure and helps slow the progression of neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Here’s the thing.

If you’re buying regular CoQ10, you may not be getting the health benefits you’re looking for. That’s because your body has to reduce it down to a useable form.

This is actually a big problem, because not only does your body produce less CoQ10 as you age… it also loses it’s previous ability to convert it to the reduced form. So your body has a hard time absorbing most CoQ10 supplements.

That’s why I recommend supplementing with the most biologically active form of CoQ10.

It’s called ubiquinol. It’s already reduced, so it’s significantly more absorbable. In fact, your cells absorb up to 8 times more CoQ10 from the ubiquinol form than when you take an ordinary CoQ10 supplement.

Taking just 100 mg of ubiquinol each day can make a big difference in your energy levels – and in the function of every single cell in your body.

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Momiyama Y. Serum coenzyme Q10 levels as a predictor of dementia in a Japanese general population. Atherosclerosis. 2014 Dec;237(2):433-4.

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Khan M, et al. A pilot clinical trial of the effects of coenzyme Q10 on chronic tinnitus aurium. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007 Jan;136(1):72-7.

Prakash S, et al. Role of coenzyme Q₁₀ as an antioxidant and bioenergizer in periodontal diseases. Indian J Pharmacol. 2010 Dec; 42(6): 334–337.

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Makhija N, et al. The role of oral coenzyme Q10 in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2008 Dec;22(6):832-9.

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