CoQ10: Who Actually Benefits From It
CoQ10 is one of the few supplements where the question of who should take it has a reasonably clear answer, and it is not everybody.
What it does
Coenzyme Q10 sits inside your mitochondria, the part of the cell that produces energy, where it is part of the chain that turns food into usable fuel. It also acts as an antioxidant in cell membranes.
Your body makes it. It is present in every cell, concentrated most heavily in tissue with high energy demand, which is why the heart, liver and kidneys hold the most.
Who has a reason to supplement
People over about forty. Natural production declines with age, fairly consistently, and dietary sources are limited. Organ meats are the richest, followed by oily fish, and most people eat very little of either.
Anyone taking a statin. Statins work by inhibiting an enzyme in a pathway, and CoQ10 production happens to depend on that same pathway, so statin use lowers circulating CoQ10. This is well documented. Whether supplementing it resolves the muscle aches some people get on statins is genuinely less settled, with trials pointing in both directions. If you take a statin, this is a conversation with your doctor rather than a decision to make from an article, but it is a conversation worth having.
People with high physical demands. More energy production means more turnover.
Who probably does not need it
A healthy person in their twenties or thirties, eating reasonably, is producing plenty. There is no strong case for adding it, and we would rather you spent the money elsewhere.
Ubiquinone or ubiquinol
You will see both. They are two forms of the same molecule, and your body converts between them continuously.
Ubiquinol is the reduced form and is sold at a premium on the argument that it absorbs better. The research on whether that premium translates into a meaningful difference in blood levels is mixed rather than settled. Ubiquinone is more stable, has the longer research history, and is considerably cheaper.
Ours is ubiquinone, which is the form most of the studies used.
The part that actually determines whether it works
CoQ10 is fat soluble and it absorbs poorly on an empty stomach. Take it with a meal containing fat. This single detail probably matters more than the ubiquinone question, and it is the thing most people get wrong.
Take it in the morning or at midday rather than at night. Some people find it mildly stimulating, which is not what you want at bedtime.
And give it time. This is not a supplement with a same day effect. Blood levels build over weeks, so judge it at the two month mark rather than the two week one.
Before you take it
CoQ10 may interact with blood thinners such as warfarin, and it can affect blood pressure. If you take medication for either, speak to your doctor first. Anyone with a heart condition should treat this as a medical conversation rather than a shopping decision.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition, talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.
