Why Your CoQ10 Supplement May Not Be Working

The many health benefits of taking Coenzyme Q10 like increased energy, improved metabolism, weight loss, cell protection, and better cardiovascular health are already well established.1 In addition, research shows CoQ10 may promote neurological health as well.1

However, many individuals who take CoQ10 supplements don’t experience the expected benefits.  Unfortunately in many cases most of the CoQ10 they are taking never makes it to their cells where it can do the most good.

Most people over 50 have a hard time converting CoQ10 into its usable form. That means that most of the valuable CoQ10 enzyme disappears, making it impossible to give your cells the protection and nourishment they need.

Most brands of commercially available CoQ10 supplements use a cheaper form of the enzyme – known as ubiquinone – that is extremely difficult for your body to absorb.  When you swallow ordinary CoQ10 pills, your body goes through a two-step process to make CoQ10 available at the cellular level.  First, it has to convert the ubiquinone to ubiquinol, the most biologically active form of Co Q10. Only then can you absorb the CoQ10 as a nutrient that can power your cellular metabolism.

Regular CoQ10 Metabolic Process

Regular CoQ10  ---------------------------> Ubiquinol -------------------------------> Bloodstream   (Ubiquinone)                   |                                                      |

                                   Conversion                                       Uptake

The label of your CoQ10 supplement says the pill contains X amount of CoQ10, and it probably does. However, if it is Ubiquinone then only a tiny fraction of that is actually absorbed by your body. The rest is passed as waste, and is in fact wasted – never reaching the cell membranes and walls where it is needed most.

With ubiquinol, your body absorbs up to 8 times more CoQ102 than with ordinary CoQ10 supplements as shown in the graph below:3   When you take Ubiquinol your body is able to avoid the conversion stage and to directly to the uptake process where Ubiquinol enters the bloodstream and become available to your cells.

The many health benefits of taking CoQ10

Increased energy, improved metabolic function, cell protection, better cardiovascular health and weight loss are just a few of the benefits of CoQ10.  Here are some other ways that CoQ10 can help:

• Heart health... according to the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, a number of clinical studies have found CoQ10 promotes cardiovascular health.5
• Blood sugar... an Australian study showed that patients who took CoQ10 were able to maintain blood sugar levels that are already within the normal range.6
• Vision... in a recent clinical trial, taking CoQ10 for a year helped them see more clearly.7
• Cognition... an animal study performed at Johns Hopkins University found that CoQ10 supplementation improves learning and memory.7
• Bronchial Health... researchers in Texas found CoQ10 promotes bronchial health.7
• Gum health... CoQ10 can improve gum and oral health.7
• Clear-headed comfort... in one study, more than 6 out of 10 patients treated with CoQ10 daily reported feeling more clear-headed comfort.7
• Oxidative stress... Accel is a powerful antioxidant, eliminating the free radicals that can cause damage to cell membranes and mitochondria.3
• Skin care... a German study shows that CoQ10 can help reduce wrinkles and protect skin from the damaging effects of too much exposure to sunlight.8

The key is to make sure that you take a CoQ10 supplement that provides more bio-available CoQ10.  Ubiquinol, is available at most well-stocked natural health store and online through places like Swanson Vitamins (I don’t work for Swanson and receive no compensation from them . . . that’s just the source that I use. You can find them at http://www.swansonvitamins.com/CoQ10/_/n-m)  The bottom line . . . if you decide to take a CoQ10 supplement make sure that it will provide you bio-available CoQ10.

References

1 “CoQ10 Health Benefits” September 1, 2008.

2 Hemmi N. Bhagava and Raj K. Chopra. Plasma coenzyme Q10 response to oral ingestion of coenzyme Q10 formulations. Mitochondrion. Volume 7, Supplement 1, June 2007, Pages S78-S88

3 William Fallon. “Has Your CoQ10 Become Obsolete?” January 2007. Life Extensions Magazine.

4 Super Ubiquinol CoQ10. September1, 2008. http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item01226/Super-Ubiquinol-CoQ10-100-mg-60-softgels.html

5 Blasi MA, Bovina C, Carella G, Genova ML, Jansen AM, Lenaz G, Brancato R. Does coenzyme Q10 play a role in opposing oxidative stress in patients with age-related macular degeneration? Ophthalmologica. 2001 Jan-Feb;215(1):51-4.

6 Hodgson JM, Watts GF, Playford DA, Burke V, Croft KD. Coenzyme Q10 improves blood pressure and glycaemic control in a controlled trial in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002 Nov;56(11):1137-42.

7 Gazdík F, Gvozdjáková A, Nádvorníková R, Repická L, Jahnová E, Kucharská J, Piják MR, Gazdíková K. Decreased levels of coenzyme Q(10) in patients with bronchial asthma. Allergy. 2002 Sep;57(9):811-4.

8 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10416055