CoQ10: Myth or Legend?

Should you join the CoQ10 club?

Okay Doc, 3 million Americans take CoQ10 for their heart. Should I take it too?

A one-month bottle of CoQ10 at Walmart costs about $26. That means you could join the club for $312 year.

That’s a lot of grocery money! Can’t I just eat food and get my CoQ10 that way?

It’s cheaper than a golf club membership. The good news is that your body already makes most of your CoQ10. In fact, most living things make CoQ10 (Real name: Ubidecaquinone). The best food sources are beef, pork, chicken, and fish. Oils and nuts contain it too. Most people get about 3-6mg/day through food. Because of poor absorption, a 100mg pill gives us about 5mg – about a day’s worth of CoQ10 from food.

Well is it worth the $312? Should I take CoQ10 to prevent a heart attack?

No study has ever shown that CoQ10 prevents heart attacks.

Why is it so heavily advertised as being heart healthy?

No CoQ10 company has ever called me to see what brand I recommend, though each commercial says that their brand is the one recommended by most cardiologists.

In order to know why it’s advertised as being heart healthy, you have to understand what it does. CoQ10 is one of many “ubiquinones” found in all living things from humans to bacteria, as well as lawyers and IRS agents. In other words it is ubiquitous.

Oh I get it . . . ubiquinone . . . ubiquitous.

CoQ10 is found in the membranes of our cells. Its primary jobs are 1) to help make energy and 2) to clean up the “pollution” (known as free radicals) from making that energy.

Woah! Are you telling me my body naturally has a “carbon footprint” and isn’t “green!?”

Yes! Don’t tell the militant environmental justice warriors. In fact this “pollution” is felt to cause damage to our DNA and body organs leading to aging and cancer. This pollution is also felt to cause plaque buildup in our arteries which leads to heart attacks and strokes. CoQ10 helps to clean up this pollution, and in doing so, may prevent heart disease, cancer, and aging.

So back to the question – how does CoQ10 help your heart?

CoQ10 is found in high energy organs like the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and brain. With aging and disease, our bodies have lower levels of CoQ10. In fact, one study showed that the lower the levels of CoQ10 in heart failure patients, the higher the chance of them dying.

I get it, so by replacing CoQ10, one might prevent damage to the heart from pollution, right?

Bingo. One study gave 300mg of CoQ10 a day to patients with real bad heart failure for two years. For every 11 people who received CoQ10, they prevented one heart death.

I’m sold. Pass the bacon. I’ll just join the CoQ10 club.

Not so fast. The study involved ONLY 200 people taking CoQ10. It’s hard to make a recommendation to the world with such a small study. Furthermore, these patients had bad heart failure – not exactly the everyday CoQ10 club member.

So what about healthy people without heart failure?

One study looked at 400 healthy people over 70 years old who took daily CoQ10 and Selinium. They found that for every 10 people taking the supplements, 1 death was prevented. Again, impressive results, but a SMALL study.

I’ve heard that CoQ10 should be taken with cholesterol lowering medications called statins. Is that true?

Statin medications lower CoQ10 blood levels by 16-54%. Lowering CoQ10 may cause the muscle aches that are so common with statins. In looking at the studies, those taking CoQ10 had less muscle pain, weakness, and cramps while taking statins. But . . .

Oh here we go. Everyone has a “but,” and they all stink!

But . . . the total number of people in the combined studies was ONLY 575, none of the studies lasted more than 3 months, and often the groups taking the fake pill also reported they had less muscle pain. More study is needed.

What about CoQ10 for to lower blood pressure?

Nitric oxide is a substance made in our blood vessels that lowers blood pressure. Our body pollution reduces that substance. Theoretically, CoQ10 could lower the pollution, increase nitric oxide, thereby lowering blood pressure.

The best study gave 100mg of CoQ10 twice daily to 15 people and monitored blood pressures with wearable blood pressure machines. Blood pressure was not different between groups.

What about CoQ10 in diabetics?

That’s a mixed bag. About half the studies say it lowers blood sugars, and the other half of the studies say it doesn’t lower blood sugar.

Can’t you give me any good news?

Yes. I just saved you $312 a year. Let’s go to a nice restaurant.

Just summarize it for me doc!

The road to good health is not paved with CoQ10. Spend your money on exercise and get more bang for your buck. Right now CoQ10 is a myth. The science is pretty weak supporting its use. That may change as bigger studies are done in the future, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Like most supplements though, CoQ10 won’t harm you. One study showed that it was safe to take up to 3,000mg daily for 8 months. For those who think modern medicine is a big conspiracy, take 100mg two times daily – divided doses increase body levels more than a single daily dose.