Why CoQ10 Is A Super Powerful Antioxidant: A Cardiologist Explains

Let’s go back to 1981, Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am sitting in a large auditorium in the medical school basement trying to stay awake. The room is warm and there is no ventilation. The lecturer is reviewing the pathways by which the body, and parts of cells, called mitochondria, make energy. I hear Krebs Cycle and electron chain transport and almost doze. ATP, ADP, phosphorylation and then CoQ10 (short for CoenzymeQ 10). A few weeks, there was an exam and I moved on to clinical rotations.

All that biochemistry faded into distant memory for about 25 years.

Fast forward to 2006, and I am browsing the Internet, reading about ways to treat a patient’s advanced congestive heart failure and…..deja vu. A cardiologist was writing about boosting ATP production by using targeted vitamins that made mitochondria run more efficiently.

I read several papers, then a book, and then began recommending CoQ10 routinely for my patients. The response was overwhelmingly positive with better energy, better breathing, and fewer visits to the hospital.

COQ10 is made by the human body and may be the most abundant antioxidant in cells producing energy like the heart and brain. In fact, CoQ10 is concentrated right in the mitochondria to counter the free oxygen radicals (rust) produced during energy production.

CoQ10 is also used in the production of energy (ATP) itself and all cells would stop working if we had none. When we reach about age 40 the production of CoQ10 throughout the body begins to fall. In disease states like congestive heart failure, it may fall even further.

Levels can be boosted by eating foods rich in CoQ10, such as whole grains, fish, and organ meats (liver, heart, kidney). CoQ10 is also widely available as a supplement and taking extra CoQ10 boosts blood and tissue levels.

The Mayo Clinic listed 35 illness where studies have been done with some support for CoQ10. Let’s look at a few.

This serious weakening of the heart effects the quality and quantity of life for many people. Since 2006, I have seen many of my patients show improved heart function by adding CoQ10. Recently a major scientific presentation reported on 420 patients with congestive heart failure who got CoQ10 or placebo. After two years, 25% of the patients on placebo had an event but only 14% in those on CoQ10. Even more impressive, 17% of patients died in the placebo group versus 9% in the CoQ10 arm. Not bad for a vitamin you can buy at your grocery store!

Researchers in Sweden reported last year on over 400 healthy persons over age 70 who were given CoQ10 and another nutrient selenium or matching placebo pills. The vitamin group had half the cardiac death rate in five years of follow up and better heart function compared to the “sugar pills.”

Elevated blood pressure affects tens of millions of persons and may have genetic and lifestyle abnormalities at its root cause. A group called the Cochrane Database Review looked at studies of CoQ10 for hypertension and found an average 11 mmHg BP drop, similar to many prescription medications.

This common progressive neurologic disorder is associated wtih increased production of oxygen radicals (rust). A recent study found that a deficiency in the antioxidant CoQ10 was 4 times as likely among people with Parkinson’s Disease compared to the general population. A review examined studies of using CoQ10 supplements in this disorder and found that improvements in quality of life were seen in patients with PD.

Inflammation of the gums is called periodontal disease and may trigger inflammation that effects the whole body, including blood vessels and the heart. CoQ10 may be deficient in gum disease but boosting levels in the gums by taking supplements or applying CoQ10 topically can be an effective approach and research studies show faster healing.

Practitioners of yoga know that prana, or a life force, enters the body through breath and is sent to every cell by the circulatory system. Thirty years later, I now see that a connection between that hot lecture hall in Ann Arbor and the hot yoga room where I practice today exists.

Energy in your life is crucial and CoQ10 maybe serve as a part of a program to boost your vitality.