The vital antioxidant nutrient Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is responsible for providing an energy spark to all 100 trillion of your body’s cells. Without ample amounts of CoQ10, your skin, lungs, liver, heart and brain cells may actually stop functioning.

The amazing CoQ10, discovered in 1957, takes part in producing 95 percent of your body’s energy. And hundreds of scientists have proven that sufficient CoQ10 is critical for personal energy.

When you’re young, your liver produces CoQ10 in the amounts necessary to give strength to the muscles and cells of your body. As you age, your body’s production may slip.

CoQ10 can help:

• Protect your skin and hair by replacing cell tissue.
• Keep your vision sharp.
• Flush your arteries of the gunk can that can cause life-threatening heart disasters.
• Protect your essential organs, like the liver and kidneys.

If you take the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, your body’s CoQ10 levels may decrease. Researchers have found that these drugs deprive the mitochondria (energy-producing cellular structures) of CoQ10:

• The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that taking just 20 milligrams of simvastatin a day lowered CoQ10 levels by 22 percent.
• A study at Columbia University found that patients taking Lipitor® significantly reduced their levels of CoQ10 in just 14 days.
• Medical journals reported as early as 1990 that the statin drug lovastatin reduced CoQ10 levels and resulted in potentially fatal deterioration of heart muscle.

CoQ10 Needs

Another cause of poor CoQ10 levels is aging. Research shows that the body’s natural production of CoQ10 starts diminishing at about age 20. By age 80, CoQ10 production has dropped by a whopping 65 percent.

CoQ10 deficiencies can also occur due to nutrient-poor food consumption, environmental stress and many prescription medications. This can lead to heart disease, stroke, poor blood pressure levels, blood sugar imbalance, memory loss and decreased circulation as well as other physiological issues.

CoQ10, which acts like a vitamin in almost every way, is found in minute amounts in a wide variety of foods and made naturally in all tissues. This powerhouse enzyme has a chemical structure very similar to vitamins E and K. CoQ10 added to vitamin E produces a stronger, health-boosting effect.

For example, vitamin E alone has been demonstrated to oxidize “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and, therefore, make it sticky — promoting atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. However, CoQ10 blocks this effect of vitamin E on LDL cholesterol and strongly inhibits LDL oxidation.

The medical journal Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy indicated that supplementing with CoQ10 can improve blood flow to your heart by as much as 91 percent. Plus, research on this enzyme has established that it can help 75 percent of heart patients have fewer heart rhythm disturbances, ease chest pain in 66 percent of patients and reduce the chance of a future heart disaster in 50 percent of patients.

Absorbing CoQ10  
 
If your CoQ10 is in powder form, then you may not be getting the full benefits of this supplement. Laboratory studies show that as much as 99 percent of powdered CoQ10 is not absorbed in your body. If your supplement is in liquid form, it may contain crystallized molecules formed in the heating and cooling process of manufacturing. These microscopic molecules cannot be absorbed easily, so you are not getting ample CoQ10 in this form, either. Plus, if your supplement doesn’t contain healthy fats, then you can’t absorb CoQ10. This nutrient needs fat to be absorbed into your bloodstream.

Diet can improve your antioxidant levels, as well. Try adding foods into your diet that contain higher levels of CoQ10 such as soybeans, sesame oil, sardines, mackerel, peanuts and sesame seeds.