In this article:
- What is CoQ10, and why should I take it?
- Why supplementing CoQ10 is important
- What to expect if you take CoQ10
- CoQ10 and fertility treatments
- How much CoQ10 should you take daily?
- How long does CoQ10 stay in your system?
- The best time of day to take CoQ10
- How to add more CoQ10 to your diet
Everyone needs CoQ10 for robust energy levels, heart health, cognitive function, and more - it’s a pretty important factor in overall health. So what’s the best way to optimize your level of CoQ10? Here’s what you need to know.
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Takeaways:
- CoQ10 is produced by the body naturally, but the level of production declines with age; that’s why it’s important to have external sources as well.
- You can beef up your CoQ10 intake through either dietary sources or supplements.
- If you’re supplementing CoQ10, you can’t simply pop a pill at any time of the day; there are a couple of factors to keep in mind for maximum absorption.
What is CoQ10, and why should I take it?
Sometimes it can seem like there’s a new fad supplement being recommended every week. The promised benefits are fantastic, the names are occasionally bizarre, and the “science” behind the products is conveniently vague. CoQ10 is more than just a snake-oil product or a secret weapon for biohackers, though; it’s something that your body already produces!
CoQ10 (the abbreviated version of “Coenzyme Q-10”) is an enzyme and antioxidant that plays a crucial role in energy production, reduction of heart disease, minimizing oxidative stress, and mental sharpness, among other things. Even though your body makes some CoQ10 on its own, this isn’t enough to keep you firing on all cylinders; that’s why getting it through your diet or through supplementation is necessary.
Why supplementing CoQ10 is important
We used to get all our nutrients from diet alone, but modern medicine now gives us the option to boost our nutrient intake with supplements. Whether you’re talking about vitamins, minerals, or even probiotics, you can easily get many of them from both your fridge and your medicine cabinet.
So what about CoQ10? If you want to get your intake up, supplementation is usually the way to go - unless you’re willing to eat a huge chunk of organ meat every day, of course. There are plenty of food sources that are rich in CoQ10, but you have to eat a pretty hefty serving in order to get the required amount. Unless you want to revamp the way you eat on a day-to-day basis, it’s probably more practical for most people to take the supplement route.
If you’re wondering why you should be concerned about CoQ10 in the first place, the answer is simple: because it impacts your quality of life for the better. It’s known to reduce oxidative stress, which has far-reaching effects on your health. If this doesn’t sound like a big deal, check out the list below of diseases in which oxidative stress plays a large role - it’s like the “who’s who” of things you never want to experience.
- Cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, heart failure, myocardial infarction, etc.)
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Neurodegenerative diseases (Alzhiemer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc.)
To be clear, CoQ10 can’t prevent or cure any of these diseases; what we do know, however, is what preliminary studies have shown. When CoQ10 intake is increased, they’ve documented either a correlating reduction in symptoms, or a slowing of the disease’s progression. All that from one enzyme! Pretty impressive, right?
What to expect if you take CoQ10
CoQ10 plays a major role in the way you function, so you can expect to see some differences once you start upping your intake. Which differences, however, will depend on your unique biology. So what could end up happening, exactly?
- Better cardiovascular health - CoQ10 has been shown to work better than a placebo in patients with heart failure, resulting in fewer hospital visits and better overall outcomes. In general, people with higher cholesterol have low CoQ10, and vice versa. Plus, with experts no longer recommending aspirin to prevent cardiac events, it’s smart to have other preventative measures in place.
- Alleviation of pain - If you’re experiencing joint or muscle pain due to inflammation, CoQ10’s antioxidative properties could help reduce inflammation and get you back to normal.
- Improved cognitive function - According to studies done on mice, CoQ10 has neuroprotective effects that may forestall the progression of diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Obviously more research is needed, but there are strong links between CoQ10 and enhanced brain function. If the pandemic has you feeling like you’re losing your marbles, maybe it’s time to try some CoQ10!
- Boosted athletic performance - CoQ10 is instrumental in the production of something called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy “currency” of the body. Rather than relying on your morning coffee for a quick caffeine kick, maybe some extra CoQ10 could help your body produce energy naturally.
- More balanced metabolism - Metabolism isn’t just about gaining or losing weight; it’s also about what happens when your body has to turn what you eat into usable energy. One thing CoQ10 has been shown to influence is glucose control; if you experience energy spikes or crashes after your meals, CoQ10 may help your body regulate those insulin-related issues.
CoQ10 and fertility treatments
Whether you’ve been gifted with a penis or a vagina, fertility can be a tricky issue to navigate. As it happens, CoQ10 is one of the things that’s been shown to benefit fertility for both men and women. One study showed improved egg quality and fertilization outcomes for women at 600 mg/day, while another demonstrated better sperm count and motility in men at 200 - 300 mg/day. Again, more research is needed, but it’s thought that these benefits stem from CoQ10’s antioxidant properties.
How much CoQ10 should you take daily?
The typical recommended dose of CoQ10 is between 90 mg/day and 200 mg/day - which is a pretty big range. If you’re an athlete with higher-than-average energy needs, you’re old enough to be a grandparent, or you take statin drugs (which reduce your body’s ability to synthesize CoQ10), you might benefit from a higher dose.
For most people, staying somewhere around the 100 mg/day mark does the trick. You can certainly see how you feel at higher doses, but unless your body needs more CoQ10 for whatever reason, you won’t necessarily benefit from gratuitously flooding your system with it. The most common side effects of too much CoQ10 are nausea, abdominal pain, and dizziness, so if you start experiencing any of the above, it’s probably a sign that you need to ease up on the supplement.
How long does CoQ10 stay in your system?
There isn’t a hard-and-fast answer to this question, mainly because of how many factors can affect the way your body processes supplemental CoQ10. Things like age, metabolism, general health, and dosage will all play a part.
One thing we do know, however, is that it could take up to two weeks for you to feel most of the benefits of CoQ10 supplementation. If you start taking it and get discouraged because you can’t tell a difference, just give it a while - your body is probably already working on those changes behind the scenes!
The best time of day to take CoQ10
You should take CoQ10 in the morning after a meal; if you’re splitting up your doses, make sure you’re having them right after you eat. Why? Because CoQ10 is fat-soluble, meaning your body needs dietary fat in order to absorb it. A morning dose is most effective because that’s when your metabolism is revving up for the day, prepping your system to digest and absorb whatever you ingest. If you take it in the evening your digestive system will be less active, and you probably won’t absorb the enzyme as well.
How to add more CoQ10 to your diet
So far we’ve focused mainly on the supplement form; what about CoQ10 we can get from food? There are plenty of foods that contain this enzyme, with the best sources coming from organ meats. You don’t have to be a hardcore meat-lover in order to benefit from CoQ10 in your diet, though; there are also sources of CoQ10 from the plant kingdom.
CoQ10 from animal-based foods
- Heart
- Liver
- Kidneys
- Tongue
- Muscle meats (beef, pork, chicken, etc.)
- Fatty fish
CoQ10 from plant-based foods
- Soybeans
- Peanuts
- Pistachios
- Avocado
Most of all, remember that the “perfect” diet is the one that makes both your body and your mind happy - don’t feel pressured to follow trends or weird diet hacks if they’re just going to make you miserable. If you want to get as much CoQ10 as possible, but can’t stand the thought of being greeted by a cow tongue every time you open the fridge, try something else! There’s always a better alternative to something that doesn’t work for you.
Whether you’re building your personal health stack, or you’re just trying to figure out why you’ve been feeling sluggish, it’s hard to see the big picture without some expert help. Energy slumps after a meal can indicate insulin regulation problems, and a slow metabolism can point to low thyroid hormones - but are either of those really the issue, or is there something else causing these symptoms? Instead of taking a supplement just to see if it fixes your problems, getting some testing done can give you key insights into your own physiology.
Say you’re concerned about heart health and metabolic function, and you’re wondering if CoQ10 could be the missing piece of the puzzle. With Base’s at-home lab tests, you could measure your cholesterol, HbA1c (related to your insulin response), and thyroid hormones - and finally know exactly what’s going on.
With accurate test data and personalized recommendations from experts, you won’t just be guessing about whether CoQ10 belongs in your daily routine; you’ll know why you’re taking it, and how to get the results you always wanted.
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