CoQ10: Do you need a supplement?
Coenzyme Q-10 (also known as CoQ10) has been the focus of scientific
study for years. Playing a crucial role in producing energy in cells,
CoQ10 also acts as a powerful antioxidant, a little like vitamin
E or vitamin C.
CoQ10
Discovered in 1957, CoQ10 is also called ubiquinone because it
belongs to a class of compounds called quinones. Its name
also comes from the word ubiquitous, which means, "found everywhere."
That's because CoQ10 is found in every cell in your body.
Some foods, notably pork and beef heart, also contain small amounts
of CoQ10 [1]. Does this mean that eating more of these foods is
the best way to get more CoQ10?
The normal level of CoQ10 in your blood is around one microgram
per milliliter. To increase the concentration significantly requires
at least 100 milligrams of CoQ10 per day. This will more than double
levels of CoQ10 in the blood.
The table below shows the CoQ10 content of various foods. For example,
the first food (pork heart) contains 203 micrograms of CoQ10 per
gram. If you were to eat 120 grams — about four ounces —
of pork heart, you'd be getting roughly 24 milligrams of CoQ10.
|
Food
|
CoQ10 Content (mcg/g)
|
Portion Size (grams)
|
CoQ10 Intake (mg)
|
|
Meat
|
|
|
|
|
Pork heart
|
203
|
120
|
24
|
|
Chicken leg
|
17
|
12
|
2.0
|
|
Beef heart
|
41
|
120
|
4.8
|
|
Beef liver
|
19
|
120
|
2.3
|
|
Lamb leg
|
2.9
|
120
|
3.5
|
|
Frog leg
|
5
|
120
|
0.6
|
|
Fish
|
|
|
|
|
Herring
|
27
|
26
|
0.7
|
|
Trout
|
11
|
100
|
1.1
|
|
Vegetable
|
|
|
|
|
Cauliflower
|
0.6
|
200
|
0.12
|
|
Spinach
|
2.3
|
200
|
0.46
|
|
Potato
|
0.24
|
200
|
0.05
|
|
Fruit
|
|
|
|
|
Orange
|
2.2
|
200
|
0.4
|
Even with large amounts of heart or herring in the diet, it would
be very difficult to get 100 milligrams a day from your diet alone.
So, should you use a CoQ10 supplement?
This is a decision that you should make only after reviewing the
research for yourself.
As with most food supplements, trying to find independent and unbiased
CoQ10 information is difficult. Most magazines and websites are
either owned or supported financially (in the form of advertising)
by supplement companies.
They'll tell you that using CoQ10 gives you more energy... and
trust that you'll take their word for it. You'll also see plenty
of studies showing that CoQ10 helps people with congestive heart
failure, Parkinson's disease or diabetes.
The best thing is to do your own research. One of the best places
to get your hands on a goldmine of little-known facts and undiscovered
secrets about CoQ10 is to visit your local library and look through
the research journals. There's a mass of desirable information out
there that few people get to read about in books or magazines.
We've sifted through all the
latest research and consumer reports about CoQ10 on your behalf,
and presented it in a way you can understand and act on (see Facts
about CoQ10 they didn't tell you in the Members-Only Area).
References
1. Crane, F.L. (2001). Biochemical functions of coenzyme Q10. Journal
of the American College of Nutrition, 20, 591-598
2. Hodgson, J.M., Watts, G.F., Playford, D.A., Burke, V., & Croft, K.D. (2002).
Coenzyme Q10 improves blood pressure and glycaemic control: a controlled trial
in subjects with type 2 diabetes. European
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 56, 1137-1142
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