Can CoQ10 Increase Energy?

Have you ever heard of ATP? It's the primary substance our bodies use to produce energy, and another substance called coenzyme Q10 is at the heart of supporting its production process. This should pretty quickly answer the title-question of the article; however, as with many matters concerning the human body, it can be challenging.  

CoQ10: A Brief

As with many things around our body's health and processes, this is not an easy thing to understand. CoQ10 is a crucial input in the body's natural power stations, so if you’re experiencing a regular lack of energy and you're over the age of 50, it may be time to ask your healthcare provider about whether coenzyme Q10 supplementation can be beneficial to your health and wellness priorities because you might actually have a CoQ10 deficiency, especially considering that the body's levels of CoQ10 tend to decline with age. 

CoQ10 is one of the most prominent lipid antioxidants in our bodies. Oxidative stress and tissue damage are caused by free radicals coming into the system. These little buggers can wreak all kinds of havoc, and the job of antioxidants is to bind to them and neutralize them. This is why CoQ10 is an integral part of the body's defense functions. 

CoQ10 is an essential and impressive nutrient that our bodies use in some of its most critical functions, including heart function and immune function. It is found in almost every cell in the body and is also found in most aerobic organisms. The substance is also called ubiquinone, and once in the body, can also be morphed into its even more effective version, ubiquinol. Your body produces CoQ10 in a natural process. However, as we mentioned, its production begins to decline with age, and as well as having possible interactions with heart disease medications, particularly statins, which may affect CoQ10's ability to function normally in your body.

What is CoQ10? How Does It Work in the Body?

CoQ10 stimulates the cells' mitochondria, the organelle primarily responsible for energy production. Think coal in a power plant, minus any negative connotations. CoQ10 is needed in mitochondria to help produce one of the most crucial compounds for our everyday functioning: adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is our body's primary source of cellular fuel. CoQ10 is responsible for providing support in 95% of the body's production of ATP, and as we mentioned earlier, it's also a potent antioxidant. As we also briefly mentioned, CoQ10 can transform into its more effective self, ubiquinol, which is a form of CoQ10 that has a better capacity to take on those free radicals. The use of CoQ10 by the body clearly poses a lot of health benefits!

On that same note, severe deficiencies of your body's CoQ10 levels may lead to a slew of negative side effects that can lead to things like heart failure and muscle pain since CoQ10 plays such a significant role in regular cell function and protecting the body from oxidative damage. 

What Is CoQ10 Usually Taken For?

CoQ10 is one of the few supplements available that supplements a substance that is already naturally occurring in the body, and at healthy levels for most people. If you do not have a reason to think that you might have a deficiency, and you are young and in general good health, you probably don't need CoQ10 supplementation. 

CoQ10 naturally declines with age, but as with any supplement, you should seek the medical advice of your physician or nutritionist before beginning any supplement, especially with possible effects of CoQ10 on other medications/supplements and vice versa. This is just a best practice that we would urge everyone to follow for all new additions to their daily regimen. 

So, what are some things CoQ10 can help with? 

• Heart health
• Reproductive health
• Skin health
• Central nervous system health
• Musculoskeletal health
• Overall well-being (considering normal CoQ10 levels are what drives your cells to function!)

Fresh Reindeer Heart Anyone? The Best Sources of CoQ10 In Food

Most people tend to not think of fresh reindeer heart as even an eclectic hors d'oeuvres, though it happens to be the food containing the highest amount of CoQ10. 

Luckily, many other more common foods and proteins do include CoQ10, like pork, chicken, and steak. If you like to eat sardines, which is probably not the case, that is also a great source! CoQ10 is concentrated in organs and muscles because it is central to the production of energy in these tissues. Some other good fish that contain proper levels are herring and mackerel. 

Nuts and even olive oil contain pretty significant amounts, too, as well as soybean oil, and peanut oil. You can even get it in your sushi through salmon and tuna. You can even get a dose of CoQ10 from the sesame seeds on your hamburger buns, as sesame seeds are also a great source. 

Careful, though, don’t have these foods friend, as it is thought that frying foods may remove a significant amount of their CoQ10. 

Integrating CoQ10 In Your Routine

Again, most people have enough CoQ10 naturally and generally don't need CoQ10 supplements because they can obtain additional CoQ10 from a lot of food sources. CoQ10 helps protect cells from oxidative damage because it's an antioxidant, and is also central to your body's power stations for production of energy that's used throughout multiple body systems like your cardiovascular system and immune system. 

Fortunately, if you, for some reason, have a deficiency of CoQ10, there are CoQ10 dietary supplements you can take to help correct this. There is still a lot of uncertainty around CoQ10, but unlike many other supplements, it is a substance that is already produced naturally in your body, so you can at least have a little peace of mind that it's generally well-tolerated and you shouldn't expect any crazy side effects. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for all supplements since supplements are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so always do your best to obtain your supplements from a reputable company like Quality of Life.