Not getting the right CoQ10 supplement could be putting your heart at risk.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant produced naturally by the human body and performs many important functions. As such, there are many diseases associated with CoQ10 deficiency, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and others. Supplementing with CoQ10 can raise levels of this antioxidant in the body, but many supplements on the market are not delivering the promised potency, underscoring the importance of buying supplements from trusted companies.
One of CoQ10’s main uses is for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction. Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of death in the US; three out of four patients with heart diseases have low levels of CoQ10. CoQ10 can help with heart disease in a variety of ways. It is an antioxidant that helps mediate oxidative stress, which is believed to contribute to the development of CVD; it plays a role in the heart’s energy needs; it also has anti-inflammatory effects, and heart failure, for example, is associated with a chronic pro-inflammatory state.
CoQ10 has been shown to improve heart failure symptoms and reduce major adverse cardiovascular events; it can lower blood pressure; it can lower cholesterol in patients with coronary artery disease.
CoQ10 is often taken by people who also take statins because these drugs decrease CoQ10 levels, which can lead to muscle pain; supplementing with CoQ10 can help alleviate these symptoms. Statins can also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, but supplementing with CoQ10 can help protect against statin-induced insulin resistance.
Given the many uses of CoQ10, and the fact that many sick patients (those with high cholesterol or coronary artery disease) take it to protect against further health issues, it is critical that patients can trust that they are getting what is on their CoQ10 bottle. Recent tests unfortunately show that this is not the case.
NOW Foods, one of our recommended supplement companies, tested 10 CoQ10 brands available on Amazon. None of the tested brands contained the advertised potency; five of the brands had less than 20 percent of the potency claimed on the label.
Caveat emptor—buyer beware! Consumers need to do their homework before committing to a supplement brand that is not delivering the potencies that are advertised on their labels.
