Spotlight: Coenzyme Q10

Aging...no one really looks forward to it. We all know that when we age there's the possibility we might lose our hair, our eyesight, and let's face it, sometimes we feel like we're losing our minds. As we get older, for a variety of reasons, our bodies possess reduced levels of important nutrients like certain B vitamins, vitamins C, D and calcium. Did you also know our levels of Coenzyme Q10 (or CoQ10 for short) fall as we age? It's surprising -- especially because many of us aren't even aware that we need to be conscious of our CoQ10 levels!

What is CoQ10?

Well, it's an important vitamin-like nutrient, or coenzyme, that is necessary for the basic functioning of cells. A coenzyme is a molecule that works with an enzyme to activate its chemical reaction in the body -- most often it is vital to your body's breakdown and use of energy sources from foods like fats, proteins and carbohydrates. CoQ10 develops naturally -- in fact, every cell in your body can make it. The amount of CoQ10 that each cell makes differs depending on the tissue. Certain organs, such as your heart, brain and liver, require active cells with high levels of energy to be maintained. Therefore, these organs make the most CoQ10 and maintain particularly high levels of it.

Sound boring? What if you knew that research suggests that CoQ10 may play a beneficial role in maintaining overall health? CoQ10 plays an integral role in transforming food into energy that the body needs for cell growth, maintenance and protection, while also acting as an antioxidant. Studies suggest that low levels of CoQ10 are often observed in people at high risk for heart disease -- so it's best to keep those CoQ10 levels up!

CoQ10 and Energy

Because CoQ10 is used in the process to create energy, it also plays an important role in metabolism. Research shows that blood levels of CoQ10 are lowered after vigorous physical activity, which is why some believe dietary supplements of this nutrient might be beneficial to people who are burning a lot of calories, such as professional athletes.

CoQ10 does more than create energy for healthy functioning; it also acts as a powerful, natural antioxidant. It defends the body from free radicals, which can disturb the way your cells normally function and even damage them.

How to Get CoQ10

Although your body naturally makes its own CoQ10, we know the efficiency of this process diminishes with age. So it's good to know CoQ10 can be incorporated into your diet, too. A wide variety of foods contain CoQ10 such as beef, beans, eggs, oils, fish, nuts and grains.

Unfortunately, the amount of this nutrient found in food is small. This means that if you rely solely on diet to obtain CoQ10, you may be getting less than you need to maintain optimal health. Furthermore, certain medications, such as statin drugs, a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol, may interfere with the body's production of CoQ10. Many people could benefit from taking a simple CoQ10 supplement and the ideal dose of CoQ10 differs depending on age and gender. Make sure you always speak with your healthcare professional about the dietary supplements that you're taking, especially if you have serious illnesses, such as heart disease, kidney failure, cancer or diabetes.