Coenzyme Q10 (June 10, 2014)
I did some research recently in response to a request from someone who wanted a recommendation (or not) for CoQ10. This is a substance that is important in many fundamental metabolic processes, is an excellent antioxidant, can be readily absorbed from food and supplements, and is often not produced by the body in the quantities that it could really use. There are several common pharmaceuticals that interfere with its normal function, and its toxicity is very low. In short, it seems to be an excellent candidate for supplementation in most people.
A lot of research has been done on CoQ10, but I was not able to find anything resembling a general guideline for CoQ10 supplementation. In fact, despite the huge number of studies and an enormous range of disorders in which it has found to be potentially beneficial, I didn’t find a single solid recommendation for supplementation of CoQ10 in any condition.
Hundreds of studies but nothing solid? Why not? My cynical opinion is that it’s easy to get a government grant to find out what new condition might be helped by CoQ10, but not to get funding to follow it down any closer. That is expensive. And no pharmaceutical company would want to spend money on it, because it’s a natural substance and thus cannot be patented. We’re probably going to have to wait for the Europeans to do the heavy lifting in this regard -- most of the good research in natural supplements seems to be done by countries with socialized medicine. In the meantime, I think that supplementation of CoQ10 at levels of 30mg-50mg (on the lower end of the dosage range) is worth a try for anyone who is interested in it.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
I did some research recently in response to a request from someone who wanted a recommendation (or not) for CoQ10. This is a substance that is important in many fundamental metabolic processes, is an excellent antioxidant, can be readily absorbed from food and supplements, and is often not produced by the body in the quantities that it could really use. There are several common pharmaceuticals that interfere with its normal function, and its toxicity is very low. In short, it seems to be an excellent candidate for supplementation in most people.
A lot of research has been done on CoQ10, but I was not able to find anything resembling a general guideline for CoQ10 supplementation. In fact, despite the huge number of studies and an enormous range of disorders in which it has found to be potentially beneficial, I didn’t find a single solid recommendation for supplementation of CoQ10 in any condition.
Hundreds of studies but nothing solid? Why not? My cynical opinion is that it’s easy to get a government grant to find out what new condition might be helped by CoQ10, but not to get funding to follow it down any closer. That is expensive. And no pharmaceutical company would want to spend money on it, because it’s a natural substance and thus cannot be patented. We’re probably going to have to wait for the Europeans to do the heavy lifting in this regard -- most of the good research in natural supplements seems to be done by countries with socialized medicine. In the meantime, I think that supplementation of CoQ10 at levels of 30mg-50mg (on the lower end of the dosage range) is worth a try for anyone who is interested in it.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014