CoEnzyme Q10: What’s It All About

There’s nothing like feeling under the weather to get you thinking about how fortunate you are; having a flu bug or a cold…that will eventually go away, so you can return back to feeling normal (whatever ‘normal’ is)…and quickly forget how grateful you were, when feeling sick, that it wasn’t a lifetime ailment and “this too will pass.”  Isn’t that just like us; okay it’s just like me and we’ll keep it at that, it’s just like me.  Been warding off something for going on three weeks now, and this week-end it knocked me off my feet with cold symptoms: sneezing, wheezing, loss of voice, sore throat, aching parts of the body that I hadn’t been aware of for a very long time.  I think I am over the worst, and I am, really and truly, grateful that I was created in such perfection with all my parts functioning as they should be.  I am grateful that despite myself…my wild and crazy years of growing up as a teenager, wanting to fit in with the crowd so I tried and did things…well, we’ll leave it at that – suffice it to say, that despite self-abuse (come on now, be honest: we’ve all done things that we look back in amazement at from our youthful exuberant years…wondering how in heaven’s name we ever survived; our bodies ever survived relatively unscathed!) that the perfectly healthy and perfectly functioning body that YHWH blessed me with, is still in great shape and functioning as it should be.

Relatively speaking, I am a healthy person and health conscious.  It’s not that I deliberately make a choice and say, “I’m going to live a healthy lifestyle,” and thus feel like I have to “give up something wonderful” to have that lifestyle.  It’s just that I’ve been blessed with happening to love the right things.  For instance, there’s many a time I’ve gone out for dinner with friends and been known to cancel the main course because I “pigged out” at the salad bar.  I love salads; every kind and everything thing about salads.  Exercise is also something I happen to love doing; it’s not a chore and never has been and in fact because I spent so much time at the Y they suggested I become an instructor…and so I did; I became a certified fitness instructor in aerobics and weight training.  I love things, as well, that feed my spirit and soul.  Despite growing up and hating to read…I now devour books and love reading and learning and studying about things.  My worse subject in school was history; I hated it.  Now, I love learning about ancient cultures; uncovering and discovering ancient writings and readings.

I digress…this article was to be about CoEnzyme Q10.  It’s a relatively new “fad”.  By new I mean in perhaps the last 10 years.  I’ve been a frequenter of health food stores for over 30 years and my daughters used to make fun of me, because I didn’t “grocery shop,” I “health food” shopped.  Ten years ago, I don’t recall seeing as much or anything about CoEnzyme Q10 (let’s shorten this and simply call it “Q10″).  Now you find it everywhere; not just in health food stores.  I vaguely knew from reading something briefly a few years ago that it had something to do with circulation or the heart.  Today in looking something up to complete my little story (posted earlier today) on “Gotta Cold,” I came across some information on Q10.  I wish I’d know of it before; before my father passed away.  It might have been good for him, for you see he had heart challenges and while visiting the emergency department because he felt funny, 10 hours later, in their care, he had two massive heart attacks and passed away.  Before his passing, he had a cupboard full of medications from his many doctors, for his heart, circulation, etc. etc.

I hope this information is helpful to someone.  It’s helping me educate myself as I write this blog.

Q10 is a natural substance that is produced by our bodies (I didn’t know that) belonging to the “quinone” family.  It is found in all living things (animal & people) as well as many foods such as nuts and oils.  According to the article I read, it’s really only been in use this last decade (see I wasn’t so far off) and has been used to maintain general good health and to treat heart disease.

Q10 is a catalyst for metabolism:  the chain of chemical reactions during which food is broken down into energy that can be used by the body.  Perhaps that is why so many people are lethargic and possibly even having weight problems.  I don’t know about you, but I was shocked to learn not that long ago, that apparently women’s metabolism is almost cut in half at age 40!  Give me a break!  Is that why so many women, generally slim and in shape, start getting “paunches” or little stomachs?  Actually, the answer to that question is that I’ve heard that happens because of stress.  In women, when under stress, the fat hits the gut!  So ladies…de-stress and you’ll lose your gut.  I digress again.

Q10 works with enzymes (ergo “co-enzyme” Q10) speeding up the vital metabolic process and providing the energy needed by cells to:

• digest food
• heal wounds
• maintain healthy muscles
• and in the performance of many other bodily functions

It is found in every cell of the human body.  Gee, as I am writing/reading this, I am wondering if taking extra Q10 would slow down the aging process:  you know, us women, how we begin to lose some of the elasticity of the skin (why do you think there are so many plastic surgeons doing face lifts…ugh; maybe replenishment of Q10 would do the same thing?).  It is more abundant in the cells of the heart and assists the heart in beating in excess of 100,000 times a day (phew, I’m exhausted).

Q10 also acts as an antioxidant.  Now there’s a “term” of the 2000′s:  everything you see and hear about these days is or has “antioxidant” benefits or qualities to it, and that’s because our atomosphere is polluted; our food is polluted, our soil in which it grows is polluted; our animals are toxic…. .  Q10 works in much the same way as Vitamins C and E: it helps neutralize cell damaging molecules known as free radicals.  Any women reading this will have at least seen, if not used, facial creams advertised as being “laced with vitamin C” to ward of the air’s pollution and free radicals that threaten to destroy your beautiful skin!

Q10 has been said to have the following benefits:

• therapy for heart disease, especially congestive heart failure or a weakened heart (ergo my comment earlier about my father who suffered from a long history of heart issues)
• protection against blood clots, lower high blood pressure, diminish irregular heartbeats, treat mitral valve prolapse
• lessen symptoms of Raynaud’s disease
• possible prolongation of survival in those with breast or prostate cancer
• some promise in the defence against Parkinson’s AND Alzheimer’s disease (wouldn’t that be marvellous if continued research and further test results in fact concluded that both of these diseases could be helped by simple ingestion of Q1o to replenish the loss that comes about with the aging process – or even as a result of our not getting enough (no matter the age) because the food we fuel our bodies with just isn’t the same, having very little nutritional value
• slows the aging process (hey I did not know that, obviously, because of what I just wrote above….)
• aids in weight loss, enhancing athletic performance
• combatting chronic fatigue syndrome
• relief of allergies
• boosts the immune system

I don’t know about you, but I’m heading to my health food store tomorrow to get me some Q10.  I just convinced myself I could use some; especially coming from a family with a history of heart disease.  I lost my oldest brother (only 1 year older than me) in 1996 to a massive heart attack!

In closing, I just found this article on a site run by the Mayo Clinic (I think just about everyone has heard that name).  It doesn’t say Q10 does all these things, but that the benefits and results are controversial.  I don’t know about you, but if there was the slightest chance, if I was suffering some terrible disease, that by boosting my Q10 level I’d improve, I’d sure as heck give it a shot.  The other thing that I find interesting, that I had no idea about, is that according to this article, there are “prescription medications” (doesn’t say which ones) that deplete our own natural Q10 levels.  Now why doesn’t that surprise me….I’ve no use for Rx…drugs!

Background

 Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is produced by the human body and is necessary for the basic functioning of cells. CoQ10 levels are reported to decrease with age and to be low in patients with some chronic diseases such as heart conditions, muscular dystrophies, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. Some prescription drugs may also lower CoQ10 levels.

Levels of CoQ10 in the body can be increased by taking CoQ10 supplements, although it is not clear that replacing “low CoQ10″ is beneficial.

CoQ10 has been used, recommended, or studied for numerous conditions, but remains controversial as a treatment in many areas.

I enjoyed researching and writing this article and hope it is beneficial to you.

Thanks for dropping in!