CoQ10 & Heart Health: The Connection
If you have a personal or family history of heart disease, reducing risks in as many ways as possible is essential, but can be challenging and confusing. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet, being at a healthy weight, getting regular exercise and managing stress are all pillars to heart health, and should be on everyone’s healthy goals list.
There are also a few supplement options that may be valuable parts of an overall lifestyle to support cardiovascular health, and one is coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a potent antioxidant that has been linked to normal cardiac muscle functioning. Many cardiologists recommend supplemental CoQ10 for those taking statin drugs (which can effectively lower LDL cholesterol and inflammation levels but reduce the body’s ability to produce CoQ10). Lower CoQ10 is one of the suspected reasons 1 in 10 patients can have muscle cramps with statins, as CoQ10 is an essential cofactor in producing cellular energy in the form of ATP for muscles. This is probably the mechanism of action that makes CoQ10 useful in heart failure and angina, supporting the function of the heart muscle.
Wild-caught salmon is a good source of dietary CoQ10, but often supplementation is a more reliable way of providing consistent, useful dosing. This is especially true when looking for a consistent amount for heart muscle support or protecting against deficiency due to medication. When buying CoQ10, look for the ubiquinol form because it provides a more bioavailable form of CoQ10 and aim for a dosage in the 100 to 200mg per day range.
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