14 benefits and properties of coenzyme Q10

Carlos Sánchez 7 min. of reading Antioxidants Leave a comment

What do you know about coenzyme Q10 besides being one of the star ingredients in the most acclaimed products in the cosmetic industry? At first glance, we can tell you it’s a molecule naturally produced by the body, responsible for boosting vitality and energy, supporting muscle and heart function. Discover more benefits and properties of Coenzyme Q10 here…

Add to that the “enzyme of Youth” acts as a powerful antioxidant, turning the nutrients we get from food into energy and protecting the body from free radicals. But, have you ever stopped to think about what else coenzyme Q10 can do for you?

Check out its main benefits and properties:

1. Coenzyme Q10: a natural energy boost

The role coenzyme Q10 plays in mitochondrial ATP synthesis is kind of like turning the raw energy from food (carbs and fats) into usable energy for cells, called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

This process involves ubiquinone (another name for Q10) and is packed with benefits, from maintaining muscle mass to regulating appetite and body weight.

2. Supports fertility

As years go by, female fertility tends to decline. This happens because the number and quality of available oocytes decrease. That’s where coenzyme Q10 steps in directly.

Over time, Q10 production slows down as the body starts losing its ability to protect eggs from oxidative damage. It’s easy to connect that a good supplement of this powerful antioxidant can do a lot to reverse the decline in egg quality related to age.

Male sperm are just as vulnerable to oxidative damage, which leads to lower sperm count, infertility, and reduced sperm quality.

Several clinical studies have shown that supplementing with coenzyme Q10 helps improve sperm quality, concentration, and activity.

3. Improves heart health

Although research is still ongoing, coenzyme Q10 has shown great potential in preventing and treating heart diseases by enhancing cellular bioenergetics, acting as an antioxidant, and neutralizing free radicals.

Currently, it’s known that supplementing with ubiquinone benefits people taking statins by reducing their side effects. Statins are used to lower a liver enzyme that decreases cholesterol production and the body’s natural coenzyme Q10 production.

As if that weren’t enough, this compound helps treat heart failure, often a result of other heart conditions like hypertension or coronary artery disease. These conditions can cause oxidative damage and inflammation in veins and arteries.

From various studies, it’s clear that coenzyme Q10 improves heart function by increasing ATP production and reducing oxidative damage.

4. A powerful anti-aging agent: Coenzyme Q10

Mitochondrial ATP synthesis is key to keeping metabolism active, which supports muscle strength, youthful skin, strong bones, and healthy tissue.

As we age, Q10 levels tend to drop, contributing to a simultaneous decline in energy metabolism and degeneration of important organs like the heart, liver, and skeletal muscle.

Unfortunately, it’s not proven that supplementing with this compound extends lifespan, but researchers are confident it delays DNA damage caused by aging.

In fact, when applied directly to the skin, coenzyme Q10 reduces oxidative damage caused by UV rays and helps decrease wrinkle depth.

5. Helps maintain optimal pH levels

This coenzyme assists in transporting proteins within cells across membranes, segregating certain digestive enzymes from the rest of the cell, and helping maintain the body’s optimal pH.

In this regard, it’s suspected that some diseases develop more easily in environments with improper pH levels or excess acidity.

Several clinical studies have shown that coenzyme Q10 helps improve immune function overall and can even reduce the risk of cancer due to the body’s ability to maintain proper pH levels.

6. Protects cognitive health

People with cognitive decline, like Parkinson’s disease, experience increased oxidative stress in a brain area called the substantia nigra, which worsens symptoms.

Many studies have revealed these individuals tend to have lower blood levels of coenzyme Q10.

7. Reduces fibromyalgia symptoms in teens

Teens with fibromyalgia often have lower than average coenzyme Q10 levels. Supplementing with ubiquinol provides pain relief, improves cholesterol metabolism, and reduces fatigue.

8. Eases autism symptoms

Children with autism spectrum disorder show symptom improvement when taking coenzyme Q10.

Kids aged 3 to 6 years diagnosed with autism and treated with ubiquinol end up communicating better with their parents, engaging more in play activities, sleeping better, and having a bigger appetite.

Keep reading about ubiquinol in the specific post we’ve prepared here.

9. Reduces surgical complications

Taken in high doses before and after heart surgery, coenzyme Q10 helps prevent complications from the procedure.

A clinical study showed patients who recovered well from heart surgery and took high doses of this coenzyme Q10 reduced their chances of disease recurrence by up to 95%.

10. Helps treat headaches

If you suffer frequent headaches, you know what we mean. Migraines are one of the 21st century’s biggest pains. The cause? A mitochondrial dysfunction that can increase calcium absorption by cells, overproduce free radicals, and reduce antioxidant protection. This triggers energy shortage in brain cells, causing migraines.

It’s proven that better mitochondrial function means lower chances of inflammation or migraines. And coenzyme Q10 is a key part of cell mitochondria.

So, it’s clear that supplementing with coenzyme Q10 helps prevent and treat migraines by boosting mitochondrial function and reducing inflammation.

11. Boosts exercise performance

Oxidative stress affects muscle function and, therefore, exercise performance. At the same time, abnormal mitochondrial function can reduce muscle energy, making muscle contraction and effective training harder.

Keep in mind that exercise performance can be affected by oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Coenzyme Q10 helps reduce oxidative damage, enhances physical performance, and cuts fatigue.

12. Plays a role in diabetes treatment

Cell damage from oxidative stress can lead to metabolic diseases like diabetes. Abnormal mitochondrial function is linked to insulin resistance. Well, there’s scientific evidence that coenzyme Q10 improves insulin sensitivity and regulates blood sugar levels.

Supplementing with this compound helps increase Q10 blood levels up to three times in diabetics, who usually have low concentrations of it.

13. Q10 helps prevent other diseases

Oxidative stress causes cell damage, affecting their function. When the body can’t effectively fight oxidative damage, cell structure can be harmed, increasing cancer risk.

Coenzyme Q10 acts as a protective shield for cells against potential oxidative stress damage, supporting cellular energy production and improving health and survival. It’s been shown that cancer patients have low coenzyme Q10 levels.

There’s enough data to conclude that ubiquinone plays an essential role in protecting cellular DNA and survival, factors closely linked to cancer prevention and recurrence.

14. Protects the lungs

Since lungs are the organs with the most oxygen contact, they’re also more prone to oxidative damage. Increased lung oxidative damage combined with low antioxidant protection (including low coenzyme Q10 levels) can cause lung damage like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Various studies suggest people with these diseases tend to have low coenzyme Q10 levels, and while some studies show supplementing reduces inflammation in asthmatics, others show improved exercise performance in COPD patients.