Does CoQ10 Help You Get More Done?
March 26th, 2008 Oliver StarrCategories | Getting Things Done | Health
Our recent column on supplements for sharper thinking seemed to really resonate with GTD Times readers so I thought I’d continue with another compound; Co enzyme Q10. Thanks to Oliver Nielsen for reminding me of this important natural health aid.
Co enzyme Q10, also called CoQ10 as well as ubiquinone is one of the most powerful and important natural products known. It has broad efficacy across a huge spectrum of different physiological elements in the body. Research has found that in addition to its ability to fight free radical damage, CoQ10 is crucial for cellular energy production, plays a role in modulating immune function with respect to allergies, has been seen in preliminary studies to be anti-mutagenic (mutagenesis is part of the development of malignant cells or cancers), helps to support the body’s ability to control blood sugar, can improve athletic performance, and is critical for normal cardiac function. It has also been shown to be protective of the liver when using certain medications, and can dramatically improve energy levels that can be compromised when being treated with cholesterol lowering medications like lovstatin that work, in part, by inhibiting a compound that is needed for the cellular energy cycle but which also supports the production of cholesterol.
That’s quite a long list! Unlike many natural substances, CoQ10 has been the subject of extensive study due to its role in bioenergetics or the basic process by which the cells in our bodies convert a chemical called ATP into energy. Many scientists and nutrition authorities are big believers in CoQ10 and as a result there’s a substantial body of research including numerous human trials that show that CoQ10 supplementation works in both healthy humans and in those with various pathologies.
One area that’s sure to be of interest to anyone focused on improving personal productivity is how CoQ10 relates to cognitive function. While not a nootropic (intelligence increasing compound like vinpocitine), scientists have found that there is an age related decline in the CoQ10 concentration in many parts of the body and in particular within the brain. While it has not been definitively determined that age-related mental decline and even diseases such as Alzheimer’s are tied directly to CoQ10 levels, there is strong evidence that reduced CoQ10 plays a role in the ontology of these diseases.
Interestingly, some researchers now believe that Alzheimer’s is actually a form of diabetes that some are calling type III diabetes. Since CoQ10 has a role in helping reduce certain aspects of Type I and Type II diabetes, it can be reasonably inferred that it would also be of use in helping to stave off or even correct a third type of diabetes - however this is only hypothesis at this point and remains to be clearly elucidated in peer reviewed research studies.
Clearly, while we know quite a lot about the benefits of CoQ10, there’s still vastly more we need to discover. While the jury may be out on the treatment of specific diseases with CoQ10, what isn’t in question is that adding CoQ10 to your daily dietary supplement regimen can be of real value no matter what your condition and regardless of your age.
Editor’s note: Several years ago I authored a very detailed paper on CoQ10 for a client. I am happy to make this document available to readers of GTD Times with my complements: coq10-ensorb-revised.pdf
The supplements article and this one are highly informative, one comment I would make though is that it would be good to know which foods contain these substances, as often getting sufficient of these in their natural form seems preferable and other elements within the foods can boost their effects. As much as I am a fan of reductive science sometimes nature just does it better.
Excellent article and the previous one on supplements. One comment…it would be good to know the food stuffs that contain these compounds. I would prefer to get these benefits through a change in diet. I think that sometimes the benefits are enhanced by other elements within the natural foods, a reductionist view to food although enlightening cannot beat the balence that you get from natural foods.
actually, more studies suggest that CoQ10 doesn’t have a role in lowering blood sugar levels in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes than those that do suggest such an effect.
I’m a bit confused and concerned about this line of discussion. I’m not sure this is the appropriate place for this type of information exhange (accurate or not). I was excited to learn about a blog concerned with “all things GTD” (the David Allen GTD, not just “getting things done” in general). I was hoping it would focus on DA’s system/perspective specifically, how people are using it and adapting it to their lives, and related topics. If the posts can deal with nutrition/supplements, they could also offer exercise tips, philosophies on life, sales techniques, where to hire assistants, religious ideas about life’s purpose, etc. All good topics, but dilute the real purpose/mission of this site (I think).
William
I don’t take this supplement now, but I found it very useful when for a short time I took a statin drug for cholesterol. After only a couple of weeks on the drug I experienced muscle weakness and researched and found the CoQ10 was the enzyme that was affected by the statins. I quit the cholesterol drug, of course, but the CoQ10 got my muscle strength back to normal.
Everyone, thanks for your great comments. They are sincerely appreciated!
William, since you expressed some concern I wanted to take a moment to specifically address your remarks. As the Editor of GTD Times I take seriously the comments made by anyone - either positive or negative in regards to content or the direction of this publication.
As a result, I felt it would be worthwhile to respond to what you said with some information about what the intended scope of GTD Times looks like at this time.
You suggestion that a post on nutrition/supplementation could dilute the purpose of the site assumes that the purpose of GTD Times is to focus exclusively and entirely on GTD as David Allen conceives GTD.
While this is certainly a major theme of the site and one of the overriding motivations for the creation of this site, it is not the sole and myopic focus of GTD Times.
In addition to the focus on GTD from the David Allen perspective, there will be the occasional foray into material that is peripherally related to GTD but not core to the practice of GTD.
Thus, such topics as health, work/life balance, assorted GTD related “how to” information and other things will from time to time find their way onto these pages.
While you might not wish to read this material it is fairly clear- if only from the proliferation of comments on the two nutrition posts I authored - that there’s a hunger for this kind of information from other members of the community.
Personally, I see the GTD Times a bit like a news journal that has a primary focus but which will have other columns in areas that we feel - or that readers tell us- there is an interest from the community.
I know that personally there is no publication nor website where every single thing published is interesting to me, and I am sure that this holds true for you as well.
So while we will do our absolute best to provide content that all readers find appealing and engaging I know that there are going to be times when what we publish won’t resonate with everyone.
Having been the author of several very popular blogs over the last couple of years, I know that I can’t please everyone all the time. Thus, I hope that in those instances where you find content that doesn’t excite you, you’ll accept that there are others that do find this content valuable and that at the same time, we’ll regularly publish enough material that you do find engaging that you will continue to read GTD Times and simply skip over those pieces that you feel have no value for you and your life.
Sincerely,
Oliver Starr, Editor
GTD Times