CoQ10 Verses Ubiquinol –Which One Is Right for You?
By Brenda Valen, BS, CNC, CNHP

First let me say - although I help you customize a supplement program specific to you, there are a few nutrients I feel everyone can benefit from. And CoQ10 falls into that category.

CoQ10 or Coenzyme Q10, also known as Ubiquinone (because it is ubiquitous in the body), is a fat soluble substance similar to a vitamin that is found in every cell in the human body. Let me repeat that – found in EVERY cell in the human body.

CoQ10 has been researched extensively because of its powerful effects. CoQ10 is essential for energy production within our cells, acts as one of our most powerful antioxidants, helps reduce the signs of aging, improves blood pressure and arterial health and much more.

Although you naturally make some CoQ10, there are many factors that result in a decline in CoQ10 amounts, including aging past 30, insufficient dietary intake, illness, oxidative stress, genetic factors and medications, most notably statins. Statin medications directly reduces the production of CoQ10 and anyone on this medication should always take a CoQ10 supplement.

The organs requiring the most energy and therefore the most CoQ10 are the liver, the kidneys and most notably the heart. CoQ10 is helpful to heart health in many ways. It helps reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol which is crucial to cardiovascular health and supports optimal functioning of the heart muscle.

There are two forms of CoQ10 – ubiquinone (normally labeled as CoQ10) and ubiquinol (labeled as Ubiquinol) or the reduced form. We utilize both forms in the body and when we are young our body can easily convert the ubiquinone form to the ubiquinol and vice versa. As we age past 40 our body cannot make this conversion as easily as well as our absorption of regular CoQ10 declines.

Knowing this, in 2007 researchers in Japan developed the reduced form of CoQ10 and made it available in supplement form under the trademarked name Kaneka. When CoQ10 is ingested in its reduced form as ubiquinol, higher blood CoQ10 levels can be achieved using smaller milligram doses.

In conclusion if you are using CoQ10 for general health and energy production the regular form should serve you well. But if you are over 40, if you have cardiovascular issues, if you are on statin medications, if you have muscular degeneration or have other health issues you could benefit greatly from taking the Ubiquinol form of CoQ10.

In best of health,

Brenda Valen, BS, CNC, CNHP