Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a vitamin-like substance that functions as an antioxidant, preventing free-radical damage at the cellular level. CoQ10 occurs naturally in a variety of foods, most notably in oily seafood (sardines and mackerel), organ meats, beef, soy oil and peanuts. Your body can also make CoQ10, but production tends to decline after age twenty. Many proponents of CoQ10 supplementation warn of serious deficiencies after age fifty. A pioneering scientist in the exploration of the clinical benefits of CoQ10 is Karl Folkers, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Biomedical Research at the University of Texas, Austin. Folkers has been conducting CoQ10 research for more than 30 years. Among his findings: that heart disease patients had significantly lower blood levels of CoQ10 than did healthy individuals; and that the heart tissue of heart disease patients showed marked deficiencies of CoQ10. Could cardiovascular disease be caused in part by such deficiencies? Folkers thinks so. This article is for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Your health and lifestyle may make the outcomes different for you. You should consult with a physician or other health-care professional familiar with nutrition, prevention, and related health issues. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. |