Nutrient Q10

Coenzyme Q10 (also commonly known as nutrient Q10) is a fat-soluble antioxidant that can be synthesized by the human body itself. A normal diet for healthy adults can fully meet the daily needs. There is no need to spend extra money to supplement it.； For people who have been taking statin lipid-lowering drugs for a long time, have underlying heart diseases such as myocarditis/heart failure, are over 65 years old and have reduced synthesis ability, or who often stay up late and overdraw their energy, taking supplements according to the doctor's advice can indeed improve their discomfort. However, it is neither a heart-protecting drug that can cure all diseases, nor is it an anti-aging necessity. 90% of the imported products from Internet celebrities that cost hundreds of yuan are premium IQ tax.

A while ago, my mother came to me with a link forwarded in a square dance group and said that the sisters were all grabbing a certain imported brand of Q10. After taking it, you can even stop taking antihypertensive drugs, and it can also remove eye wrinkles. A bottle sells for 398. I took the ingredient list and flipped through it for a long time, and found that the effective content is only 50 mg per pill, which is not as high as the OTC version in the drugstore downstairs that costs ten yuan a bottle. This is purely an IQ tax on the packaging.

Controversy about the efficacy of Q10 has never stopped, and the academic community has not completely reached a unified conclusion. Last year, Stanford University conducted a small sample experiment on people aged 50-65. It was said that taking 100mg Q10 every day for half a year increased the mitochondrial activity of the subjects by an average of 18%, and the fatigue after exercise was also significantly reduced. ； However, a large cohort study published by Peking University School of Public Health in 2022 showed that healthy people under the age of 35 continued to supplement Q10 for one year. Compared with the control group who took a placebo, no statistically significant differences were detected in terms of skin condition, energy level or heart function. To put it bluntly, if you are not lacking, it will be in vain if you make up for it. I used to watch short videos and saw a blogger saying that taking Q10 can cure hair loss, which made me laugh. If this thing can cure hair loss, why do I need minoxidil?

Many people are confused about whether to buy the reduced type (ubithenol) or the ordinary type (ubiquinone). I specifically asked my cardiology friends: For people over 70 years old or people with particularly poor gastrointestinal absorption function, the absorption rate of the reduced type is indeed about 30% higher than that of ordinary ubiquinone, so it is more cost-effective to choose this type.； But if you are young and strong, the regular version is enough. The double price you spend is basically the IQ tax of "ingredient upgrade". When I recovered from viral myocarditis last year, the doctor asked me to take Q10 supplements for three months. I bought the OTC version with the Chinese national drug approval directly from the drugstore downstairs. A bottle of 60 pills cost 10 yuan, and I took two pills a day. During the reexamination, the indicators recovered very well. Later, a friend gave me a bottle of imported Q10 purchased on behalf of me. I compared the ingredients and found that except for the addition of some vitamin E, the effective content was not as high as the one I bought for 10 yuan.

Don’t think that Q10 is a nutrient and you should eat more, the better. I used to have a friend who works on the Internet. I heard from a blogger that Q10 can resist the damage caused by staying up late. I took 4 pills a day, a total of 400mg. Within a week of taking it, I started having diarrhea and skin rashes. I went to the hospital and the doctor said that I had overdosed. Normal people should not take more than 200 mg of supplement per day. If you have underlying diseases, you must ask your doctor before taking it. Don’t increase the amount randomly by yourself. If you don’t want to take extra supplements, it’s easy. Eat more fatty salmon, pig heart, and peanuts with red skin. 100g of salmon can supplement almost 11mg of Q10. Eat it two or three times a week, plus the self-synthesized Q10, which is enough for you.

To put it bluntly, Q10 is something that needs to be supplemented when it is missing. There is no need to treat it as a magic medicine, nor do you need to think that it is all an IQ tax. It is enough to choose according to your needs and don't buy indiscriminately.