by: Paul Fassa
(NaturalNews) Coenzyme Q10, known as CoQ10, is highly regarded as a super antioxidant. But is it for real? CoQ10 gets a lot of good press, but it's not cheap. So to buy and try or not to buy and try is the question. Not all supplements live up to their reputation, and not all supplements are right for everyone. Let's examine CoQ10 a bit.
CoQ10 is not a magic bullet. It is an important compound that our bodies produce, but production declines as we age. It functions best in conjunction with a decent diet and other quality supplements. Foods such as organic organ meats, oily fish, spinach, peanuts, and whole grains provide some CoQ10.
It likes to lodge in the parts of our cells that produce energy, and is instrumental for producing the molecule adenosine-5-triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a major source of cellular energy, and it's involved with several metabolic processes within the cell, including protein production.
Beside its antioxidant capabilities, which scavenge damaging free radicals that cause cellular damage, it appears able to repair oxidative damage. CoQ10 prevents problematic blood clotting. All these qualities have made it a favorite for increasing cardiovascular health and for preventing heart diseases or recovering rapidly from heart problems.
In addition to hundreds of reports from Japanese doctors on CoQ10's positive effects with heart patients, Dr. Denton Cooley found that most of his heart disease patients were CoQ10 deficient. His finding corroborates discoveries from Karl Folker, Ph.D, who had originally researched CoQ10 in the west.
For athletic types or those who are involved in strenuous activities, CoQ10 offers rapid recovery times from spent energy and muscular stress as well as additional energy too for competing athletically or completing arduous physical tasks.
Even More Benefits
Perhaps the most unusual benefit is how CoQ10 helps kidneys recover from renal failure. Obviously it should also help those with less drastic kidney conditions.
A 2003 study published in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine showed dramatic improvement in renal failure patients who took CoQ10 compared to those who took the placebo. Some who were on dialysis were even eventually able to manage without.
As an aside, it seems cruel to conduct test trials using placebos, depriving those of the benefits found with what's being tested. But that's the way modern mainstream medicine does it.
In addition to those tests, testing is being conducted to determine the effects of CoQ10 on neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The focus for testing is on the early phases of those diseases. The intention is to prevent them from fully manifesting.
Keep in mind that CoQ10 is a naturally occurring compound sold over the counter as a supplement. Perhaps Big Pharma is on the sidelines trying to figure out how to replicate CoQ10 in a lab and get it patented.
If that occurs, those obscure trials on renal failure and neurological disorders may become very public with the over-the-counter supplement banned. Now is the time to buy and try to determine if it works well for you.