• Soybean
• Peanuts
• Lentils
• Avocado
• Sesame seed
• Oranges
• Strawberries

Health benefits

Role on heart

• Coronary artery disease is the major cause of cardiac morbidity, which is occurred due to atherosclerosis. It has seen that CoQ10 helps to prevent the oxidative damages and inflammation of arteries and veins that help to reduce the prevalence of atherosclerosis, hence protects the heart

• It helps to stimulate proper contraction and relaxation of cardiac muscle, which helps to promote adequate blood flow throughout the body and improves cardiac functions
• It also helps to reduce hypertension
• It has seen that usage of CoQ10 improves the symptoms of cardiac failure and helps to reduces the risk of dying

Role on metabolism

• It acts as an important integral part of electron transport chain  
• It is associated with the synthesis of ATP (energy) within mitochondria, which is later utilized by the body for performing its function
• It also helps to enhance the metabolism

Role on   nervous system

• CoQ10 helps to improve brain function by stimulating energy production and prevents cellular damages which are associated with reducing the rate of brain cell death
• High fatty acid content of brain cells is another important etiological factor that makes them more susceptible for oxidative damages and CoQ10 helps to protect them by fulfilling their requirement for oxygen
• It also helps to prevent various neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease

Role on reproductive system

• It has seen that the ability of female fertility decreases with age due to reduction in the number of ova in ovaries. The quality of ovum also decreased with age due to oxidative stress. CoQ10 helps to protect the ovum from oxidative damage and promotes ovulation

• It helps to reverse age related reduction in ovum quality and quantity that helps to facilitate reproduction
• It also helps to protect the sperm from oxidative damages and hence it is associated with increasing sperm quality, sperm count and sperm concentration and hence helps to prevent infertility in male

Role on respiratory system

• Lungs are the only organs of body which have strong relationship with oxygen and poor antioxidant protection of lungs may develop various respiratory disorders like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), bronchitis, cystic fibrosis and pleural effusion
• Being an active naturally occurring antioxidant, CoQ10 helps to protect the lungs from oxidative damages and reduces the risk of developing lungs disorders

Role on preventing  headache

• Impaired mitochondrial function is associated with increasing calcium uptake by brain cells and results in excessive production of free radicals
• These free radicals are responsible for the oxidative damages of brain cell and also accountable for reducing energy production, which leads to migraine
• CoQ10 also helps to prevent several inflammations, occurred in brain cells and helps to improve mitochondrial functions, which are associated with providing an antioxidant protection effect. This phenomena of CoQ10 is responsible for preventing migraines
• It has seen that individual who treated with CoQ10 experiences less severe headache

Role on   preventing diabetes

• It is associated with reducing blood sugar level as it improves insulin sensitivity
• It has seen that fat acts as a barrier for insulin and inhibits it from reaching to its target organ that leads to diabetes. CoQ10 has significant role in preventing fat accumulation within body by increasing lipolysis and hence promotes insulin action
• It mainly helps to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus with a significant reduction in fasting blood sugar level and glycosylated hemoglobin

Role on preventing cancers

• Increase in oxidative stress is related with increasing cellular damages that interfere with the normal functionality of cells. It is considered as one of the most significant etiological factors for cancers
• It has seen that every cancer patient has a lower CoQ10 level in their body which is related with increasing the severity of carcinoma
• It is better for a cancer patient to consume CoQ10 naturally or through supplements as an active preventive measure, as it helps to protect every cell from oxidative damages and also stimulates cellular energy production which ultimately facilitates their health and survival

Role on endurance

• CoQ10 helps in ATP synthesis hence it is related with increasing the energy level within body which improves endurance
• It also helps to decrease muscle fatigue after strenuous exercise and helps to prevent oxidative damages of muscle thus improves the ability of muscle to function properly

Recommended dietary allowance

• The recommended intake of CoQ10 is ranging from 90mg to 200mg per day
• The upper tolerable limit of CoQ10 is considered as 500mg, up to which extent it does not show any hyperactivity

Deficiency disorders

Poor dietary intake is the main cause of CoQ10 deficiency, especially the deficiency of protein is the principal causative factor. Genetic disorders are also associated with developing CoQ10 deficiency as it interferes with its synthesis or utilization. Deficiency of CoQ10 affects many parts of the body and most significantly affects kidney, brain and muscle. The common consequences of CoQ10 deficiency include –

• Hypotonia (poor muscle tone)
• Dystonia (impaired involuntary muscle contraction)
• Seizures
• Nystagmus (Irregular movement of eyes)
• Myopathy
• Permanent losses of vision
• Cerebellar ataxia
• Intellectual disability
• Poor memory
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Ascites (accumulation of water in abdominal cavity)
• Anaemia
• Metabolic disorders

Risk factors

• CoQ10 is water soluble hence cannot store in human body (eliminated through urine), thus has very less or no toxic symptoms. It is better to consume CoQ10 from natural source but if too much of CoQ10 is taken from supplements then it may develop some symptoms like fatigue, dizziness,  irritability, loss  of appetite, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal  pain,  insomnia,  headache

• CoQ10 is not safe for those individuals who take blood thinner medicines as it makes the drug less effective and results in formation of blood clots
• Individual who takes medications for thyroid or chemotherapy should consult with health experts before consuming CoQ10 supplements
• It is better to maintain the recommended dose of CoQ10 otherwise it may develop severe hypoglycemia

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Carella, A.M., Marinelli, T., Di Pumpo, M., Modola, G. and Benvenuto, A., 2018. Coenzyme Q10 deficiency in elderly: Can nutritional supplementation play a role? Mini review. The European Research Journal, 5(1), pp.166-173.

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Schniertshauer, D., Gebhard, D. and Bergemann, J., 2018. Age-dependent loss of mitochondrial function in epithelial tissue can be reversed by coenzyme Q10. Journal of aging research, 2018.

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Zhong, X., Yi, X., Da Silveira e Sá, R.D.C., Zhang, Y., Liu, K., Xiao, F. and Zhong, C., 2017. CoQ10 deficiency may indicate mitochondrial dysfunction in Cr (VI) toxicity. International journal of molecular sciences, 18(4), p.816.