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Coenzyme Q10 From Foods & Supplements
Plus: the delicious super-healthy 15-calorie hot chocolate
The 10almonds Team
July 10, 2023
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
Loading Screen Tip: you’re not obliged to always have an opinion. If you do, great, but sometimes, learning is enough!
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Coenzyme Q10 is made naturally in the human body, but production slows as we age
This is particularly unfortunate as one of the functions of CoQ10 is to slow aging
In fact, CoQ10 has many well-evidenced benefits, including:
Against aging
Against skin cancer
Against breast cancer
Against prostate cancer
Against heart failure
Against obesity
Against diabetes
Against Alzheimer’s
Against Parkinson’s
Contrary to popular belief, we can also get it from food!
See today’s main feature for more on that
Sleep is an incredibly important (and most often neglected) factor in good health and healthy longevity
Today’s sponsor, Beam, have a sleepy supplement-laden super-healthy 15-calorie hot chocolate to offer (with a 40% discount for 10almonds subscribers)
Several studies have linked physical brain features, including traumatic brain injury, to types of depression
Gut microbiome health may be a major factor for chronic fatigue
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
The Reality Behind Losing 5kg Of Fat
You may also like his fat loss calculator; just plug in your goals, weight, etc and it’ll use the Harris-Benedict Equation to do the metabolic calculation for you! As a caveat, this is related to BMI so its accuracy will vary depending on your body composition and other factors.
💊 MAIN FEATURE
Coenzyme Q10 and the difference it makes
Coenzyme Q10, often abbreviated to CoQ10, is a popular supplement, and is often one of the more expensive supplements that’s commonly found on supermarket shelves as opposed to having to go to more specialist stores or looking online.
What is it?
It’s a compound naturally made in the human body and stored in mitochondria. Now, everyone remembers the main job of mitochondria (producing energy), but they also protect cells from oxidative stress, among other things. In other words, aging.
Like many things, CoQ10 production slows as we age. So after a certain age, often around 45 but lifestyle factors can push it either way, it can start to make sense to supplement.
Does it work?
The short answer is “yes”, though we’ll do a quick breakdown of some main benefits, and studies for such, before moving on.
First, do bear in mind that CoQ10 comes in two main forms, ubiquinol and ubiquinone.
Ubiquinol is much more easily-used by the body, so that’s the one you want. Here be science:
What is it good for?
Benefits include:
Can we get it from foods?
Yes, and it’s equally well-absorbed through foods or supplementation, so feel free to go with whichever is more convenient for you.
Read: Intestinal absorption of coenzyme Q10 administered in a meal or as capsules to healthy subjects
If you do want to get it from food, you can get it from many places:
Organ meats: the top source, though many don’t want to eat them, either because they don’t like them or some of us just don’t eat meat. If you do, though, top choices include the heart, liver, and kidneys.
Fatty fish: sardines are up top, along with mackerel, herring, and trout
Vegetables: leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables e.g. cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts
Legumes: for example soy, lentils, peanuts
Nuts and seeds: pistachios come up top; sesame seeds are great too
Fruit: strawberries come up top; oranges are great too
If supplementing, how much is good?
Most studies have used doses in the 100mg–200mg (per day) range.
However, it’s also been found to be safe at 1200mg (per day), for example in this high-quality study that found that higher doses resulted in greater benefit, in patients with early Parkinson’s Disease:
Wondering where you can get it?
We don’t sell it (or anything else for that matter), and you can probably find it in your local supermarket or health food store. However, if you’d like to buy it online, here’s an example product on Amazon 😎
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
Healthy Hot Chocolate for Better Sleep
Can it really be true? Yes, it can:
Beam’s Dream powder is packed with rest-promoting ingredients, like CBD, magnesium, l-theanine, melatonin, and reishi mushroom.
And, at 15 calories per cup, you can enjoy dessert and a better night's sleep.
We’ve talked before about the importance of good quality sleep for health and longevity, and it really is an area of health that people forget to invest in.
PS: 10almonds subscribers can use the code "SMILE" to enjoy a 40% discount!
Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🌍 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss - by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
It sure would be great if we could eat all that we wanted, and remain healthy without putting on weight.
That's the main intent of Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, with some caveats:
His diet plan gives unlimited amounts of some foods, while restricting others
With a focus on nutrient density, he puts beans and legumes into the "eat as much as you want" category, and grains (including whole grains) into the "restrict" category
This latter is understandable for a weight-loss diet (as the book's subtitle promises). The question then is: will it be sustainable?
Current scientific consensus holds for "whole grains are good and an important part of diet". It does seem fair that beans and legumes should be able to replace grains, for grains' carbohydrates and fiber.
However, now comes the double-edged aspect: beans and legumes contain more protein than grains. So, we'll feel fuller sooner, and stay fuller for longer. This means we'll probably lose weight, and keep losing weight. Or at least: losing fat. Muscle mass will stay or go depending on what you're doing with your muscles.
If you want to keep your body fat percentage at a certain level and not go below it, you may well need to reintroduce grains to your diet, which isn't something that Dr. Fuhrman covers in this book.
Bottom line: this is a good, science-based approach for healthily losing weight (specifically, fat) and keeping it off. It might be a little too good at this for some people though.
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Wishing you the very best start to the week,
The 10almonds Team