Taking a Statin? Supplementing with CoQ10 is a Must!
Statins are one of the most common medicines prescribed in the United States. This type of drug blocks the liver enzyme your body needs to make cholesterol, but they don’t influence the cholesterol you eat. For this reason, traditional medical doctors prescribe statins to their patients as a first-line treatment to lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk.
While taking a statin may sound like an easy solution to achieving a good lipid profile, it can actually put your health at serious risk. In addition to the long list of common side effects, taking statins without supplementing coenzyme Q10 (COQ10) can definitely cause your body more harm than good.
Keep reading as I explain what most prescribing doctors are not telling their patients when they leave with a statin script.
What You Should Know About Statins & CoQ10
Even if you’re not taking a statin yourself, chances are someone you care about is. The CDC reports that about 30% of Americans over age 40 take a statin. In just the last decade, statin use has increased substantially among adults and we also know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of illness and death for both men and women in the U.S. (and many other developed countries).
Yikes, these are troubling trends!
Statins work to inhibit your body’s natural internal production of cholesterol. What most people are not informed of is that statins also block your body’s internal production of COQ10.
COQ10 is a vital nutrient that is found mostly in your organs (heart, liver, pancreas, liver) and stored in the mitochondria of your cells - precisely why it is so vital to cellular energy.
Check out my video and blog on Improving Mitochondrial Function for Increased Health and Vitality.
COQ10 is essential for…
- Sustaining natural energy
- Fighting free radicals and recycling other antioxidants
- Supporting heart health
- Slowing aging
- Protecting the brain
- Regulating blood pressure
- Improving PH levels (which lowers disease risk)
- Reducing inflammation
- Defending the immune system
- Increasing the absorption of other key nutrients
It’s a fact that CoQ10 production in your body significantly declines around age 40. So, if you’re also taking a statin, your health could really suffer.
The Chemistry Behind Statins and COQ10
The key reason that statin drugs affect COQ10 is due to the fact that both cholesterol and COQ10 are produced in your body by the same metabolic pathway. This is known as the mevalonate pathway and it begins with a molecule involved in metabolism (called acetoacetyl-CoA). With the help of an enzyme (called HMG-CoA reductase), acetoacetyl-CoA converts into mevalonate. Your body then uses mevalonate to make cholesterol….and COQ10. Statin drugs block the action of this very enzyme so that mevalonate decreases. Without mevalonate, you’ll produce less cholesterol, and at the same time, less COQ10.
Of course, the takeaway here is not the complicated chemical reactions that occur, but rather that a statin drug negatively impacts the ways in which your body creates such a vital nutrient.
Supplement COQ10 – Especially if Taking a Statin!
Caring for your health naturally and not relying on medicine to patch your health is a guaranteed way to stay free from unwanted drug side effects and interactions. If you must take a statin drug, do your health a favor and be sure to supplement COQ10 appropriately.
Some foods do provide COQ10 but they aren’t making it on most people’s plates often enough, if at all.
COQ10 rich foods:
- Pasture raised meats
- Organ meats – particularly liver, heart and kidney
- Wild caught fish
- Pasture-raised eggs (eating eggs does not increase cholesterol)
- Grass-fed butter
- Avocados
- Olives and olive oil
- Broccoli and cauliflower
- Nuts/seeds (pistachios, walnuts, hazel nuts, sesame seeds)
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
Poor diet, aging, and definitely statin drug use is at the root of COQ10 depletion, but it’s easy to make adjustments to solve this.
Tip 2: Solve health problems (like high cholesterol) naturally whenever possible
Tip 3: Always be informed about any drugs you are prescribed or taking
Tip 4: Supplement vitamins, minerals and nutrients appropriately
Tip 5: You can’t stop from aging chronologically, but you can slow it down biologically with:
✓Nutrient dense foods
✓ Exercise
✓ Sleep
✓ Supplementation
✓ Stress management
It’s unfortunate that there are no official warnings on statin drugs regarding how they impact COQ10. However, Canadian statin labels warn of this danger and specifically notes that such a nutrient deficiency “…could lead to impaired cardiac function.”
When supplementing COQ10, look for one in its active form of ubiquinone, which provides more effective health benefits. Of course, I’ve got your health needs covered and kept this in mind when designing my Natural COQ10 formula.
Research supports and suggests that statin patients should take COQ10 at 200 mg daily to reduce statin induced mitochondrial damage. Remember, if you’re over the age of 40, your natural production of COQ10 is declining and supplementation becomes more necessary. So even if you’re not taking a statin, supplementing COQ10 is really a must for most people.
Be sure to check out my Natural CoQ10 formula below, as well as share this valuable information to help others be the healthiest they can be!
"I am on Lipitor and need to religiously take COQ-10, so finding one that isn't outrageously priced (while maintaining quality) is gold! Also, it might be my imagination, but this seems to be helping my skin as well?? Hopefully it is this! I will be buying again, and again, and again :)"
Jan Campbell | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Natural CoQ10
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