With the acceleration of China's aging process, the incidence of many geriatric diseases has gradually increased, so preventing diseases, delaying aging, and maximizing health care have become the pursuit of many middle-aged and elderly people.
In addition to eating well, sleeping well, and maintaining a good mood, middle-aged and elderly people are also keen to buy health care products, and in recent years, the popular coenzyme Q10 is claimed to be able to delay aging, and it has also entered thousands of households by taking advantage of the east wind of health care.
But what is coenzyme Q10 used for? Can it really be anti-aging? How should it be supplemented with the most scientific? Today we will talk about everyone's questions thoroughly.
1. Can Coenzyme Q10 delay aging? Studies have found that Coenzyme Q10 supplementation may be able to prevent cognitive impairment in middle-aged and elderly people
Coenzyme Q10, also known as vitamin Q, is essentially a fat-soluble quinone compound, which belongs to a coenzyme in the human respiratory chain, is widely distributed in various organs, and has an important carrier role.
At first, coenzyme Q10 was used to treat cardiovascular diseases, but after in-depth research, it was found that coenzyme Q10 also has many effects such as anti-aging and improving exercise ability, and is an indispensable and emerging health care product for the human body.
1. Delay aging
The most out-of-the-circle function of coenzyme Q10 is to delay aging, and it can not only delay the aging of the body, but also prevent the aging of the brain.
Numerous studies have found that excessive oxidation can accelerate cell aging, for example, oxidative stress will shorten the telomeres of cellular DNA and accelerate the process of DNA breakdown. So to a certain extent, antioxidants also have anti-aging effects.
After in-depth study of the mechanism of action of coenzyme Q10, it has been found that it can prevent the excessive oxidation of lipids and proteins, while not damaging the normal function of lipids and proteins, and is a potential antioxidant, so it also has a certain anti-aging effect.
A paper released by Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital in 2023 also proposed that coenzyme Q10 may be able to prevent cognitive impairment in the elderly. Subjects over the age of 50 years were continuously observed between July 2019 and January 2022, during which brain function was continuously assessed and finds:
• People who supplemented with CoQ10 daily had a 51% lower risk of cognitive impairment.
Researchers believe that the antioxidant and anti-aging functions of coenzyme Q10 are the key to delaying brain diseases, and this mechanism reduces the function of free radicals on healthy cells and better protects brain function, so the brain of older people shrinks more slowly and the risk of cognitive abnormalities is lower.
2. Improve exercise ability
Coenzyme Q10 is stored in granulocyte mitochondria, which are the energy source of cells, and more than 95% of cellular work requires the participation of coenzyme Q10, a mechanism that plays a more important role in locomotor capacity.
For example, the muscles on the surface of the body need enough energy to move the body, and the organs and muscles can maintain exercise efficiency when they have enough energy, so Coenzyme Q10 was originally used as an important substance to stimulate the heart muscle and be used to treat heart diseases.
At the same time, this function also acts equally on other cells, for example, if the coenzyme Q10 content in immune cells is sufficient, there will be more energy to fight germs, and self-consumption will be lower, which can just preserve the vitality of the immune system.
Therefore, for middle-aged and elderly people with gradual muscle atrophy and declining immune function, it is very necessary to supplement coenzyme Q10 in time.
2. What happens if there is a lack of coenzyme Q10?
Coenzyme Q10 is essential for the functioning of the human body, and if it is deficient, it can have serious consequences, and this deficiency is also divided into congenital and acquired.
First of all, primary CoQ10 deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that mostly appears in childhood, and after severe cases, a variety of physical abnormalities can occur. The production of CoQ10 depends on the action of nine protein-coding genes, and when these genes are abnormal, primary CoQ10 deficiency is caused.
At this time, due to the lack of coenzyme Q10 energy production in the cells, patients will develop a variety of diseases, and the main ones are organ dysfunction. For example, the myocardial motility is insufficient, the heart does not pump enough blood, or the brain muscle energy is less, and it cannot produce substances normally, which affects the ability to coordinate movements, and even brain atrophy, affecting cognitive ability.
Fortunately, primary coenzyme Q10 is one of the few treatable inherited metabolic diseases, and most patients need to take a large amount of coenzyme Q10 in the early stage to provide energy for the development of various organs in infancy and young children, which can effectively delay the disease and minimize the chance of serious disease.
Subsequent treatment is required for specific symptoms, because coenzyme Q10 has many organs, and different patients may have different problems, so different treatment regimens need to be selected to better protect health.
Secondly, acquired coenzyme Q10 deficiency mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people, and it is also the cause of a variety of chronic diseases.
Some studies have found that the content of coenzyme Q10 in the human body reaches its peak at the age of 20, and decreases sharply after the age of 40, 20% less than the age of 20 at the age of 50, and 60% at the age of 70, and the lack of central muscle is the most obvious.
In addition, studies have shown that when the coenzyme Q10 in the human blood is reduced to 25%, there will be a lot of discomfort in the heart, and the incidence of organ diseases, cancer, and Parkinson's disease will increase.
In order to maintain health, middle-aged and elderly people need to supplement 30mg of coenzyme Q10 every day, but the foods rich in coenzyme Q10 are very limited, only animal organs, fish, peanuts, beef and other foods are high.
However, relying only on "food supplements", it is enough to eat 2 catties of beef and 2.5 catties of peanuts every day, and no one can stand it if you really want to eat like this, so coenzyme Q10 health products have become a choice.
3. How to take coenzyme Q10 scientifically for middle-aged and elderly people after the age of 50?
Coenzyme Q10 is a nutrient widely needed by the human body, which has the characteristics of no toxicity, no teratogenic effect, and no side effects, and is very safe for healthy people to take daily. Let's explain the precautions from how to choose and how to take it, and if you have a disease, it is recommended to consult a doctor before deciding the dosage.
1. How to choose
First of all, it is recommended to choose products with "Little Blue Hat" health food certification from big brands, which have stricter review procedures and are safer to take.
Secondly, pay attention to the production process. The main production processes of coenzyme Q10 include biological extraction process, chemical synthesis process, etc., and the most advanced is microbial fermentation extraction, which has higher extraction purity.
In addition, it is important to choose the right preparation for you. For example, capsules and tablets are easy to carry, and oral liquid is quickly absorbed. It is recommended that you choose softgel products, because Coenzyme Q10 is a fat-soluble antioxidant with oxidative risk, and solid capsules can better protect its efficacy.
Finally, it is also important to choose the appropriate content, coenzyme Q10 health products not only contain coenzyme Q10, but also other synthetics, it is recommended that you choose products with higher content per 100g, and the supplement rate after taking is also higher.
2. How to take it
Healthy people need to supplement 30mg-60mg of coenzyme Q10 every day, and if they have special diseases, such as abnormal heart function and lack of muscle motility, they need to increase the dosage of coenzyme Q10. It is recommended to refer to the doctor's advice to take the medicine, most of which are 100-300mg per day, and generally do not exceed 400mg.
Because Coenzyme Q10 is fat-soluble, fat-rich foods can promote the absorption of the drug, so it is recommended to take it half an hour after a meal, when the stomach and intestines digest food. This not only improves the absorption rate of CoQ10, but also reduces the irritation to the stomach and intestines.
Citations:
[1] Zhu Jinghua, Conglin.On the efficacy and use of coenzyme Q10[J].Athletics, 2022(009):000.
[2] Yang Zeyi. "Coenzyme Q10: A New Resource for Human Health Food." Sports Research 28.2 (2007): 3.
[3] Du Li. "Clinical, pathological, and genetic analysis of primary Coenzyme Q10 deficiency (with 1 case report)." Journal of Clinical Neurology 29.3 (2016): 3.