Archive for the ‘Co Q10’ Category

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rapidly approaching epidemic levels with up to 26 million Americans suffering from some form of kidney disease. The kidneys filter 200 quarts of blood every day. Our high-pressure and toxin-rich environment to surrounding renal function makes these delicate, highly complex organs especially vulnerable to damage, dysfunction, and disease.

High blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen), certain medications, and high-protein diets are the most common threats to kidney health.

Nutrients such as pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P), CoQ10, silymarin, resveratrol and lipoic acid along with Omega-3 are all clinically supported, potent interventions.

Read the whole story in May, 2010 issue of Life Extension.

Statin drugs are heavily used and over-prescribed because of misinformation and pharmaceutical promoted advertising, which isn’t always in favor of the customer. High doses of statin drugs are frequently unnecessary and pharmaceutical companies never suggest alternatives like Co-Q10 to offset the depletion by statin drugs. Depletion of Co Q10 can cause brain damage and loss of memory, so if you must take a statin drug you also must take Co Q10 to balance the loss.

I have been off of statin drugs for 18 months now and feel healthier than when I was taking Lipitor.

Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases are on the rise. The pharmaceutical companies have not found a drug that cures a person. What’s the answer?

It’s so simple that most people don’t know about it. It’s getting proper cellular nutrition.

Studies have shown that one of the largest if not the only cause of neurodegenerative diseases is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is simply the damage made to our cells by the normal process of metabolism, which creates free radicals.

Antioxidants to the rescue. But some antioxidants don’t pass through the blood brain barrier and then the cells begin to die. To keep a healthy brain we need a good diet, exercise and quality nutritional food supplements. A major factor in the death of brain cells are the statin drugs which take the cholesterol from the body. Without cholesterol, Co-Q10 and other nutrition, the brain cells die and the loss of mental capabilities sets in.

Studies today are showing with proper supplements which will pass through the brain blood cells some of the damaging effects can be reversed.

Again, eat good nutritious food, meditate, exercise regularly and take quality supplements.

Several people have asked me about Co Q10 and what it does.

First of all Co Q10 is a compound that is made naturally in the body. As we grow older the body doesn’t make as much anymore. The Q and the 10 refer to the groups of chemicals that make up the coenzyme.

A coenzyme helps an enzyme do its job. An enzyme is a protein that speeds up the rate at which natural chemical reactions take place in the body. Co Q10 makes the energy necessary to the cells to grow and stay healthy. Co Q10 is also an antioxidant which protects the cells from free radicals which can damage DNA. This in turn protects the body against some cancers.

According to the journal Life Extension Coenzyme Q10 was identified in 1957 and its chemical structure was determined in 1958. By 1961 it was used as a possible treatment for cancer. Patients with low Co Q10 have been found with cancer.

Life Extension, September, 2009.

As reported in Sunday’s Star Tribune, August 23, 2009, by Stephen Ohlemacher, AP, millions of older people will face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time since 1975. The reason, the government will deduct more for the Medicare prescription drug program. Recipients will receive the same dollar amount this year than they last year but the government will take more dollars out for Medicare so their checks will be smaller.

Older people need more medical help because they haven’t been getting proper nutrition as a rule. The lack of proper nutrition brings more disease and larger medical bills. If the pharmaceutical companies would push food supplements with the money they spend on advertising Americans would be healthier and not need their drugs. A catch 22.

Scientific studies have shown that most diseases come from lack of proper nutrition. Our bodies need the nutrients that are not in processed food. Therefore the need of supplementation is of vital importance.

Just to name a couple – we know that the majority of people do not get enough vitamin D. In Minnesota we only get enough vitamin D for three months out of the year. If we put on sunscreen then we don’t get enough even then. If we don’t put on sunscreen we could get skin cancer. Vitamin D3 is very inexpensive.

Coenzyme Q10 works in every cell of our body. As we get older out bodies don’t produce as much, so supplementation is necessary.

Omega-3, basically from fish oil, is an anti-inflammatory supplement. It lowers inflammation and reduces cholesterol.

The list goes on but I hope you get the idea, there are many ways you can reduce diseases like cardiac arrest, fibromyalgia, dementia, etc.

Red wine, red grapes, dark chocolate, green tea, more fiber all work to bring better health. Processed foods have too many pesticides, herbicides, salt, and that list goes on as well.

Remember, it’s never too late to improve your health.

It’s hard to know where to begin when speaking of nutritional supplements. In 1982, supplement sales amounted to only two billion dollars. By 1999, sales were more than $15 billion, and growing more each day.

Only a couple of decades ago, just a few vitamins and minerals were the only supplements nutritionists needed to know about. Now with all the scientific advances that we have seen and are seeing every day, we’re beginning to understand how these supplements work in the human body.

Traditionally doctors have told us we don’t need supplements. They kept saying that over the years even as they began taking supplements for themselves. The FDA and other branches of our government are slow to come into the 21^st century. Because the pharmaceutical companies basically write the laws on food and drugs, and the need for health care, neutraceuticals are being outlawed in many cases. The Food Guide Pyramid is calculated to contain all the nutrients a body needs. They maintain therefore you don’t need supplements if you follow the Food Guide Pyramid. Today we know the Food Guide Pyramid is neither accurate nor complete.

Those who propose taking supplements are often negatively placed into the alternate health care position. But we know there is a profound difference between the absence of scurvy and optimum health when taking vitamin C. And unfortunately until recently the FDA has taken the stance that one size fits all.

Do we buy fire insurance because we know we’re going to have a fire? So nutritional “insurance” will help provide us with a healthy body. Also, many drugs prescribed by doctors drain away vital nutrients. For example, if you are taking Lipitor, your doctor should prescribe Coenzyme Q 10. Mine didn’t. The essential fatty acids in fish oils does a better job than Lipitor in lowering cholesterol. But following that line would make a hugh dent in the $20 billion a year in sales for Lipitor alone. Take away the 95% that is not needed and see where that leaves the pharmaceuticals.

The reason the pharmaceutical companies need to advertise so heavily in print and TV is that thinking people would stop buying all these drugs if not for the scare tactics of the pharmaceutical companies. When people stop buying all these processed foods and go back to whole food without the nutrition taken out the pharmaceutical companies would loose billions and billions of dollars each year and they want to feed the fat cats.

Ever since I did some consulting work for Nordic Naturals in 2008 I have noticed the lack of omega-3 in our diets. Now Harvard University researchers bring us amazing news.

“Omega-3 deficiency is the sixth biggest killer of Americans and more deadly than excess trans fat intake, according to a new study.

“The Harvard University researchers looked at 12 dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors such as tobacco smoking and high blood pressure and used a mathematical model to determine how many fatalities could have been prevented if better practices had been observed.

“The study, jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Association of Schools of Public Health, drew on 2005 data from the US National Health Center for Health Statistics. They determined that there were 72,000-96,000 preventable deaths each year due to omega-3 deficiency, compared to 63,000-97,000 for high trans fat intake.” (1)

There were some gaps in the study. Vitamin D was not brought into consideration and I don’t believe that Co-Q10 was looked at either. But it is amazing how we have overlooked a number of vitamins and minerals over the last 50 years. Now it’s true we didn’t know about all of the effects of poor nutrition but the process food makers knew they were leaving out a look of the nutrition in their reach for profit.

Remember, it’s your life and you are the ultimate responsible person. Read what you can and when you read scientific studies try to find independent labs that do the studies. They won’t get their funding cut if they give an honest report.

(1) Read the whole story in www.nutraingredients-usa.com June 26, 2009

There is a long trail in the making of cholesterol. And in these steps we find the Achilles heel of the statin drugs.

“The mevalonic acid-HMG-CoA reductase step is but the first step on the long climb to cholesterol synthesis. Many intermediate steps are required before the ultimate goal of cholesterol synthesis is achieved. In at least two of these steps, five carbon units of the enormous steroid class of drugs, destined to be used for other biosynthetic pathways in the human body, are involved. Statin drugs, while curtailing cholesterol biosynthesis, must inevitably inhibit the production of these vital intermediary products. One might say these two simple steps are probably the Achilles heel of the statin drugs, in that the side effects resulting from impaired production of these substances may be intolerable or even harmful to many. . . .The inevitability of significant, serious and even lethal side effects has been knowingly accepted. Production of the ubiquinone coenzyme [CoQ10] is one of these collaterally damaged areas of great concern since the ramifications are both broad and profound. Biosynthesized in the mitochondria—the tiny powerhouse of the cell that is responsible for cellular respiration and energy—ubiquinone functions as a vital and necessary electron carrier to our ultimate respiratory enzyme, cytochrome oxidase. Because of the extremely high energy demands of the heart, this organ is usually the first to feel the statin-associated CoQ10 depletion as cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure.” (1)

1.      Graveline, Duane, M.D., LIPITOR, THIEF OF MEMORY, Published by Duane Graveline MD. 2006, p.56

One good move today is taking place as some schools are taking soda/pop machines out of the schools. The cola companies promised to give a percentage of the dollars spent back to the schools. But at what cost? The corn syrup industry likes it. The dentists get plenty of business filling teeth. But the student suffers. For one thing it raises the omega-6 level in the body which is already out of balance for a healthy life.

The most important thing we can do for our children is to provide them with good, natural fresh foods and clean water. Instead of the candy bar eat a piece of fresh fruit. To my understanding, most tastes are acquired. If you give a child wholesome, nutritious food they will look for that when they snack. I suggest organic foods wherever possible. They may cost a little more up front but then you don’t have as many illnesses and doctor’s bills.

There are also several supplements you actually need.

First we don’t get enough omega-3—the anti-inflammatory “medicine”. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 should be one-to-two. Studies today say it is more like 1-to-17 or 25. (Much of this comes from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in our diets. Omega-3 is also very important for making healthy cells in every part of our bodies. They are also essential for prenatal and childhood brain development.

Probiotics (acidophilus/bifidus) are the healthy bacteria that needs to be in our digestive system. When we take an anti-biotic, the good bacteria gets killed along with the bad and it needs help to be restored to the proper level.

A multi vitamin for children then helps to fill the gays that usually happens in every diet. Keep extra vitamin C on hand for use when a cold is coming on.

As the child gets older vitamin D is a necessity for those of us living in northern climates where we don’t get enough sun to manufacture the vitamin D our system needs. Milk is often fortified with vitamin D.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is the energy running every cell in the body. The heart works harder than any other muscle in the body. To keep it healthy we need a balance to keep our energy up.

Just a reminder! When you buy food supplements buy QUALITY. The cheapest is probably the most expensive in the long run. A recent study showed that one-third of the supplements tested didn’t provide what was stated on the label. A poor supplement will just pass through the body without any benefit at all. Some children’s vitamins were too potent for the age listed on the label. It is important to buy a good quality supplement.

You only have one body. Take care of it.

Statin drugs help about 30 percent of the people taking them. But that leaves 70 percent who are not helped by taking a statin drug. And statin drugs weaken muscles, drains away CoQ10, which every cell in the body needs, and can lead to memory loss and even death. The purpose of statin drugs is to lower cholesterol and yet we have found out today by continued research that cholesterol is not the problem for heart disease. And statin drugs do not restore healthy arteries to the heart or anywhere else in the body.

Dr. Jay Cohen states that 10 natural remedies have been shown to improve cholesterol levels. And we all know that natural remedies cost much less than a drug. When I was taking Lipitor I had a $25 co-pay but my Medicare provider was paying more than $200. I also felt that my memory wasn’t as sharp as it had been. This is another danger of statin drugs.

Studies have shown that omega-3 does a better job of lowering your cholesterol than a statin drug. You need CoQ10 in your body for energy and statin drugs lowers the amount of CoQ10. As you grow older the body doesn’t make as much CoQ10 so you already need to supplement it without having statin drugs drain it away.