I am wondering what brand of CoQ10 everyone is taking. There are so many on the market that I am unsure what would be my best option and which brands are most effective.

You are right....many to choose from.

I am using a 300mg CoQ-10 enhanced absorption one now I bought from SAMs club. I've been on it 2 weeks, and really don't notice much. Maybe I will see something by the end of the bottle, of 60. They are just HUGE in size... fills my little
dose cup right up! I have to psyche myself up to swallow the thing!

There are water soluble ones now, supposed to be better.
Q-gel is one. They cost more but you use less.

example:
http://www.epic4health.com/noname.html

The newer form ubinquinol doesn't have many raves...so I don't know if it is worth the money at this time.

If you get the regular one in an oil base, take it with food, preferably with a higher fat meal. This will improve solubility and absorption.

I don't think I have a big issue requiring it. But I thought to try.

MrsD,

What exactly should one "notice" when taking CoQ10? I take it due to recommendations since i take a statin, but certainly have never noticed anything good (or bad) from it.

Co-Q 10 for statin users protects the heart. Without it, statins block your liver from making the CoQ-10 for you.

Muscle contraction and high performance requires it. People low
in CoQ-10 can develop congestive heart failure and/or cardiomyopathy.
It has very important functions for heart muscle--which never stops, and uses a great amount of energy.

It doesn't really do much else. For Parkinson's patients or people with certain ataxias, it improves cell function in the brain to
help with movement disorders.

For regular people, it is mostly silent doing its thing.

It is a cofactor in mitochondrial energy production. So I added it to my acetyl carnitine and ribose.

I would expect it to be missed once discontinued. It is a gradual support type nutrient. And vital for those on Statins!

Thanks for more detailed info on what it does. I thought I was missing out on something when you said it had been 2 weeks and you hadn't 'noticed' much.

You take 300 mg...is that a normal dose? I might be taking too little. My doctor recommended 100mg daily. I didn't even see anything other 100mg at the store.

If you are on statins you need ALOT...

It might be worth your while to the the Q-gel which is better absorbed. 300mg and above of regular costs more than
30-50mg of the Q-gel. The link is above.

CoQ-10 was known by Merck when they were making lovastatin.
(Mevacor). It was KNOWN way back that CoQ-10 was depleted by statins. Merck even took a patent for a mixture of both.
But back then CoQ-10 was not understood well, and only came in powder form, which was not soluble. So Merck dropped the combo product, and kept the secret allowing for thousands and thousands of people to get terrible consequences from lost CoQ-10 due to its blocked synthesis. It has only be recently that the "secret" became known, and more work was done on solubility. I think it is morally bankrupt what drug companies do.

The reason drug companies kept this secret is that they knew patients would not buy expensive CoQ-10 to offset the damage of a statin which was covered by insurance. It was all greed motivated.

More important than the brand is to get tested before you start CoQ10.

I spoke with my ND today about CoQ10 because my test result showed I was low.

I got a 'prescription' to eat red meat (from a naturopath!) because it is most concentrated natural resource with CoQ10. She said to be careful in looking for a good butcher where the livestock aren't fed the bad hormones.

I had backed away from red meat because of the hormone issues in the news. Little did I know I was depleting myself of CoQ10, and putting my heart in jeopardy.

Some meat has more CoQ10 than others, so consider that, too.

I had been taking supplements only, no meat, but absorption seemed weak. I suspect absorption from food will be better than supplements.

I asked her when I should get retested. She suggested six months. I asked the cost of the isolated CoQ10 test (because mine was in a package test), and she said $70.

Considering how important CoQ10 is in many respects (heart, liver, etc.), I don't think that's a lot.

I'd recommend the CoQ10 test to everyone. It'll help us avoid taking too little meat/supplements, and make sure it doesn't get too high.