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Co-Enzyme Q10
The Co-Enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a constituent that is naturally present in living cells. Its physiological function is to act like an essential cofactor to the production of ATP and to carry out important antioxidant activities in the body.
In most countries, the CoQ10 has been widely used as a dietary supplement for more than 20 years. Published reports about security studies indicate that CoQ10 has a weak toxicity but does not have any undesirable effects on humans.
According to the NOAEL (No observed adverse Effect level) of 1200 mg/kg/day, the acceptable daily intake (ADI) is 12mg/kg/day. This NOAEL comes from a chronic toxicity study of 52 weeks done on a rat, corresponding to 720mg/day for a person weighing 60kg.
An experiment on sportsmen has shown that an increase of the daily dose to 60-100mg for 4 to 8 weeks increases the physical capacity.
The heart rate improves for people suffering from heart problems and the lipid metabolism is more effective.
The reduction of the CoQ10 rate is linked to the ageing as well as to diverse other factors such as extreme physical activity, stress, high alcohol and tobacco consumption, as well as to specific illnesses.
Certain medicaments that reduce the cholesterol rate also slow down the natural production of CoQ10.
PMID: 19096117 [PubMed - listed for MEDLINE]