February is Heart Health month, so if we are going to talk about great cardio protective nutrients - magnesium, L-carnitine, Omegas etc. - we should definitely talk about Co-Enzyme Q10, also know as CoQ10.
What is Co-enzyme Q10?
Co-enzyme Q10 is not a vitamin nor a mineral. It is a fat soluble, vitamin-like substance in the family of nutrients called ubiquinones. Your body produces this nutrient naturally and it can be found in every tissue - in every cell in the body. It acts as an antioxidant which protects the phospholipids and the mitochondrial membranes from damage caused by lipid peroxidation. CoQ10 is vital in the functioning of mitochondria (the powerplants of our cells that play a big role in healthy aging) – as it acts as an electron carrier in the mitochondrial transport chain (for those who like the specifics) and is therefore, essential for the production of the body’s energy molecule (ATP) which is used for cell growth and repair. Organs such as our heart, liver and brain, and our muscle tissue, require large amounts of CoQ10 to function properly.
A common analogy is that of a spark plug - just as a ca