Fuel Your Energetic Heart!

The Sunday Star, 13 March 2011

Fuel your heart

Feeling tired all the time may be a sign that the body is lacking

in a viatmin-like substance called Coenzyme Q10.

PAUL Lim, 45 years old, works in an advertising firm that requires

him to work long hours and entertain clients in the night. The

constant late nights and lack of sleep causes him to suffer from

brain fog.

How about you? Do you find yourself feeling dull and out of focus

or having difficulty concentrating in any hour of the day? Is your

memory failing you sometimes?

This subtle loss of brain power is a sign of your body running low

on energy.

If you are feeling tired all the time, chances are that your heart

is probably not getting the "fuel" that it needs to be strong and

healthy. This fuel, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), is essential for

production of energy at the cellular level.

Coenzyme Q10, energy, and heart health

Scientists have discovered that your heart contains 10 times more

CoQ10 than any other organ, and it beats 100,000 times a day. None

of these beats could have happened without energy. Therefore, the

heart, being a non-stop working organ, requires a tremendous amount

of continuous energy supply.

Human energy production is a complicated process. The food we eat

is broken down into smaller components in the digestive tract.

These smaller components are then used by the cells to produce

energy. For the cells to convert food to energy, it requires a

vitamin-like substance called Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Without

Coenzyme Q10 our body is unable to make energy.

What causes CoQ10 deficiency

CoQ10 is produced by every cell of the body. The production of

CoQ10 is a 17-step process, which requires at least eight vitamins,

several trace minerals, and the amino acid tyrosine. A deficiency

in any one of the nutrients due to poor dietary intake can hinder

the body's production of CoQ10.

Age can lower your CoQ10 levels. As we age, our body produces less

CoQ10. By the time you reach 50, your heart will be struggling with

half the CoQ10 you had when you were 21.

When that happens, your heart cannot work efficiently, and is not

able to deliver all the oxygen and nutrients needed by the organs,

tissues, and every part of your body. You feel tired and run down.

Intensive exercise can deplete our body's CoQ10. Stress further

exhausts CoQ10 reserves.

Drugs can also cause CoQ10 depletion in the body. An example is the

popular cholesterol-lowering drug family, HMG-CoA Reductase

Inhibitor (statins), which not only lower cholesterol levels, but

also CoQ10. Statins block cholesterol synthesis by inhibiting the

enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. However, this effect is not selective as

it also blocks CoQ10 production.

Studies have shown that CoQ10 depletion from statin use can be

reversed with supplementation. Further, CoQ10 supplementation does

not appear to affect the cholesterol-lowering efficacy of statins.

CoQ10 for healthy cholesterol levels

Researchers have found that not all cholesterols are bad.

Cholesterol can be divided generally into HDL-high density

lipoprotein (good cholesterol) and LDL-low density lipoprotein (bad

cholesterol).

The higher the HDL levels in the blood, the better. LDL is not

really bad but becomes a problem only when it is oxidised by free

radicals. It is the oxidised LDL that builds up in our arteries and

helps to develop the plaque which is characteristic of hardened

arteries.

In the bloodstream, 60% CoQ10 is transported by LDL. CoQ10 protects

LDL from being oxidised by free radicals. Studies have found that

when more CoQ10 is contained in LDL-cholesterol, the less

susceptible it is to oxidation and the less likely it is to form

artery clogging plague.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2011/3/13/health/8221236&sec=health

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