Food or nutrient combinations often can provide synergistic or complementary benefits to your overall health and well-being. Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, has important roles in your body as an antioxidant and as a compound with an essential function in energy metabolism and production. Resveratrol, a plant phytochemical and dietary constituent, may assist CoQ10 with maintaining the health of your heart and blood vessels and utilizing fat for energy.
CoQ10 and Resveratrol
Your body produces its own CoQ10, although levels decline with age and may become low if you develop a chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer. CoQ10, which is also called ubiquinone, is an essential component of the energy-generating machinery in the mitochondria of all of your body’s cells. Resveratrol, which is present in red grapes and wine, is a member of a class of compounds called polyphenols. Resveratrol is also available in supplement form as a red grape or wine extract and is sometimes incorporated into CoQ10 supplements.
CoQ10 is needed in the mitochondria of your body’s cells to make the storage form of energy called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Raising a low CoQ10 level could benefit problems with energy production in tissues such as heart or muscle, and increasing your CoQ10 intake may improve your exercise capacity and endurance. Resveratrol may complement CoQ10 by facilitating the burning of fat for energy. For example, a study published in the Nov. 2, 2011 issue of “Cell Metabolism” reported improvement in muscle mitochondrial fatty acid utilization and metabolism for energy in obese human subjects receiving 150 milligrams of resveratrol per day for 30 days.
CoQ10 functions as an antioxidant that is important to the health of your arteries and may help to protect against cardiovascular disease. Although not all studies agree, CoQ10 may be important for maintaining normal blood pressure. Resveratrol may also help to maintain the health of your arteries and prevent cardiovascular disease, as suggested in a review published in the December 2010 issue of "Molecular Aspects of Medicine." Resveratrol may also help to regulate your blood pressure. In hypertensive human subjects, dietary resveratrol supplements caused artery dilation, according to a study published in the November 2011 issue of “Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases.”
CoQ10 is absorbed from your small intestine with dietary fats. Fatty ocean fish, organ meats and whole grains are good natural sources of CoQ10. Food sources of resveratrol in addition to red grapes, red grape juices and red wines include peanuts, pistachios and berries. Approximately 70 percent of dietary resveratrol is absorbed, after which most is rapidly metabolized in your liver to compounds that do not likely have resveratrol's health benefits. However, the metabolites of resveratrol can move into your small intestine with bile secretions and bacteria can regenerate biologically active resveratrol for re-absorption in your large intestine.
- The Mayo Clinic: Coenzyme Q10
- Biochemistry, Fifth Edition; Jeremy Berg et al.
- Linus Pauling Institute: Resveratrol
- Nutrition: Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10 – An Update
- Biofactors: Systematic Review of Effect of Coenzyme Q10 in Physical Exercise, Hypertension and Heart Failure
- Cell Metabolism: Calorie Restriction-Like Effects of 30 Days of Resveratrol Supplementation on Energy Metabolism and Metabolic Profile in Obese Humans
- Biofactors: Coenzyme Q(10), Endothelial Function, and Cardiovascular Disease
- Journal of Human Hypertension: Coenzyme Q10 in the Treatment of Hypertension – A Meta-Analysis of the Clinical Trials
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: Blood Pressure Lowering Efficacy of Coenzyme Q10 for Primary Hypertension
- Molecular Aspects of Medicine: Resveratrol and Cardiovascular Health
- Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases: Acute Resveratrol Supplementation Improves Flow-Mediated Dilatation in Overweight/Obese Individuals with Mildly Elevated Blood Pressure
- The Mayo Clinic: Coenzyme Q10
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Coenzyme Q10
- British Journal of Nutrition: Concentrations of Resveratrol and Derivatives in Foods and Estimation of Dietary Intake in a Spanish Population – European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain Cohort
- Aging: The Journey of Resveratrol from Yeast to Human
- The Mayo Clinic: Red Wine and Resveratrol – Good for Your Heart?
- glass of red wine with grapes and a black and white napkin image by David Smith from Fotolia.com