Does CoQ10 lower blood pressure? What the research does and doesn't show

The evidence doesn't support CoQ10 as a treatment for high blood pressure. A Cochrane review of two small placebo-controlled trials (50 people) found no clinically significant change in blood pressure. A later analysis of 26 trials in people with cardiometabolic disorders found a small average fall in systolic pressure, with limits set out below.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support CoQ10 as a treatment for high blood pressure, or as a reason to change or skip prescribed treatment or blood pressure checks. It doesn't give a dose that lowers blood pressure: one analysis reported that about 100 to 200 mg a day was associated with the largest fall in systolic pressure, but that is a curve fitted across many trials of mixed people and forms, not a dose tested in people with hypertension and shown to work. It doesn't show a quick effect: the Cochrane review counted only trials of at least three weeks, and we found no trial that measured blood pressure within hours or days. And it doesn't show that CoQ10 raises blood pressure; none of the abstracts we read reported a rise.

What the trials found

Primary hypertension, Cochrane review. The 2016 update included three double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of at least three weeks in people with primary hypertension. One was judged too unreliable to pool, so two trials (50 participants) were combined. CoQ10 did not significantly change systolic pressure (-3.68 mm Hg, 95% CI -8.86 to 1.49) or diastolic pressure (-2.03 mm Hg, 95% CI -4.86 to 0.81). The authors called this moderate-quality evidence that CoQ10 has no clinically significant effect, and said the numbers of people and studies were small (a Cochrane review, Ho 2016). The abstract gives no dose or form.

Cardiometabolic disorders, 26 trials. A 2022 GRADE-assessed meta-analysis pooled 26 studies in 1,831 people with cardiometabolic disorders. Systolic pressure was 4.77 mmHg lower than in control groups (95% CI -6.57 to -2.97), with moderate certainty for systolic pressure and low certainty for diastolic. The effect was larger in people with diabetes or dyslipidaemia and in studies longer than 12 weeks. The people studied had cardiometabolic disorders, which is not the same group as people with primary hypertension, and the abstract does not state forms (Zhao 2022).

Type 2 diabetes, 7 trials. A 2015 meta-analysis of seven placebo-controlled trials lasting at least 12 weeks (356 patients with diabetes) found that CoQ10 alone did not change blood pressure (Suksomboon 2015).

The three analyses asked about different groups. The one limited to primary hypertension found no clear effect, the broader one found a few mmHg, and the diabetes one found none. A 4.8 mmHg average across a mixed group is a small change, and an average can hide trials that found less.

Questions people ask

Does CoQ10 lower blood pressure, and will or can it?

Not shown in people with primary hypertension: the Cochrane review found no significant change. A broader pooled analysis found a small fall in systolic pressure in people with cardiometabolic disorders. Neither tells you what it would do for you.

Does CoQ10 raise blood pressure, or can it increase it?

None of the abstracts we read reported a rise. That doesn't rule out an individual reaction, and these trials were not designed to look for one.

How quickly does CoQ10 lower blood pressure, and does it work immediately?

The trials we read lasted at least three weeks, and the broader analysis found larger effects in studies longer than 12 weeks. We found no trial showing an immediate effect.

How much CoQ10 lowers blood pressure, and how much should I take?

On average, 4.77 mmHg systolic in the 26-trial analysis and a non-significant 3.68 mm Hg in the Cochrane pooling. There is no established dose: the 100 to 200 mg figure is a modelled estimate across trials, and the trials did not test one dose against placebo in people with hypertension. For the doses studied across outcomes, see CoQ10 dosage.

Can you take CoQ10 with high blood pressure medication?

That is a question for your prescriber or pharmacist. We found no trial testing CoQ10 together with blood pressure medicines, and what is known about CoQ10 and medicines is in CoQ10 and medications. Don't stop or change a prescribed medicine on the strength of a supplement.

Does a branded "blood pressure support" CoQ10 product work?

The reviews above pool trials of CoQ10 itself, not products. We have not compared brands, and a product name on a label is not evidence.

How does CoQ10 lower blood pressure?

The abstracts we read didn't establish a mechanism, so we don't offer one.

When to talk to a doctor

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms and is found by measuring it. If a reading was high, or you have been told you have hypertension, a clinician decides on treatment and follow-up. CoQ10 is not a treatment for high blood pressure. If you take blood pressure medicine, a blood thinner or any other prescription, ask your prescriber or pharmacist before adding a supplement. Severe headache, chest pain or sudden weakness need urgent care, not a supplement.

Related reading: CoQ10 benefits: what the research does and doesn't show, CoQ10 and medications, CoQ10 dosage.