What is CoQ10? A plain guide

CoQ10 (coenzyme Q10) is a fat-soluble compound found in the mitochondria of cells, where it is a component of the electron transport chain, part of the cell's energy-making machinery. It is also in meat, fish, nuts and some oils, and it is sold as a supplement in two forms: ubiquinone and ubiquinol.

What does CoQ10 do in the body?

CoQ10 is an essential component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, the sequence of reactions in mitochondria that cells use to make energy (Tsai 2022). It is also described as a natural antioxidant (Pravst 2010). That is what the compound is. It is a separate question whether swallowing a capsule changes anything you would notice, and for the dose in our capsule we make no such claim. The research on specific outcomes, with who was studied and at what dose, is in CoQ10: what the research does and doesn't show.

Where CoQ10 comes from: food

A 2010 review of published food measurements found meat, fish, nuts and some oils to be the richest sources of CoQ10. Dairy, vegetables, fruit and cereals contain much less, and the amount in the same food varies widely by where it was produced. The same review put average dietary intake at only 3-6 mg a day, about half of it in the reduced form (Pravst 2010).

For scale, one 200 mg capsule is roughly 33 to 67 times that average dietary intake (200 divided by 6, and by 3). That is label arithmetic, not a statement about what the difference does. No supplement panel lists a Daily Value for CoQ10; ours reads "Daily Value not established".

Ubiquinone vs ubiquinol: what is the difference?

Ubiquinone is the oxidized form of CoQ10. Ubiquinol is the reduced form. Both are CoQ10, and supplements are sold as either.

Which one is better is a common question, and the honest answer is that the evidence is thin and mixed. Two small trials compared them directly, on blood levels only, and they disagree. In 12 healthy adults, 4 weeks of 200 mg a day of ubiquinol raised plasma CoQ10 more than ubiquinone in the same softgel; the forms were taken one after the other, and the authors are from a CoQ10 laboratory (Langsjoen 2014). In 21 adults aged 65 to 74, a single 100 mg dose of ubiquinol capsules was not significantly different from ubiquinone capsules (Pravst 2020). Neither tested an outcome, and neither tested a powder capsule like ours, so we name no winner. The ubiquinol study we reviewed was run by that product's manufacturer: it gave healthy volunteers 90 to 300 mg a day of a branded ubiquinol for 4 weeks, found it was absorbed, and saw no lab or ECG changes (Hosoe 2007). That manufacturer study did not test ubiquinone alongside it. Claims that one form is better absorbed rest on small trials like those above.

What can be shown is that the formulation matters for blood levels. In a crossover of 10 healthy adults, a soybean-oil softgel gave the highest absorption of four 100 mg CoQ10 formulations tested, and a powder capsule was one of the comparators (Weis 1994). A 54-person study of 60 mg a day found a solubilised form raised blood levels more than crystalline or oily forms, though the main differences were not statistically significant (Schulz 2006). Neither abstract says whether the CoQ10 was ubiquinone or ubiquinol.

What is in our CoQ10 capsule?

Electric Tiger CoQ10 200 mg has 200 mg of coenzyme Q10 per capsule, as ubiquinone, with rice flour in a hypromellose (vegetable) capsule. It is a plain powder, with no oil, and we do not have absorption data on this exact capsule. There are 30 capsules in a bottle, one a day.

We make no benefit claim for it. The trials we read that reported an effect used 300 mg a day, and none of the abstracts we read tested 200 mg of ubiquinone.

Questions people ask

What does CoQ10 do, and what is it used for?

In the body it is part of the mitochondrial energy chain, as above. People take supplements for many reasons, and trials have looked at several outcomes at specific doses; those results belong with their limits in the research review, not as a promise on this page.

Why take CoQ10, and should I take it?

We can't tell you that you should. We found no group of healthy people shown to need a CoQ10 supplement at our dose, and no dose-matched trial for our capsule. If you have a medical condition or take a prescription medicine, ask your prescriber or pharmacist first (see CoQ10 and medications and who should not take CoQ10).

Who needs CoQ10, and when should it be taken?

No one has a recognised requirement set for it; there is no Daily Value. Timing is covered in the best time to take CoQ10.

What food has CoQ10, and which food is highest?

Meat, fish, nuts and some oils, per the 2010 food review above. Vegetables, fruit, dairy and cereals have much less. Average intake is 3-6 mg a day.

Is CoQ10 a vitamin?

It is a compound the review above calls a natural antioxidant; it is not one of the numbered vitamins. It has no Daily Value on a Supplement Facts panel.

What is CoQ10 made of, and what is in a CoQ10 supplement?

The active is coenzyme Q10 itself, as ubiquinone or ubiquinol. Beyond that it depends on the product: some are powder in a capsule, others are suspended in oil in a softgel. Read the "other ingredients" line. Ours lists rice flour and hypromellose.

How much CoQ10 is the recommended dosage?

No official dose exists. The doses used in studies, and where 200 mg sits among them, are in how much CoQ10 you should take a day.

How do I choose a CoQ10 supplement or brand?

We don't rank brands. How to choose a good CoQ10 is a checklist you can apply to any label, ours included.

What about CoQ10 for dogs, or with red yeast rice, PQQ or omega-3?

We write for adults and have no pet dosing data; ask a vet. We have not reviewed trials of CoQ10 combined with red yeast rice, PQQ or omega-3, so we say nothing about those pairs.