Twelve weeks of supplementation led to increased plasma levels of CoQ10, with unchanged levels in muscle tissue and isolated mitochondria. No differences in mitochondrial function, glucose homeostasis, and physical performance were found in a cohort of robust older adults.
A useless supplement.
Thank you for that, one less supplement to worry about. Did the population include statin users? This is on the main context that I hear Coq10 can be helpful.
That was my personal experience. No benefit I could tell. I quit coq10 a few years ago.
Right. I never took it, because I could never find any convincing evidence it worked. I remember some 20 years ago there was a lot of talk about it on the CR list, but very quickly two camps formed, and I agreed with the skeptics. The “statin users benefit” seemed plausible mechanistically, but no study ever showed a clear benefit. Some claim the form you take it in is important, but here it shows that regardless - it’s present in the serum, but does nothing much, at least in these outcomes.
For my part, I took 200-400mg every day for 6 weeks, compared levels before and after, and didn’t see much change. I’m a statin user.
According to my Claude Opus 4.5 AI health agent:
Based on my search, I believe you’re referring to the NHANES observational study (Liang et al., 2025) showing CoQ10 supplementation was not associated with all-cause or CVD mortality in general US adults (HR 1.00 for all-cause, HR 1.30 for CVD, neither significant).
How damning is this?
Not very. Here’s why:
Limitations of the NHANES study:
Functional outcome RCTs that refute the “CoQ10 is useless” interpretation:
| Trial | Population | Design | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q-SYMBIO (2014) | 420 patients, moderate-severe heart failure | RCT, 300 mg/day, 2 years | 42% reduction all-cause mortality (p=0.018), 43% reduction CV mortality (p=0.026), 50% reduction in MACE (p=0.003) |
| KiSel-10 (2013, 12-yr follow-up 2018) | 443 elderly Swedes (70-88 years) | RCT, CoQ10 200 mg + selenium 200 mcg, 4 years | 53% reduction CV mortality at 4 years, effect persisted at 12-year follow-up (28.1% vs 38.7% CV mortality) |
| European Q-SYMBIO subgroup (2019) | 231 European HF patients | Post-hoc | Confirmed mortality reduction, significant LVEF improvement |
The key distinction:
The NHANES study asks: “Do random Americans who happen to take CoQ10 live longer than those who don’t?” Answer: No signal.
The RCTs ask: “Does CoQ10 at therapeutic doses improve outcomes in people with documented mitochondrial compromise (heart failure, elderly)?” Answer: Yes, significantly.
I put more stock in functional outcomes than mechanistic measurements.
The only use case is in people on statins and even there the evidence is mixed and the human body only needs like 0.5mg per day.
I have seen at least 5 primary providers since I was first prescribed a statin. Not one doctor suggested that I take a CoQ10 supplement.