CoQ10 benefits and experiences?

Look, if you'll excuse me for hijacking Grace Baker2's thread—she’s such a fanatic about this stuff she probably won't even mind 😉

What are your thoughts on DHEA? 😕

I was just reading an article about this hormone that our bodies naturally produce, though production drops off a cliff as we age. Apparently, by supplementing, we can essentially "turn back the clock." From what I gather, DHEA helps restore physical fitness, boosts libido, improves skin tone, and strengthens bone density. It also aids in shifting body composition by reducing fat while building muscle mass, keeps skin hydrated, reduces pigmentation, and sharpens mental clarity and sleep quality.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:What’s the consensus on DHEA?😕

I guess I'll have an answer for you in about 50 years.😉

In all seriousness, I honestly don't know. I think we just don't have enough data or significant clinical progress yet to actually understand the full picture. It’s possible the stuff works wonders and any side effects are minor or totally negligible.
Personally, I wouldn't touch it right now. If something acts that broadly on the system, I’d be pretty cautious... I don't necessarily assume it's harmless.

I'm looking back at your original post where you stated:

Grace Baker2 said:I should mention that I'm just a layman in all of this, but over the last few years, I've become increasingly interested in healthy living—especially healthy eating habits.

And then later in the text:

And no, I am not afraid of taking a handful of pills regularly.

Doesn't that strike you as contradictory? To me, a healthy lifestyle and a nutritious diet imply something entirely different than relying on chemical supplements.

Please don't take this personally. Like most people, I'd love to reach my senior years in great shape, but I'm genuinely confused here; this seems like far too simplistic a solution.

Honestly, darkbison81, those bottles aren't actually that pricey since I pick everything up at Costco. For instance, I grab the acidophilus with bifidus—the 180-capsule bottle with at least 6 billion active cells—for about $11. My multivitamins and Omega-3s are roughly the same price, and calcium and magnesium run me maybe $5 or $6. That usually lasts me a full six months. Everything else stays pretty affordable too, except for the Coenzyme Q10. The 120-capsule bottle with 60 mg goes for over $30.
Thanks for listening and for all the helpful advice.

darkbison81 said:I wouldn't touch it right now. Nothing this potent is ever truly harmless. If it has such a broad physiological effect, I’d be extremely cautious...

The facts just don't line up, and it's confusing. You have DHEA being sold on supermarket shelves right here in the USA 😲 while other places are still stuck in the research phase—take France, for example, where everyone is obsessed with it. I don't know what to make of it. Honestly, I don't trust supplements at all, except for basic fruits and veggies you can grab at the grocery store. Besides, if this stuff were actually a miracle cure, why wouldn't it be everywhere by now? 😕

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:I’m honestly just confused by the facts here—DHEA is already sitting on shelves in American supermarkets 😲 while other places are still stuck in the research phase. Over in France, everyone seems obsessed with it... I don't know what to make of it. To be honest, I don't trust anything unless it's fresh produce I can grab at the local grocery store. Besides, if this stuff were truly that spectacular, why isn't there more demand for it? 😕

I actually picked up a bottle myself just to prove my point about how much junk you can find in American supermarkets. It was dirt cheap, too (and honestly, I'd rather not even think about whether they extracted it from something living or if they're using a pure synthetic process 🙄). From what I can tell, people in France are still pretty cautious about this kind of thing.

Look, some things are chemically active and could potentially benefit human health, but that requires actual proof. Otherwise, pumping a substance with an unknown mechanism of action into a healthy body is, at the very least, irresponsible.

PS: When it comes to the USA, it’s probably the craziest country on the planet. I really hope the European Union doesn't follow their lead when it comes to chemicals, processed food, and all the other nonsense found in supermarket aisles. 🙄

Grace Baker2 said:To be honest, darkbison81, those bottles aren't even that pricey since I pick everything up at Costco. For instance, the acidophilus with bifidus—180 capsules with a guaranteed minimum of 6 billion active cells—is only about $11. Multivitamins and Omega-3s run about the same, and calcium and magnesium are maybe $5 or $6. That lasts me six months. Everything else is pretty affordable, too, except for the Coenzyme Q10; the 120-capsule, 60 mg bottle runs over $30.
Thanks, and I appreciate the attention and the helpful advice.

Yeah, if you're on this side of the Atlantic, then it really is quite cheap... though, honestly, when it comes to gut health, grabbing a yogurt is way more effective than swallowing capsules, and you get your calcium in the deal, too.🙂

You're very welcome. 🙂

Around here, everything is sold under the table without any oversight... basically, almost every imported supplement marketed to bodybuilders is loaded with DHEA. It’s a joke, really, because while selling hormonal preparations is technically illegal, they're being peddled openly in local gyms as if it were perfectly fine...🙄

From what I understand, dietary supplements in the USA are categorized as food, so they don't undergo the same intense FDA testing that actual drugs do. They generally stay on the shelves until some bad news forces a recall.

The reality is you can pick these things up at any local supermarket, pharmacy, or even a Whole Foods, so I’m honestly surprised people find it all that shocking. At the end of the day, consumers have both the right and the responsibility to stay informed. Maybe we value personal choice a bit more here in the States than other places do.
You can find products on the shelves of even the smallest corner stores—pretty much everywhere, really—that could be dangerous if used incorrectly, yet they're still available for anyone to grab.

It’s true that the American market is pretty obsessed with youth and beauty. We're constantly bombarded with ads promising these "miracle cures," so we tend to accept them more easily. But for some of you... it's just a matter of time before things catch up.

Look, Kenneth Hernandez67, I don't mind the conversation shifting directions, but it does bother me to see someone I truly respect tossing around labels like "freak" so casually.
But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion...

😢 Look, I didn't mean for that to bother you. I just threw in 😉 as a joke... I wasn't trying to be rude or anything. My apologies.

Accepted and forgiven.
You're a class act, 👍

Grace Baker2 said:1. As far as I know, dietary supplements in the States are categorized as food, so they don't undergo the same rigorous FDA testing as actual drugs. They stay on the shelves until some negative news forces a recall.

2. And look, the reality is you can pick all this stuff up at any regular supermarket, pharmacy, or Whole Foods. I honestly don't get why people find that so shocking.

3. Consumers have both the right and the responsibility to be well-informed. Maybe individual freedom of choice is weighed more heavily here in the US than in other parts of the world.

4. You can find products on the shelves of even the smallest convenience stores—anywhere, really—that could end in disaster if misused, yet they’re still sitting there available for purchase.

5. It’s true that the American market is obsessed with youth and beauty. We’re constantly bombarded by advertisements promising "newly discovered" miracle cures, so we tend to accept them more readily. But you guys... it’s only a matter of time before things catch up.

1. Yeah, it’s a shame.

2. Don't be surprised; I'm just stating the facts.

3. Not quite. Real freedom is when you actually know what you're choosing. Up until recently, there wasn't even much thought given to labeling GMOs in the USA (and just to be clear, I don't have anything against GMOs personally; I just think people deserve to know what they're eating if they want real freedom of choice. That's just one example). It's hard to be well-informed if you can't access the data and your only source of info is a flashy commercial...
Did you know that various GMO ferments that are banned from sale in the European Union for safety reasons hit the American market without any issues? I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't been put in a situation where I saw it firsthand...

4. Sure, if someone drinks bleach, they definitely won't fare well 🙂 but in certain countries, you can find products in supermarkets that, if used even according to the manufacturer's instructions, could cause problems because of a lack of objective testing.

5. I hope the European Union lags behind a bit when it comes to following these bad global trends. At least regarding GMOs, they're finally starting to work on some meaningful legislation...

Please, don't take this personally. I'm simply pointing out the differences in how different regions (the US vs. Europe) view the exact same issue... lately, I've had the chance to see the situation up close, which is why I'm so aware of these distinctions...

There was recently a lecture held in Washington, D.C. regarding so-called mitochondrial medicine (the speaker was Enzman, who specializes specifically in this field), and the primary focus was on Coenzyme Q10.
Essentially, he is researching its impact on degenerative diseases—specifically Parkinson and Alzheimer—but currently, the sample sizes are far too small to draw any definitive conclusions.
I have always been a skeptic when people attempt to explain complex degenerative processes (not to mention the aging process itself) through a single, narrow lens.
By the way, word is that the Pope is apparently using Q10 for treatment... though it's hard to say how much of an effect it actually has.
My father-in-law is battling cancer, so we picked up a pack of Q10 just to see if it would help... he stopped taking it after two days because it made him feel ill.

In any case, I don't believe it is wise to take this as a supplement or a preventative measure.
Random vitamins, minerals, and similar things in pill form aren't always harmless. Every tablet contains a significant amount of "excipients"—binders, talc, you name it—and sometimes the body reacts to those additives in unexpected ways. Then again, when we get our vitamins from fruit, we are likely consuming pesticides as well... so we are essentially in the same boat. 🙄

Furthermore, this obsession with antioxidants is getting out of hand. Antioxidants aren't going to guarantee us longevity; that comes down to good genetics and moderation.

I am not sure if darkbison81 has more information on this, but isn't cyanide the most potent antioxidant known to man? 🙂

darkbison81 - touchE.

By the way, regarding DHEA, I think I heard it’s already been classified as a medication over in the European Union. They apparently use 5 mg and 10 mg doses to help ease menopause symptoms, though it can be pretty hard to track down.
In the USA, DHEA can't really be labeled as a drug because you just can't get a patent on it. Since there's no profit in it, big pharma companies aren't interested.
That leaves marketing as the main driver, where it's sold as a dietary supplement. The downside there is that there isn't much strict oversight regarding quality or the actual amount of pure substance you're getting.
Still, there are various consumer protection laws in place to help find the truth behind the hype.

That's all from me for today.
Take care,

So, are you basically saying most of the stuff we see in commercials—which is all just various forms of natural chemicals anyway—is actually unproven???

Like, there’s zero solid evidence that taking this stuff long-term actually does what they claim it does...

I’m struggling to put this into words perfectly, but I think you get what I mean... 😉

Basically, yeah.

silentpanther15 said:Are you trying to tell me that most of the stuff—basically just various forms of natural chemicals—that they blast us with commercials for is actually unproven???

In other words, there’s no reliable evidence that consuming this kind of stuff long-term actually does what they claim it does...

I'm having a hard time phrasing this question properly, but I think you get my drift... 😉

Sometimes you see an ad that makes perfect sense on paper, but it’s never actually been empirically proven. More often than not, they’ll claim a product was "tested," but those tests are usually garbage—sample sizes are too small, the duration is way too short, and the data is basically useless. Then there's the second half of the scam: manipulating information to make a product sound however they want. They downplay one thing, exaggerate another, and suddenly the overall impression doesn't match reality at all.🙂

There was once this great experiment at a university over in Europe (maybe a sociology department?): they started a petition to ban dihydroxy-oxide. 😁 They used arguments like:
It’s everywhere.
It’s found in acidic liquids.
It’s in pesticides, medicines, food, and drinks.
It can be found in cancer cells.
And so on...
People went absolutely ballistic and signed it en masse... essentially trying to ban water. 🙄

The only advice I can give is this: use some common sense and try to dig through the mountain of "information" being served to us to find the actual facts.

granitebadger25 said:And yeah, this whole obsession with antioxidants is getting out of hand too... I mean, antioxidants aren't going to guarantee us longevity; it’s good genetics and moderation that actually matter.

I'm not sure if darkbison81 has more data on this, but isn't cyanide actually the most potent antioxidant we know of so far?🙂

granitebadger25, thanks for stepping in here.🙂

The absolute most effective way to stop a human from oxidizing is to just stop breathing.😁 Basically, the very atmosphere we breathe is an oxidant.😉 Luckily, we have our own internal reducing agents both inside and outside our cells specifically designed to handle that...

I don't know the exact specifics regarding cyanide (well, the cyanide anion), but you'd need to check that redox potential table to be sure...

Grace Baker22 said:At this point, we're basically just looking at clever marketing disguised as dietary supplements. There’s zero strict oversight, and you can't really trust the quality or even if the active ingredients are actually present in the amounts they claim.

Thanks for the extra insight, Grace. 🙂
If you happen to be out shopping, see if you can spot any labels on those bottles that specify the hormone source or the actual concentration levels...

darkbison81 said:The only advice I’ve got is this: use some common sense. Try to dig through all that "info" we're being fed and actually find the facts.

So, how much does a healthy person who lives an active lifestyle and stays in peak physical shape actually need in terms of supplements? Like, what would they even take?
(And I'm not talking about bodybuilding gear or medical prescriptions...)