CoQ10 benefits and experiences?

E, I'd be interested in knowing that too.

I don't take anything, period. That said, I eat healthy and stay consistent with my diet, keep myself in great shape, sleep well, and my blood work just came back perfect for the first time ever. Honestly, I feel great.🙂

Why would I even bother with synthetic supplements?😕

My Eye doesn't need any help.

Kenneth Hernandez67, I guess you just missed out on some good genetics...🙂
I mean, we all get lucky in one area and lose out in another, right? But you've gotta appreciate what you're working with.
Michael Jackson had more money than he knew what to do with, and well, look at him now (unless he was just playing the legal system..)

silentpanther15 said:So, how many healthy people who lead super active lives and are in peak physical condition actually need supplements? Or if they do, which ones even make sense?
(And I’m not talking about bodybuilding gear or therapeutic stuff...)

If you're a healthy young person eating a balanced diet and living a standard lifestyle, my take is that you don't need supplements at all. Everything a human being needs to thrive can be found in sufficient amounts through a varied diet—think fresh fruits and veggies, different types of meat, and dairy products.

If you smoke or push yourself extremely hard with intense sports, you're oxidizing more than some forest creature (Jesus, I sound like a damn zoologist 🙄), so you might want to bring some antioxidants into the mix (Vitamin E is decent enough) along with Vitamin C.
Personally, I can't stand milk, so I think it makes sense to take calcium occasionally (especially since women are particularly prone to losing bone density).
B-complex vitamins are in beer, various phenols are in wine, minerals are in sparkling water, Vitamin K does wonders for our digestive systems, Vitamin A is in carrots, Vitamin C is in citrus, peppers, kiwi... everything is out there somewhere.

If you're really unsure, I don't think there's any harm in taking a multivitamin/mineral tablet once every couple of days.

Of course, this is just my subjective opinion since I'm neither a doctor nor a nutritionist.

darkbison81 said:Look, if you're a healthy young person eating a balanced diet and living a standard lifestyle, I don't think you need supplements. Everything a human needs to survive can be obtained in sufficient amounts through a diverse diet—you know, fresh fruits, veggies, various meats, and dairy products.

That theory sounds great on paper, but only if we were all living in some kind of laboratory-perfect vacuum.

But let’s get real... we aren't. Honestly, I don't know a single person who eats a perfectly clean diet, even the ones who try their hardest. Most of the stuff we eat is highly processed, which means it's stripped of its entire vitamin profile—especially those antioxidants that just die off when they hit heat. Even when we grab what we call "fresh" produce, half the time it's been sitting in some warehouse or on a grocery store shelf for days, losing those unstable vitamins in the process.
On top of that, if you live in a major US city, you're breathing in pretty nasty air, which naturally spikes your need for certain vitamins. Plus, everyone is dealing with varying levels of stress, and most people aren't exactly running marathons every day...

Basically—we are nowhere near those "ideal" nutritional conditions, nor are we living ideal lives in general. That's why we have an increased need for extra vitamins that we simply cannot get enough of from food alone. Besides, when it comes to water-soluble vitamins (B and C), you can't really overdose because your body just flushes the excess out... but on the flip side, you have to replenish them every single day. With the fat-soluble ones (A, D, E, and K), sure, you could technically overdose, but you'd have to be taking absolutely massive, extreme doses to make that happen.

So, bottom line—go ahead and supplement. It can only help. 🙂

Joseph Jones85 said:So go ahead—feel free to load up on vitamins if you want. Just take them. 🙂

The reality is, anything your body metabolizes and tries to flush out has to pass through your liver and kidneys. Your hepatocytes and nephrons aren't exactly going to be thanking you for following that advice. 😉

Let me give you an example: overdosing on Vitamin C can actually lead to liver cirrhosis. And I’m not just talking about hitting saturation levels; the issue is also about how the body excretes it. People rarely account for the metabolic toll of clearing all those excess nutrients...

Anyway, everyone has their own perspective on this, and look, I'm certainly no nutrition expert.

Joseph Jones85 said:To be honest, I don't know a single person who eats perfectly healthy, not even the ones who actually try.

Look, I’m being real here—I don't know anyone whose daily nutritional needs are so specific that I could actually judge whether they're eating "right" or not.🙂 For most of us, our daily food intake is basically just about maintaining a certain pool of chemicals in our system.

Joseph Jones85 said:Furthermore, people living in major metropolitan areas are breathing in pretty nasty air, which naturally ramps up the need for certain vitamins.

But honestly, isn't oxygen itself the most powerful oxidant we deal with on a daily basis?

darkbison81 said:Let me give you another example: overdosing on Vitamin C can actually lead to liver cirrhosis. It’s not just about the sheer amount you swallow (saturation level)... it's also about how your body flushes it out... people totally ignore that part most of the time...

The whole idea of an "overdose" is incredibly subjective.

The FDA recommends about 60mg of Vitamin C daily. But let's be real, those guidelines are based on controlled laboratory conditions. On the flip side, that exact same FDA is the one banning supplements that contain up to 2000mg of Vitamin C—even though one of the top-tier supplement manufacturers, KAL, carries Vitamin C doses at 2000mg per tablet right in their lineup.

If we follow that logic, a single pill is enough to hit "overdose" territory (I mean, there's no point taking that much once a week since your body just flushes the excess out the same day). However, the cirrhosis you mentioned in your example would likely only be triggered by an absolutely massive dose of Vitamin C taken consistently over a long period. And just to be clear, when I say "massive," I'm talking about 15 grams or more—that's 25 times higher than what's supposedly needed.

You really have to be careful—and precise—when you start throwing around conclusions about "overdosing" and "excessive" amounts. 😉

darkbison81 said:Isn't oxygen actually the most powerful oxidant we're exposed to every single day?

I mean, look, oxygen *is* an oxidant. It’s literally in the name... nothing else to it.

I honestly don't even get what you're asking here. 😕

Joseph Jones85 said:Just so I’m being clear and not vague, when I say an "extreme" dose, I'm talking about 15 grams or more—which is basically 25 times higher than what you actually need.

You really have to be careful (and precise) when you start throwing around conclusions about "overdosing" or "excessive" amounts. 😉

In the specific case I was looking at, it was under 6 grams a day, spread out over several years (typical behavior for a true pill addict like 😉 me). Vis and I are on the same page here: dosage matters. 😉

Joseph Jones85 said:I mean, look at the name itself—it’s pretty self-explanatory. Oxygen is an oxidant, plain and simple.

I don't quite follow what you're asking. 😕

So, what you're saying is that the concentration stays exactly the same whether you're in the middle of downtown Chicago, stuck on some remote mountain trail, or out in the middle of nowhere. It’s uniform everywhere. 😉 If I recall correctly, nitrogen makes up about 21% of our atmosphere...

So, what you're saying is that people living in the city don't actually have an increased need for antioxidants?

darkbison81 said:In the specific case I’m looking at, it was under 6g per day, sustained over several years (you know, like any true pill addict 😉). VIS and I are on the same page here—dosage is everything 😉

6g is already a massive dose. If you're taking that for any extended period—say, more than two or three months—it can absolutely wreck your digestive system (I mean, Vitamin C is an acid, after all)... which is why higher doses are usually administered intravenously if they're actually necessary.

darkbison81 said:So that means it's at the same concentration whether you're in the middle of NYC, out in the suburbs, or stuck in some tiny rural town. It makes up about 21% of the atmosphere's volume, if I remember correctly...

Does that mean people living in big cities don't actually have a higher need for antioxidants?

The issue isn't the oxygen in the air; it's how your cells react to certain biological processes... it's a bit of a longer story than this.

It's not like you need to stop breathing just to slow down cellular oxidation. 😉

I apply a certain common-sense logic when it comes to vitamins and supplements: the more frequently you dose them, the less effective they become. It’s the exact same principle as antibiotics, painkillers, or sedatives.

Whenever I'm feeling exhausted and sluggish, I'll grab a cheap multivitamins from a drugstore like CVS, and I feel an immediate boost. But if I were to take those every single day for years on end? I doubt I'd notice any difference at all.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:I apply that same kind of common-sense logic when it comes to vitamins and all those other supplements... the more you cram them down your throat, the less they actually do for you. It’s basic stuff. It works exactly like antibiotics, painkillers, or sedatives... eventually, your body just stops responding...

Whenever I’m feeling completely wiped out and just totally unmotivated, I grab one of those cheap, basic gummy multivitamins from drugstore brands like CVS... and honestly? It works immediately. I feel a sudden surge of energy. But let's be real... if I started popping these things every single day for years on end, I don't think I'd notice any difference at all. It's like the effect just vanishes after a while...

Hmm... I guess it’s a "yes," but also a "no"...

Look, I’m telling you... if you're living on nothing but vitamin supplements and grabbing every meal at McDonald's, you're basically asking for trouble. You're essentially teaching your body to be lazy. If all your nutrients are just being handed to you on a silver platter in pill form, your system eventually loses its edge. It forgets how to actually process and extract the vitamins and minerals from real food because it doesn't have to work for them anymore... it just becomes totally dependent.

No, because that logic is basically like saying, "I just finally taught my horse to work without needing any food, and then the damn thing dropped dead..." 🙂 If you get what I'm saying...

Let’s be real: cheap vitamins are almost always garbage. Most of the time, you're just paying for filler. You look at the label and realize the actual vitamin dosage is tiny—practically negligible—while the pill is packed with a mountain of "auxiliary" ingredients that shouldn't even be there in the first place. They load them up with all these questionable additives, those "E" number fillers... honestly, there are entire scientific debates about how bad some of those specific additives actually are for you...

Look, let's get one thing straight: vitamins don't just work the second they hit your system. You can't just pop a pill and expect everything to magically fix itself overnight. Your body needs time to actually catch up and balance things out once you start addressing those deficiencies... That one effervescent tablet everyone raves about—the one where you feel "amazing" immediately? It's nothing more than a textbook placebo effect. There are barely any actual vitamins in those things, just trace amounts. There is absolutely zero chance that such a tiny dose could instantly reset your entire system... it's just wishful thinking.

But how can you possibly know that I'm missing something? 😕

Just because the MAJORITY of people feel they're lacking something?

Joseph Jones85 said:1. Taking 6g is actually a pretty massive dose. If you're doing that over a longer stretch—say, more than two or three months—you're going to run into digestive issues because vitamin C is an acid, after all. That’s why higher doses are usually administered intravenously when they're absolutely necessary.

2. The issue isn't the oxygen in the air; it's how the body's cells react to certain processes... it's a bit of a longer explanation.

It's not like you need to stop breathing just to slow down cellular oxidation. 😉

1. Exactly, that's my whole point. Nobody ever tells people that vitamins can actually be harmful. All they hear is how "healthy" and "good" they are. My entire argument here is to show that there is no such thing as a miracle chemical and that everything carries some level of risk. By the way, the individual in question was getting regular checkups, and his doctors never once warned him, even though they were fully aware of how obsessed he was with health and living a "clean" lifestyle.

2. Regarding that oxygen comment, I was responding to the idea that people in cities need more specific vitamins (I assumed you meant reducing oxidative stress, since you didn't specify which ones you were talking about). 😉

And obviously, I don't need to stop breathing. It would be enough to just stop moving altogether. 🙂

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:But how do you actually know that I'm missing something?😕

Just because the majority of people are lacking it? That's not logic.

Look, honestly, I don't know.

But if we’re actually using some common sense here, then it’s not just the "majority" who are missing out—it's pretty much everyone, more or less.

Think about it. If you're truly going all-out on a "healthy" diet, you should be eating fruits and veggies straight from a backyard garden, barely cooked, grown without a single drop of pesticides... the meat you eat should come from animals that grazed on that exact same organic stuff and were never even touched by antibiotics. Plus, you’d need to live somewhere where the air is actually clean, the water isn't loaded with chlorine, and you definitely shouldn't be hanging out in smoke-filled bars where you're breathing in secondhand smoke...

So, go ahead, tell me how "perfectly" you actually eat. In a best-case scenario, you're probably getting some fresh produce, but that's about it.

Despite all your best efforts, there are things you just can't control, and those gaps alone are enough to spike your need for vitamins.

No hard feelings—these are just facts. (And don't worry, I'm not trying to sell you some supplement brand, this isn't propaganda...) 😁)

I’ve learned the hard way that you can't maintain a healthy body balance EXCLUSIVELY through supplements. If there's a deficiency, you have to address the root cause. A vitamin supplement might provide a temporary fix, but unless you change your lifestyle habits to stop the leak, your body will eventually just see those high-end, expensive pills 😉 as nothing more than excess waste and flush them right out of your system.

For me, this was specifically an issue with iron. Until I actually tackled the underlying reason for my anemia, no supplement worked for long. Every single one would help for maybe a month or two, and then it would all fall apart—I'd end up with nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and my blood work would look even worse than before.

darkbison81 said:1. Exactly. That’s my whole damn point right there. Nobody ever sits a person down and tells them that vitamins can actually be harmful. All they hear is how "healthy" and "good" they are. My entire argument in this thread has been trying to show that there’s no such thing as a magic chemical pill and that everything carries some level of risk... by the way, the guy in question was going for regular checkups, and his doctors never once warned him, even though they knew he was absolutely obsessed with health and living the "perfect" lifestyle...

2. That oxygen comment was just responding to the idea that people living in cities need more specific vitamins (I assumed you meant Red Bull, since you didn't specify which ones you were talking about) 😉

Obviously, I don't need to stop breathing. It's enough if I just stop moving... 🙂

Most doctors coming out of medical school here only get one elective course related to nutrition, and that's being generous. When it comes to vitamins? Their knowledge is basically zero. Anyone who actually knows anything about it usually gets lumped into the "alternative medicine" crowd... So, it isn't even surprising that nobody told him vitamins could be toxic—most of them don't have a clue what they are or even if they're necessary in the first place.

And as for why people in big cities might need more vitamins—roughly speaking—pollution causes oxidative processes to happen faster and more uncontrollably within our cells (this is how cells release energy from food), which damages the cells, makes them age faster, and eventually kills them. Antioxidants help the cell manage those processes a bit better (that's a massive oversimplification, obviously). Specifically, Vitamins C and E are the heavy hitters when it comes to antioxidants.

Joseph Jones85 said:(And before anyone gets defensive, I’m not selling any supplements here—this isn't some sales pitch 😁)

I wouldn't call myself a fanatic either. 😉 Actually, since I'm a total sucker for molecular science, I have a genuine appreciation for chemicals in all their various forms, smells, colors, and effects. 😁
But over time, I’ve noticed this weird split in how people act: on one hand, you have people who are terrified of swallowing a single pill, and on the other, you have people popping them like they're candy. When it comes to vitamins specifically, there's this pervasive idea that they're purely beneficial and that more is always better. I just want to point out that common sense and a healthy dose of caution should always come first.

If you need proof that vitamins won't kill most people: meet a former contestant (not a winner, let's be real) in a college competition titled "Who Can Tolerate the Highest Dose of Vitamin C." 😁
I think I've learned my lesson since then. 🙄