Why Your Energy Level Is Not What It Used To Be

The link with Coenzyme Q10, and how statins make matters worse

It is a truth universally acknowledged that your energy levels diminish as you enter middle age. We’ve all had those conversations about how we used to be able to stay up all night and then go in to work the next day, no bother. But then in it creeps: the awareness that you really love a good night’s sleep and an early night is an exciting proposition.

When writing about nutrition, I often find myself stating “levels decline with age”. Nutrients, hormones, bodily secretions….down they all dwindle, and none more so than coenzyme Q10.

Also known as ubiquinone, CoQ10 is not considered a vitamin because it is synthesised in the body. It is key to energy production in all cells, and is an important fat-soluble antioxidant, protecting lipids within the cell structure.

How you make energy

Energy is produced from the food you eat, which is broken down until it ultimately becomes a unit, or “currency” of energy. That unit is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is produced within the mitochondria of each cell via a process called the electron transport chain, and CoQ10 is key to that process.

Lack of CoQ10 means lack of energy. And as bad luck would have it, peak production occurs around the age of 20-25. By the time you get to 65, you are only making half the amount you made at 25. No wonder you want to go to bed.

“Optimal production occurs around 25 years of age, after which production steadily declines, with the production level at age 65 being approximately 50% of that at age 25.”

Because it is so important for cellular metabolism, the organs and tissues of the body most likely to be affected by insufficient CoQ10 are those that have the highest energy demands: the heart, muscles, kidneys and the brain. Deficiency is linked to the pathogenesis of a wide range of disorders, including chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It can also result in weakened heart muscle, which can ultimately lead to heart failure.