Ep 312: Understanding the impact of common medications

I listened with great interest and was pleased to hear that statins would be addressed. Y’all talked about the value of CoQ10 for a small % of the statin consuming population. In “Nutritional Supplements in Sport, Exercise and Health” by Castell, Stear, and Burke, they state that there’s little/no consistent evidence that CoQ10 aids endurance athletes. They state: “Based on available findings, and the recent general caution about antioxidant supplementation in combination with exercise, it is not recommended that athletes take CoQ10 or other antioxidant supplements.”

Is there more nuance to this subject?

First, I gotta say I was laughing my head off (while driving to work) when I heard Rob describe wearing four lactate sensors at a time. Was it all at the same time, or in series? Anyway, it cracked me up, and thank you for that. As for CoQ10, I do not see it as a performance enhancer. I think it is aimed at offsetting inflammation with a goal of long term heart health. I was taking it for a while, stopped when I decided I had too many pills. Might start up again.

@dkrenik

No more nuances whatsoever because you’re entirely correct.

Looking back on research and it seems that the studies that should benefit were potentially flawed and that the general consensus is that Statin Myalgia and Adherence is not improved with CoQ10 supplementation.

I appreciate the follow up and I’ll try to get a correction into an upcoming episode.

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@garydunn808

4 sensors at once. I was border-line bionic.

Thanks for the comment. It was not my intent to suggest that Coenzyme Q10 is somehow a panacea for athletes on statins nor to say that it will improve performance! Rather that because statins reduce CoQ10, supplementing has been found to reduce some of the symptoms especially muscle soreness that can occur in people who take statins. That is not to say that everyone will benefit nor to suggest that it is a necessary supplement for those who are taking these medications. With that said, there is little downside. So basically, yes, nuance.

I hope that helps add some clarity?

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Thanks - I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

I’ve been on a statin for >20 years. Aside from some mild soreness in the first few weeks, I’ve not experienced any negative side effects. I also used to be a regular CoQ10 user (for ~30+ years). I stopped taking CoQ10 ~5 years ago and didn’t notice any difference. So there’s my n=1.