Can You Take Vitamin D with CoQ10?

Finding the right stack of supplements to help you perform optimally can be challenging, but knowing when to take those supplements is a whole other game.

Should you take them on an empty stomach? With good? Together? Separate? There’s a long list of questions to creating the perfect supplement stack; truth be told, it can be a bit of a headache.

While we all know getting enough vitamin D is essential, we hear little about CoQ10 - it’s a power-packed punch of energy for your body, and getting enough through diet (or supplementation is key).

But while vitamin D and CoQ10 don’t necessarily piggyback on each other’s functions in the body, can you still take them together?

We’re diving into the research and giving you everything you need to know about supplementing vitamin D and CoQ10. Let’s get to it.

What Is Vitamin D And Why Do We Need It?

If we could pick one vitamin that stands above the others in terms of involvement and importance, we’d have to pick vitamin D. It’s a fat-soluble prohormone estimated to directly or indirectly target over 2,000 genes in the human body ¹.

While the classical role of vitamin D is in calcium and phosphorus metabolism to support bone health, it has critical roles in several other processes, including ^1-3:

• Glucose metabolism and insulin production
• Muscle function
• Hormone secretion
• Cell proliferation and differentiation
• Immune function
• Mood

While bone health may be the most widely known role of vitamin D, you’ll find vitamin D receptors in nearly every cell in the body, suggesting its importance spans far beyond just the bones.

But despite how easy it is to get - it’s widely available in food sources and via the sun - we still don’t get enough, hence the high need for supplementation.

The Benefits Of CoQ10

Whether you’re taking vitamin D or not, coenzyme Q10, generally shorted to CoQ10, is essential for various processes in the body, especially energy production.

CoQ10 is a vitamin-like fat-soluble quinone naturally found in high concentrations in metabolically active tissues with the highest energy turnover rate, such as the heart, brain, liver, spleen, and kidneys ⁴.

The most notable role of CoQ10 is as a component of the oxidative phosphorylation process in a cell’s mitochondria that converts energy from food into ATP to drive biochemical processes.

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The mitochondria generate the bulk of ATP produced in the body through oxidative phosphorylation. Because nearly all cellular functions depend on a sufficient supply of ATP, CoQ10 is essential to sustain human health ⁵.

It’s involved in:

• Heart health
• Blood pressure
• Fertility
• Inflammation
• Energy production
• Blood sugar regulation
• Lung health

Dysfunctional energy metabolism has been linked to various adverse effects and chronic diseases, and studies find CoQ10 an effective treatment for various cardiac, neurologic, oncologic, and immunologic disorders ⁶.

But here’s the thing - your body generates all the CoQ10 it needs to function optimally. Still, its production depends on the right amount of certain nutrients, especially vitamin C and B vitamins. Supplementation is recommended if you want to protect yourself against losses and keep your CoQ10 levels high.

You’ll find it in two forms: ubiquinone and ubiquinol. Ubiquinone is the most common but must first be metabolized into its active form, ubiquinol. If your supplement contains ubiquinone, ensure you take it alongside the necessary vitamins to make the conversion.

Can You Take Vitamin D And CoQ10 Together?

While there’s no denying that CoQ10 and vitamin D are both essential nutrients for optimal health and performance, can you take them together?

Studies support a big thumbs up! There are no apparent interactions between vitamin D and CoQ10, showing they’re safe to supplement together.

Some studies show that CoQ10 and vitamin D are beneficial for supporting heart health and exert protective effects on cardiovascular and renal health.

A 2017 rodent study published in the American Journal of Medical Sciences found that there were additive protective effects of vitamin D and CoQ10 when used alone or together for hypertensive rats, potentially because of their effects as antioxidants, anti-cytokines, and blood pressure conservers ⁷.

Where To Find Them

For anyone following a plant-based diet, getting sufficient vitamin D and CoQ10 can be a challenge, as the highest concentrations are found in animal meats. If you do consume them, here are your best sources.

CoQ10

• Cold-water oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna)
• Organ meats
• Eggs
• Poultry
• Spinach
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Sesame seeds
• Pistachios

Vitamin D

• Cold-water oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna)
• Cod liver oil
• Eggs yolks
• Beef liver
• Fortified foods

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, there’s another option for you: supplements. Here are our recommendations to get your fix: