Dietary CoQ10 and hypertension risk Original paper

In this prospective cohort study, a greater intake of CoQ10 from single food sources was associated with a greater risk of new-onset hypertension, and a greater diversity of dietary sources of CoQ10 was associated with a lower risk.

The association between the intake of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) from different food sources and the risk of new-onset hypertension.

A total of 11,489 participants (average age of 41; 54.3%, 45.7% men) who were enrolled in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) between 1997 and 2015.

In this prospective cohort study, the participants provided information about their dietary intake using 3 consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls. These were used to determine each participant’s intake of CoQ10 from 8 different dietary sources: meat products, fish and shellfish, eggs, dairy products, plant oils, nuts and seeds, vegetable products (including pulses), and fruit products. Subsequently, each participant was assigned a “food diversity score” that reflected the diversity in the sources of their CoQ10 intake. The participants were also divided into quartiles (fourths) based on their intake of CoQ10 from different sources.

Cases of new-onset hypertension were identified over an average follow-up period of 6.2 years. The analyses were adjusted for a variety of potential confounders, including age, sex, BMI, abdominal obesity, socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and total daily energy intake.

Compared to the lowest intake of CoQ10 primarily from vegetable sources, the second and third highest intakes were associated with a 21% and 20% lower risk of new-onset hypertension, respectively. However, there was no association for the highest intake.

Also, compared to the lowest intakes of CoQ10 primarily from meat products, plant oils, eggs, fruit products, dairy products, fish and shellfish, and nuts and seeds, the highest intakes were associated with a 25%, 41%, 54%, 97%, 138%, 158%, and 245% greater risk of new-onset hypertension, respectively.

A greater diversity of sources of CoQ10 was associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. For each 1-point increase in the CoQ10 diversity score, the risk of new-onset hypertension decreased by 34%.

Based on the results, the ideal intakes for the 8 different CoQ10 sources (i.e., the intake associated with the lowest risk of new-onset hypertension) are as follows:

• Meat products: 140–581 grams per week
• Eggs: 63–112 grams per week
• Dairy products: 280–511 grams per week
• Fish and shellfish: 49–77 grams per week
• Plant oils: 20–25 grams per week
• Nuts and seeds: 5–18 grams per week
• Vegetable products: 171–533 grams per week
• Fruit products: 105–175 grams per week.