CoQ10: what the evidence actually shows

Reviewer and governance status are shown on each atomic claim below.

What it is

CoQ10 is tracked as a health intervention in this evidence graph. Also known as: coenzyme q10, ubiquinol.

Studied forms and doses

No form-specific catalog record is available. This does not mean all forms are equivalent.

energy / fatigue: 100–200 mg/day; form not reported.
energy / fatigue: Dose-response relationship observed; higher daily doses and longer treatment durations correlated with greater fatigue reduction; form not reported.
heart health: not standardized; form not reported.
migraine frequency: commonly 300 mg/day in the trials; form not reported.

Mechanisms

Mechanistic plausibility is context, not proof that a clinical outcome improves.

No structured mechanism is recorded.

⚠ Safety in context

No interaction record is modeled for this intervention. This is an unknown coverage state, not evidence that no interaction exists.

Products and verification

No product label snapshot is mapped in this released catalog. Ingredient evidence does not establish any bottle’s identity, potency, purity, availability, or value.

Evidence by outcome

energy / fatiguegrade Ahigh certainty— Meta-analysis of 13 RCTs (n=1,126) found CoQ10 supplementation significantly reduced fatigue scores versus placebo (Hedges' g = -0.398, 95% CI: -0.641 to -0.155, p = 0.001). Benefits were consistent in healthy and diseased participants, and greater reductions were associated with higher daily doses and longer durations. The effect was significant for CoQ10-only formulations but not CoQ10 compounds.

migraine frequencygrade Bmoderate certainty— Meta-analysis of RCTs: CoQ10 supplementation reduced migraine attack frequency (and, in some trials, duration) versus placebo; effect on migraine severity was less consistent. Trials are relatively small, so certainty is moderate rather than high.

energy / fatiguegrade Clow certainty— limited evidence for general fatigue; clearer in specific conditions (e.g., statin myalgia, mitochondrial disorders)

heart healthgrade Dvery-low certainty— UK HTA review of 26 RCTs (n=2250) in heart failure: mortality RR 0.68 but CI crosses null (0.45-1.03); authors say stronger evidence is needed before this could inform prescribing.

What it probably doesn't do

CoQ10 for heart health — Grade D, UK HTA review of 26 RCTs (n=2250) in heart failure: mortality RR 0.68 but CI crosses null (0.45-1.03); authors say stronger evidence is needed before this could inform prescribing..

Grade history

2026-07-16C → CCorrection by Claude (gold-standard provenance sweep): live Postgres source drift replaced with the verified seed source set [pmid-36091835] details →

Re-review cadence: every 12 months (Grade A/B) · next scheduled by 2027-07-16 · methodology v1.

By outcome — the money pages

Compare

Is CoQ10 hype?

sources: PMID:36091835 · PMID:33402403 · PMID:36091835 · PMID:35076012

Cite this page

Citation is encouraged. The proposed reuse license is CC-BY-4.0; status: pending-governance-ratification.

Plain-text citation

Substrate. CoQ10: what the evidence actually shows. https://evidencebased.info/interventions/coq10. Updated 2026-07-16.

BibTeX

@misc{substrate_fointerventionscoq10,
  author = {Substrate editorial},
  title  = {CoQ10: what the evidence actually shows},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://evidencebased.info/interventions/coq10},
  note   = {evidencebased.info}
}