Dear Mark: CoQ10, Gelatin, Fruit, and Eggs and LDL
Happy Halloween, folks. On its face, Halloween seems pretty un-Primal, what with all the reverence for cheap candy that surrounds it, but getting dressed up is undeniably fun. I guess that’s a subset of “play,” yeah? I’ve heard about the post-AHS shenanigans. You guys aren’t ascetics. Anyway, today I cover CoQ10 dosages and forms, whether gelatin is worth eating, how much fruit is too much (hint: it’s about context), and whether a young guy with mildly elevated LDL should stop eating eggs.
Let’s go.
My question is regarding coQ10. I am going to turn 40… am in good health… exercise regularly and have been primal for about 2 years.
Here are my two questions…
How much coQ10 do I require?
What is the deal with all the coQ10 supplements using seed and or soybean oil as the vehicle? I cannot find one using say olive oil. Any advice on this? Or does it not matter?
Your thoughts?
Thanks,
Joe
Hell, Joe.
If you were on a statin, I’d say take up to 200 mg per day. Since you’re healthy, you exercise, and you’ve been Primal for awhile and you feel like supplementing might give you an edge, I’d shoot for between 30 and 100 mg per day. Use the ubiquinol form of CoQ10, as research indicates that our ability to convert the ubiquinone form into the active ubiquinol diminishes as we age, with forty years being about when it starts to drop off. The caveat with that is that you’re reading this blog and following this lifestyle and thus are most likely not an average (soon to be) forty year old guy, but still. It can’t hurt and it’s good insurance for your mitochondria. Ubiquinone’s cheaper by a bit, but ubiquinol is getting priced more reasonably.
I wouldn’t worry about the oil used. You’re taking such miniscule amounts that a bit of soybean oil as the vehicle won’t have a measurable effect.
Hi Mark,
My question is whether or not animal derived gelatin is a good source of bioavailable protein? I’ve read a fair bit of contradictory information about it and I’m curious. Thanks!
Rachel
Well, it depends on what you mean by “bioavailable.” If you’re asking whether gelatin converts to amino acids that promote muscular hypertrophy and recovery from exercise, no, not really. But if you’re asking if gelatin is well-absorbed or if its constituent parts perform important physiological functions, the answer is yes to both.
Of course, you can’t survive on gelatin as your sole source of protein. It provides very few essential amino acids (amino acids that your body can’t synthesize on its own) and it’s mostly glycine and proline. But there’s nothing wrong with gelatin. Quite the contrary, actually. Some possibly interesting effects of eating gelatin:
- Gelatin was found to reduce joint pain in athletes. Eyebrows might rise at the fact that Nabisco, which makes gelatin desserts, funded the study, but lifters have been swearing by daily gelatin supplementation for joint health for decades.
- Improvement of sleep quality when taken before bed. A “bolus ingestion of glycine” produced “subjective and objective” measurements of sleep quality in people. I’ve been having a cup of bone broth (high in gelatin, which is high in glycine) before bed lately, and I can corroborate the study’s findings.
- If you ask someone like Chris Masterjohn, regularly consuming a source of glycine (as found in gelatin derived from animal skin, bones, and hooves) is crucial for someone who also eats a lot of muscle meat (which most Primal eaters do). He’s a sharp dude, so heed his words.
I’d say it’s worth incorporating, preferably in the form of bone broth or as purified granular gelatin (if you’re not making broth). Added bonus of the purified gelatin: you can play around with fun gelatinized Primal desserts and other dishes.
Dear Mark,
Please help!
I’ve been Paleo for about a year now, with the odd bit of hummus here and there. My only real bad non-Paleo habit was eating copious amounts of fruit, honey and medjool dates. This has resulted in a bit of weight gain, so I’ve finally kicked the honey and dates to the curb.
But I can’t seem to give up fruit! I probably eat about 5 – 8 servings a day. They’re all pretty low carb (berries, papaya, the odd apple).
My question is – is this really unhealthy? Do I need to give up fruits as well? Any tips for those of us who are copious fruit eaters?
Thanks in advance. No-one else seems to take my issue seriously.
Tessa
Fruit is not a problem, unless you’re actively gaining weight or failing to lose the weight that you want to lose. It’s also not required for great health. I call it optional, basically.
Are you still dealing with the weight gain? That wasn’t clear from the question. If giving up the honey and dates hasn’t been enough to lose the weight, I’d definitely make the move to 1-2 servings of fruit a day. Your choices are pretty good – berries, particularly, are high in nutrition and polyphenols and relatively low in sugar – but the quantity is a little much for someone trying to lose weight.
That said, if you are successfully losing weight with that level of fruit intake, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. If fruit has become your “candy,” however, watch out. It’s all in how the fruit is affecting you. If it’s promoting incessant gorging and packing on the pounds or preventing pounds that should be leaving from leaving, it could be a problem. If you’re still losing weight or keeping weight off, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Hey Mark,
Just got my cholesterol checked. I’m 21 and my LDL’s at 131. Should I be worried/cut back on the 4 whole eggs daily?
thanks
Brandon
If it were me, I wouldn’t worry. What’s your HDL? Trigylcerides? You need all that information, and you need to repeat the tests multiple times to make sense of your situation. A one-time snapshot of a single number doesn’t tell us much.
Recent studies vindicate eggs on the blood lipid front. Most show that eggs have little to no effect on cholesterol, while others show that in some people, egg consumption raises both HDL and LDL (but mostly HDL and switches the LDL to the fluffy and buoyant variety). Just really try to aim for pastured eggs if you can, because eating commercial eggs that come from chickens fed high omega-6 grains, like soy and corn, actually can increase the oxidation of one’s LDL (this is unequivocally bad for heart health, whereas a one-time number like “131” doesn’t tell us much). Check local farmer’s markets, search on Craigslist, raise your own. Just get some pastured eggs. This is one of those areas in which the source of the food truly does matter and the one or two dollar price difference should not deter you.
Okay, enjoy the day/night. Just lay off that candy. And if you get trick-or-treaters, be smart about what you dole out. Realize that no one but that one kid going as a gnoll or the little girl going as Art De Vany will appreciate the shade grown, free trade, grass-fed 89% cacao dark chocolate squares – so save your money and give the kids what they want. You may love eggs, but not plastered across the exterior of your house. Besides, studies show that egged houses have tons of oxidized cholesterol. Bad all around.
Take care, and thanks for reading!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
For the life of me, I can not figure out what the photo that accompanies this article is.
Can someone help?
Never mind. I just put my cursor on it and it is a hoof. Ha! I just could not see it.
Question: Should I take the COq10 at bedtime, with the darned statin, or in the morning, with breakfast? I drank excessively in my youth, have had elevated cholesterol since my early 30′s,probably from the alcohol abuse, and take a minimum dose of one statin. I’m new to primal so I expect things to improve as I cut the carbs down.
Was glad I had read this post this morning as I had been thinking about supplementing with CoQ10 and the information in the article got me to make the decision. When I was in the health food store in my town I found NOW Foods Ubiquinol that uses MCT oil instead of soy oil. A little pricey buy the one bottle should last two months, so not too bad.
Thanks for the ongoing great information.
I saw that pig foot and thought ah gelatin. If no bone broth, I take gelatin with every meat meal. As I understand it, we shouldn’t eat muscle meat at all without some gelatin present. Maybe this point should be a little more emphasized in the Paleo community since muscle meat is so heavily consumed.
Thank you for this information, Peggy! I haven’t consumed any gelatine or broth to my meals yet but just found some recipes with broth that I’m really looking forward to cook soon.
Do you know how much gelatine to take each day when eating muscle meat?
Mark, I have seen that Ball state Study, and I think there is a conflict of interest going on with that particular study. I think its supported by Knox Gelatin or something. That being said, a Tomato aspic or a organ meat based one is a great primal dish, and a pretty good Swedish one too, as I have found out from my wife. Keep Up the good work…
Mark,
My sister turned me on to MDA about eight weeks ago this coming thursday. She just started the primal lifestyle and has had great results. Her migranes have vanished after years of suffering and her exema is diminished considerably in a very short time. Wow!
I am a healthy non smoker and at 46 people generally tell me I look 10 years younger than I am. I decided to go primal after reading the “Primal Blueprint” completely understanding you key concepts about the lifestyle. I really only wanted to loose about ten pounds, just belly fat. Well in 8 short weeks I have gone from 178 to 165 again Wow! I have been following all your suggustions, buying all your books including “21 Day Total Transformation.
Great timing.
Last week I went in for an annual physical with my Doctor and told her about the diet. She seemed skeptical but saw I was loosing weight and actually told me not to loose anymore.
I told her my goal weight was 165 which she recorded today. Last friday she called me and asked me to make an appointment with her concerning my results from my bloodwork. I have never had high cholesterol or hypertension in my life. In fact my blood pressure is ever so slightly low. Her concern was my cholesterol is now 301. HDL 57. Tri’s 224. LDL’s at 199. She now wants me on a statin. Also my liver enzymes seem to be out of whack. AST at 81. ALT 151. Everything else is perfect. She asked me what I was eating and she was horrified. I told her we should not jump to any conclusions since I really liked the diet and that maybe my body is adjusting to the no carb higher fat intake along with eggs, butter, coconut oils and macadamia nuts etc. along with several intermitent fastings. This lifestyle change has me very excited but I am curious what your take on this could possibly be?
Sincerely,
Kenneth
Kenneth,
What were your blood lipid numbers before?
i’m on day 3 of eating pale……is nutritional yeast ok?
I’ve made bone broth numerous times before but this is my first time making it with a cow hoof and horns!
This should turn out exceptionally gelly