One hundred years ago it might have been possible to eat ten to twelve servings of fruits and vegetables each day and get all the nutrients our bodies need, but not today. Eating organic produce you might come close to getting the nutrition you need, but you will still fall short.

What can we do to get all the nutrients we need? We need to be taking vitamin and mineral supplements, along with an antioxidant supplement and fish oil. There is another supplement that everyone should be taking: CoQ10. CoQ10, co-enzyme Q10, is in every cell of our body. Without it we would die. Unfortunately it is dependent on our diet, which in the United States is sadly lacking in most nutrients.

Many prescription drugs deplete the amount of CoQ10, as does aging and stress. Drugs that deplete the levels of CoQ10 in our body include those for high blood pressure, diabetes, birth control, and antidepressants. These are two very good reasons to take CoQ10 daily as a supplement. CoQ10 is one supplement that doctors in natural medicine highly recommend everyone take.

The benefits of taking this coenzyme includes improving your heart and brain energy, fighting atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes, protecting against brain damaging diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and combating migraine headaches. That is quite a list of reasons to start taking it as soon as possible.

Besides all the benefits just listed, CoQ10 is safe at any amount and does not produce any side effects. You can get a 100 count bottle of 100mg for less than twenty dollars. They are fat soluble so if you get the powdered form instead of the softgels, poor the capsule into a little bit of olive oil or fish oil, mix it in, and eat it. Otherwise your body won't absorb very much. Be sure to refrigerate the CoQ10 to protect it from oxidizing.

Taking an antioxidant and CoQ10 is highly recommended so you get more of the full benefit of the CoQ10. It was also found that when test mice were given CoQ10 and vitamin E they were able to learn was significantly improved compared to giving them CoQ10 alone or vitamin E alone.

Another test done with CoQ10 involved people with migraines. It was found that when the patients were given 100mg of CoQ10 three times a day, they had significantly fewer headaches.

When these same patients were given magnesium and riboflavin the results were even better. Be sure to tell this to everyone you know who suffers from headaches.

The test with those suffering from migraines, the test with the mice, and the finding that taking an antioxidant with CoQ10 improves the ability of CoQ10 to help you, all these serve as further proof that we are just beginning to understand how nutrients work best when combined.

The hope is you will take this information and act on it. Taking a vitamin and mineral supplement along with fish oil and CoQ10 and an antioxidant will help you live healthier and happier, because even if you are one of the few eating those ten to twelve servings of fruits and vegetables a day, your body is still falling short of the nutrients you need to fight disease.