The Hearty Blog

  Joints are responsible for keeping your body moving freely, but over the course of a lifetime, they can take a beating. That’s why it’s so important to take care of your joints as you age. How Do Joints Function? The purpose of joints is to hinge two or more parts of your body to enable movement, like your thigh bone to your shin bone via the knee joint. They are designed to withstand friction and pressure, while protecting the ends of your bones as you move. Cartilage lines the ends of your bones, and together with an added layer of sticky synovial fluid for lubrication creates a capsule between your bones for extra cushioning. Ligaments hold your joints together and keep it aligned with its axis of movement. Tendons provide extra support and attach to the muscle and bones. Working in unison, the joints, bones, and muscles allow your body to move freely; therefore, the health of one will affect the other. For example, weak muscles from inactivity will lead to weak joints. Why is it Important to Support Joint Health as we Age? Supporting joint health is all about taking care of your body. When you’re young your joints are supple and at their peak, but if you’re constantly pounding on them or exercising with poor form, you’ll most certainly feel the effects when you’re older. In addition, as you age, cartilage and tendons can break down and lose their elasticity, and joints can become stiff and painful due to loss of padding and lubrication. So exercise with care and follow these healthy habits to help support the health of your joints.   Tips to Help Support Joint Health   Regular Moderate Exercise  Exercise is one of the most vital elements of keeping your joints healthy. Activity helps to lubricate the joints and increase the circulation. Low impact exercises like swimming, cycling, and walking are the best as they place the least amount of stress on the body. However, any exercise is better than none, so choose something you enjoy as you’re more likely to stick to it. Daily Stretching Exercises Joints tend to stiffen up overnight due to being inactive for so long. So plan to wake up to some gentle stretching exercises to start your day and work out the stiffness in your waking muscles and joints. Stretching is also an important component of your exercise program before and after working out. Warming up will help lubricate your joints and a cool down stretch will help in recovery, reduce risk of injury, and increase your flexibility. Weight Management Extra weight means extra stress on your joints, and over time this can increase wear and tear. If you’ve already committed to getting more active, you’re one step closer to losing weight. Maintaining a healthy weight is key to a high quality of life and essential to promoting joint health. Healthy Diet We’re always looking for ways to eat more healthy and for joint health, a diet rich in antioxidants olive oil, berries and cherries, leafy greens, fatty fish, and nuts can be beneficial. Just as it’s important to find an activity you enjoy, so too is it vital that you find healthy foods you love to eat. Eating healthy is not a fad, it’s a commitment to living a healthy lifestyle and fueling your body with the nutrients it needs to function at optimal health. Smoking Cessation We all know smoking is bad for your health, but did you know it can also negatively affect your bones and joints? Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do to help promote healthy joints. Smoking is a serious addiction, but so too are the health risks. If you’re having trouble breaking the habit, please see your doctor for help. Supplements to Support Joint Health* Another element in your plan to promote the health and longevity of your joints is a supplement called turmeric.* Turmeric can help support joint health; however, the problem lies with absorption.* Turmeric used in cooking may pass through the digestive system too quickly to truly benefit the body. So your best bet is a turmeric supplement with enhanced absorption. How Qunol Turmeric can help Support Joint Health? Qunol’s Extra Strength Turmeric Curcumin Complex is designed to deliver superior absorption. It has water dispersion technology which delivers superior absorption compared to regular turmeric§ supplements. It’s a valuable addition to your joint health regimen.* *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.  

    CoQ10 Exists in Your Body Primarily in Two Forms: If you’ve been researching CoQ10, you have likely noticed that there are two forms of CoQ10 supplements available: ubiquinone and ubiquinol. Ubiquinone (the oxidized form of CoQ10) Ubiquinol (the reduced form of CoQ10) Your body utilizes both forms of CoQ10 and is constantly converting between ubiquinone and ubiquinol depending on its current need. Studies show that when we are young, our bodies synthesize ubiquinone well, converting it readily to ubiquinol. But as we get older, the body's ability to convert ubiquinone to ubiquinol can diminish. Ubiquinol supplements contain a form of CoQ10 that has already been converted to its antioxidant form, ubiquinol – the form that fights excess free radicals and can help protect the body's cells from damage. Oxidation is a normal process both in nature and in the human body. We see it at work in nature when a sliced apple turns brown or when iron rusts. In the human body, excess oxidation can damage healthy cells. Our bodies are designed for this process and are constantly producing new cells to replace the old. However, as we age and are exposed to certain environmental factors, the oxidation process can overwhelm the body’s ability to cope with it. Oxidation can lead to the formation of excess free radicals, unstable molecules that can cause cell damage. Ubiquinol is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight against free radicals. It's important to note that our Qunol Ultra and Mega are both water and fat-soluble and are better absorbed than a regular¹ form of CoQ10. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. 1 Regular CoQ10 refers to unsolubilized ubiquinone in oil suspensions in soft gels and/or powder filled capsules/tablets

CoQ10 Levels Decline Naturally With Age CoQ10 is endogenous to the human body – meaning that you produce it naturally and we all have it. However, our body’s natural ability to produce CoQ10 decreases as we age. Unfortunately, the amount of CoQ10 we typically get from our regular dietary intake may not be enough to compensate for even our normal age-related decline in CoQ10 levels.   Cholesterol Lowering Medications – Statins – May Reduce Your CoQ10 Levels Statins, or by their proper name “HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors”, are the type of cholesterol management medications most often prescribed in the United States.   Your body produces cholesterol in a pathway in your liver. It is within this same pathway that your body produces other essential compounds and chemicals including CoQ10.  Because statins work by blocking the production of cholesterol in this pathway, they may also block the production of CoQ10.   This could potentially complicate other health issues and leave you vulnerable to side effects from your prescribed statins. Talk to your healthcare professional to learn more.   *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.  

  We Get Minimal Amounts of CoQ10 From Our Diets Animal-based products and, in particular, organ meats such as heart and liver are relatively good sources of CoQ10. Lower amounts of CoQ10 are also found in beef, pork, chicken, and fatty fish such as tuna.  In reality, though, it is not likely that a person could consume large quantities of any organ meat needed to have a reasonable amount of CoQ10 from their diet.  The Best Way to Boost Your CoQ10 Levels Is Supplements Since the typical diet does not provide enough CoQ10 to reach recommended levels, taking a CoQ10 supplement is a good way to help increase CoQ10 levels. Talk to your doctor to discuss a dose that might be appropriate based on your health status and medications you are taking. Children under 18 should not be given CoQ10 (or any other supplement) unless under the supervision of a health care provider.      *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.