Heart Health Supplements

Four groups, four different jobs

Most of what sits in this range falls into four groups: marine omega-3, coenzyme Q10 and its reduced form ubiquinol, magnesium, and standardised bergamot polyphenols. They are not interchangeable, and the label figure that matters is different for each one.

Omega-3: read the EPA and DHA line, not the capsule size

A standard 1000 mg fish oil capsule usually provides around 300 mg of combined EPA and DHA. A triple-strength concentrate provides roughly 900 mg in a capsule of similar size. When a label leads with "1000 mg", that is the weight of the oil, not the omega-3 in it, so two products showing the same front-of-pack number can deliver very different amounts of omega-3. Compare the EPA and DHA figures per daily dose across the fish oil range.

Omega-3 is fat soluble. Taking it with a meal improves absorption and reduces the reflux some people get on an empty stomach.

CoQ10 and ubiquinol are not the same thing

CoQ10 is normally supplied as ubiquinone, the oxidised form, which the body converts to ubiquinol before it can be used in the mitochondria. Ubiquinol supplements skip that conversion step. Both work, and ubiquinol is commonly chosen by people over 40, and by anyone who has taken ubiquinone without noticing a change. Strengths in this range run from 150 mg to 300 mg, in products including BioCeuticals Ubiquinol BioActive, Herbs of Gold Ubiquinol 150 mg and BioCeuticals CoQ10 Excel.

Like omega-3, CoQ10 is fat soluble. Take it with food that contains fat, not with water on an empty stomach.

Magnesium: check elemental, not compound weight

Magnesium citrate, glycinate and diglycinate are absorbed more readily than magnesium oxide, which is poorly absorbed and often used to make a label figure look large. The number that matters is elemental magnesium per dose: 500 mg of magnesium citrate does not deliver 500 mg of magnesium. The full magnesium range sets out the forms side by side.

Bergamot polyphenols

Bergamet products are standardised to the polyphenol fraction of Citrus bergamia, a citrus grown in Calabria in southern Italy. Dosing is by polyphenol content rather than fruit extract weight, so that is the figure to compare between products.

Where a practitioner changes the answer

This is the category where stacking goes wrong most often. Four products with overlapping actives, taken without a reason for each, is common, and it is money spent for no reason. Our practitioners work out which of the four groups applies to you, at what dose, and in what order, and they will tell you when the answer is one product rather than four.

They also read your medication list first, because that is where the real risk sits. Fish oil at higher doses, CoQ10 and vitamin K all interact with blood-thinning and blood-pressure medication. Bring your list, keep taking what your doctor prescribed, and let us work around it.

Mr Vitamins has been trading since 1992 with practitioners on the floor, and the conversation is free: book a 10-minute phone consultation, or read who you will be speaking to on our practitioners page.

Talk to your doctor first if you are on medication

Fish oil at higher doses, CoQ10 and vitamin K all have documented interactions with blood-thinning and blood-pressure medication. That is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, and to tell them exactly what you are taking and at what dose. If you want help working out what to raise with them, book a free 10-minute phone consultation with one of our practitioners.

Related: vitamin D3, vitamin K.