Health Hotline Magazine | September 2026

OFFERS VALID JUNE 26 TO JULY 25, 2026

NUTRITION RESEARCH

By Aryn Doll and Katherine MacNair

Every Step Counts, Even If You Spend a Lot of Time Sitting

We all know how important getting our daily steps in is for overall health, but for those of us with desk jobs or who spend much of the day sitting, it’s natural to wonder: do those long stretches of sedentary time cancel out the benefits of the steps we do take? According to new research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine , the answer appears to be no. Researchers looked at data from more than 70,000 adults, examining their daily step counts and sitting time. Participants were then followed for nearly seven years, during which rates of death and cardiovascular disease were tracked. The results showed that taking more steps each day was associated with a lower risk of both death and cardiovascular disease, regardless of how much time people spent sitting. More specifically, any amount of daily steps above 2,200 was associated with a lower risk. The lowest risk was observed at around 9,000–10,500 steps per day, but even taking 4,000–4,500 steps per day was found to have a meaningful impact, providing about half of the maximum benefit seen at higher step counts. Hopefully these are reassuring findings for many, giving us confidence that even on days when we sit a lot, the efforts we make to squeeze in more steps will still support overall health. Of course, anytime we can reduce sitting alongside increasing our steps, the more beneficial this is likely to be for our health.

CoQ10 Helps Alleviate Fatigue Almost everyone suffers from having a low battery sometimes, and researchers are looking to mitochondria for answers. Mitochondria are the “powerhouses” of our cells and are responsible for generating 90% of the energy we depend on to function. They require several nutrients to generate this energy, including CoQ10. Japanese researchers studied the effects of taking CoQ10 in its ubiquinol form on healthy individuals aged 20-64 experiencing mild fatigue. In this double-blind trial, participants received either 100 mg ubiquinol, 150 mg ubiquinol, or placebo daily for 12 weeks. Every four weeks, they were given a series of cognitive tests and then reported on how they felt afterward. Both ubiquinol groups showed significant improvements in post-task fatigue and sleepiness compared with placebo. Additionally, participants taking 150 mg per day reported greater relaxation and showed enhanced parasympathetic nervous system activity—the body’s “rest and recover” mode. How does CoQ10 support mitochondria to help keep our batteries charged? It plays a vital role in the process of converting fuel from the food we eat into usable energy within the mitochondria. Without adequate CoQ10, energy production becomes impaired, affecting not only our energy levels but also the health and function of cells and tissues throughout the body. While we can make our own CoQ10, production slows with age and can also be hampered by chronic stress, nutritional status, and certain medications. Since fatigue is a common consequence of impaired energy production, supplementing with CoQ10 is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for supporting optimal energy levels, resilience, and overall vitality.

For references, please visit: naturalgrocers.com/issue-110

Natural Grocers ® | 17