Lowering Cholesterol With Red-Yeast Rice

Red-yeast rice has been used for over a thousand years by the Chinese to improve blood circulation. Red-yeast rice contains several ingredients that may help control cholesterol levels. These include a number of monacolins, most importantly monacolin K. It also contains sterols, isoflavones, and monounsaturated fatty acids, or "healthy fats". Red-yeast rice is the fermented product of rice on which red yeast (Monascus purpureus) has been grown.

In China, consumption of red-yeast rice has been studied and found to reduce total cholesterol by 11-32%. Red-yeast rice is a dietary staple in many Asian countries including Japan and China. Typical daily consumption is between 0.5 to 2.0 ounces per day. It has also been used in the U.S. by the Asian Americans and has been shown to reduce cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

There are three major preparations of red-yeast rice: Zhitai, Cholestin or Hypocol, and Xuezhikang. Cholestin or Hypocol produce a concentration of monacolin K which is lovastatin the active ingredient in the medication Mevacor.

In studies done by the Chinese, Zhitai and Xuezhikang showed that total cholesterol was lowered by 10-30%, LDL cholesterol was lowered by an average of 10-20%, triglycerides lowered by 15-25%, and HDL increased by an average of 7-15%.

Studies at UCLA have shown that Cholestin reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels but had no effect on HDL cholesterol.

These studies were for several weeks in duration, so the long-term effects of eating red-yeast rice is not known. However, many Asians have eaten red-yeast rice for generations without any particular problems; it is considered a traditional Chinese medicine.

In the United States, the FDA asked manufacturers of red-yeast products to remove them from the market because they contained lovastatin. The FDA cited a risk of severe muscle problems that could lead to kidney disease. So if you want to purchase red-yeast rice extracts you'll have to go to other countries or the Internet.

More research needs to be done before we can know about the long-term safety of red-yeast rice. We do know that some types of red-yeast rice may be more dangerous than others because of high levels of other substances such as citrinic acid.

There are purity and concentration issues that one must keep in mind. The amount of monacolin -- perhaps the most important ingredient -- can vary a lot. There are many different strains of the yeast. Different types of fermentation are used. One study of different brands of red yeast rice supplements showed that the amount of monacolin ranged from 0% to 0.58%.

Also there may be medication-interaction issues. It's best to consult with your medical doctor first before trying to lower your cholesterol with red-yeast rice.

About the Author: Tim Lazaro is a nutrition scholar and competitive, masters runner who writes on issues related to heart health, natural-food diets, and aerobic exercise. By employing the diets and life-style changes that he writes about, he has lowered his total cholesterol and lost weight. If you're sick and tired of fighting the high-cholesterol battle, give yourself a break and download his Free guide here: Five Secrets to Lowering Cholesterol

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Red Yeast Rice for Lowering Cholesterol

Red yeast rice is an alternative to more risky statin drugs that may help to lower LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides without as many side effects as statins. It has chemical compounds similar to statins, but at much lower levels and has been part of the Chinese diet for thousands of years. As such, has a much longer track record than high-dosage statins. Usually packaged in 600mg capsules, the suggested dosages generally vary from two 600mg to four 600mg capsules per day.Studies done in the US and China also show some evidence it may help to increase beneficial HDL cholesterol.

Combining Red Yeast Rice and Statins: Synergy with Fewer Side Effects

Rice

Some doctors and patients are suggesting that you first try red yeast rice to lower LDL cholesterol and once you know what that will do, then add a low dosage of a statin drug to improve the result further. This helps keep the statin dosage lower which helps avoid side effects. Further, some research has found that the compounds in red yeast rice work differently than statins and have an additive effect.

Not Recommended for Those With Liver Disease

To be cautious, you should have liver panel tests performed periodically to ensure that it does not adversely affect your liver function. To further reduce the risk of lowered liver function, you may also consider adding supplements beneficial for the liver such as milk thistle containing silymarin.

Don't Consume Grapefruit While Using Red Yeast Rice or Statins

If you are taking either of these supplements, you should avoid consuming grapefruit and grapefruit juice products as they can interfere with liver metabolism.

Red Yeast Rice for Lowering Cholesterol

Learn more about red yeast rice and other recommended dietary supplements for lowering cholesterol here.

Alison Grey is a freelance writer and vitamin fanatic. She is also a regular contributor of Health and Nutrition topics at EmediaHealth.com

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Brown Rice - The Secret to Lowering Cholesterol and Weight Naturally

One of the secrets about nutrition is to eat food as close to its natural form as possible. This means that we should avoid canned, processed, refined or frozen food as much as possible. The Japanese are known for their diet comprising plenty of raw (natural) food and they drink plenty of green tea (which is the least-processed tea of all). Not surprising, the Japanese are generally in better health shape compared to people in the other developed nations.

In the same logic, we should be eating brown rice instead of white rice (which is refined rice). Nature has it that every brown grain would contain vitamin B complex, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, iron, fiber and essential fatty acid. These nutrients aid our body in the production of energy, blood cells, connective tissues, hormones, aid in calcium absorption, blood-sugar regulation, fat metabolism and maintain healthy nervous system. These nutrients are found typically on the surface of the brown grain.

Unfortunately, brown rice has a shorter shelf life, prompting manufacturers to process it into white rice. The process involves polishing (or stripping away) the surface of the brown grains. As a result of the polishing, white rice would have lost as much as 90% of the surface nutrients. To improve the nutritional value of white rice, manufacturers are required by the FDA to enrich it with vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, not all of Mother Nature's nutrients can be synthetically restored. Thus, white refined rice is nutritionally inferior compared to brown rice.

There is a lot of goodness in brown rice. Brown rice contains natural anti-oxidants. Brown rice is less constipating than white rice, making it suitable for those with weak stomach. Brown rice also helps the female to maintain her body weight. According to the Harvard Medical School which studied 74,000 female aged 38-63 years over a 12 year period, those who consumed refined grains (white rice and flour) tend to put on weight compared to those who consumed whole grains (such as brown rice). This is probably due to the higher fiber content in whole grains. Finally, a diet high in fiber is known to lower cholesterol, so those who are concerned about their cholesterol should benefit from consuming brown rice and whole grain products.

Lyn P. writes on various topics of health and nutrition. The above article was published in the Cholesterol Diet Secrets mini course (http://www.Cholesterol-Diet-Secrets.com/home), a website that provides tips for reversing the effects of cholesterol without prescription drugs.

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Lowering Cholesterol - Is Red Yeast Rice an Effective Home Remedy for High Cholesterol?

One of the best-known over-the-counter nutritional supplements for naturally controlling your cholesterol is a product called Cholestin, which nowadays contains a sugar cane derivative called policosanol. Before the makers of Cholestin began making their product with policosanol, however, they used a natural product that contains exactly the same chemical that is in the cholesterol drug Mevachor. That natural product was red yeast rice.

Red yeast rice does not contain a chemical that just works the same way as the statin drug Mevachor (lovastatin). The yeast actually makes Mevachor. When the makers of the older formulation of Cholestin learned that Chinese researchers had confirmed that the fungus can be used to lower both cholesterol and triglycerides, nobody was paying a whole lot of attention to Chinese research.

The natural products maker Pharmanex ran its own clinical trials at the University of California at Los Angeles and confirmed that people with high cholesterol who take red yeast rice can lower their LDL levels by an average of 22 per cent.

These findings meant that the supplement not only was as effective as a prescription statin drug, it worked better than most. And since anybody with the technical expertise can grow red yeast rice without paying royalties on a patent, the product was much, much less expensive than the comparable prescription drugs.

You might have guessed by now that the FDA was not going to allow a natural product that really does lower the "bad" LDL cholesterol to stay on the market.

That's in spite of the fact that the older version of Cholestin was purified, standardized, and clinically tested. That's in spite of the absence of reports of rhabdomylosis (muscle tissue breakdown) as an occasional side-effective of prescription Mevachor. (It's possible other compounds in the yeast prevent side effects.)

The FDA forbade the manufacturer of any clinically tested, standardized, and proven effective red yeast rice supplement.

But it allows red yeast rice that isn't standardized for known purity, effectiveness, and safety. Isn't that just bizarre? Banning the standardized supplement protected a pharmaceutical company's bottom line.

You may read from time to time that red yeast rice supplements are more effective than statin drugs at lowering cholesterol, and, except for the FDA's intervention, that would be true. In other countries where red yeast rice is treated like any other drug, however, new clinical studies come in nearly every year showing that it can in fact lower cholesterol in healthy people and in people at risk for heart disease.

In addition to writing about what is the safest medicine to lower cholesterol, author and pharmacological chemist Robert Rister discusses natural remedies for over 100 conditions at his Savvy Natural Healer website.

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