Red Yeast Rice reduces cholesterol levels because it contains, among many other chemicals, one of the statin drugs. (The statin drugs, the most effective cholesterol-lowering agents used in medicine today, were originally derived from yeast products.) Red Yeast Rice just happens to contain one of the most popular statin drugs on the market today – lovastatin.

In fact, when Red Yeast Rice was found to contain lovastatin, the FDA moved to make red rice yeast (often sold as Cholesterin in earlier times) a regulable drug, and thus remove it from the unregulated shelves of the health food store.

But in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-417), Congress saw fit to remove all “dietary supplements” from under the auspices of the FDA. Manufacturers of dietary supplements since that time have been free to make whatever claims they choose to make about their multitude of products, apparently without needing scientific support.


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Are you taking a cholesterol prescription? Crestor or Lipitor? Read on....

Treatment

The following studies suggest that red yeast rice significantly reduces high cholesterol:

Recently, the UCLA School of Medicine conducted a study involving 83 people with high cholesterol levels. Those who received Red Yeast Rice over a 12-week period experienced a significant reduction in total cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and triglycerides (fatty substances that can also accumulate in the bloodstream and cause damage to blood vessels) compared to those who received a placebo. HDL ("good") cholesterol did not change in either group during the study.

Two studies involving Red Yeast Rice were presented at the American Heart Association's 39th Annual conference in 1999. The first study, involving 187 people with mild to moderate elevations in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol revealed that treatment with red yeast rice reduced total cholesterol by more than 16%, LDL cholesterol by 21%, and triglycerides by 24%. HDL cholesterol also increased by 14%. In the second study, elderly participants who were given red yeast rice experienced significant reductions in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol compared to those who received a placebo. Both studies treated the participants with the supplement or placebo for 8 weeks.

In another 8-week trial involving 446 people with high cholesterol levels, those who received Red Yeast Rice experienced a significant drop in cholesterol levels compared to those who received a placebo. Total cholesterol fell by 22.7%, LDL by 31%, and triglycerides by 34% in the Red Yeast Rice group. HDL cholesterol increased by 20% in the Red Yeast Rice group as well.

Red Yeast Rice is made by fermenting rice with a strain of red yeast called Monascus purpureus. The extract is a source of a number of compounds known as statins - the compounds largely held responsible for reducing cholesterol levels. It appears to accomplish this by blocking a key enzyme in the liver. As such, Red Yeast Rice gained recognition in the United States as a cholesterol-lowering agent. However, in 2001 Red Yeast Rice extract, a "natural" unregulated nutritional supplement was withdrawn by the FDA when it was determined that red yeast rice supplements were too similar in chemical structure to the strictly regulated prescription statin known as Mevacor.

Red Yeast Rice benefit - animal studies

Researchers have studied the tong-term effects of Red Yeast Rice extract on serum lipids and the severity of atherosclerosis in rabbits. In the study, the researchers fed the rabbit with the extract together with 0.25% cholesterol for 200 days. They found 25% and 40% reductions in total cholesterol with respect to doses of 0.4 and 1.35 g/kg/day of the red yeast rice. They also observed a reduction of serum LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and atherosclerotic index. [7]

Red Yeast Rice benefit - clinical studies

There are a few clinical studies about the beneficial effect of Red Yeast Rice on cholesterol levels. Most of the subjects are either patients who suffered from hyperlipidemia or coronary artery disease. All studies reviewed show the efficacy of red yeast rice on cholesterol-lowering. To simplify this report, I
summarized the results of the "most recent studies".


A recent clinical study has demonstrated that ingestion of a red yeast rice extract (Xuezhikang) led to rapid reduction of C-reactive protein levels within 24 h and lipid profile within 2 weeks. In the study, they randomly assigned 48 consecutive patients with stable angina to 1200 or 2400 mg/day of a red yeast rice extract (Xuezhikang). They found that the red yeast rice extract Xuezhikang reduced total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, median plasma C-reactive protein levels and in mean plasma C-reactive protein levels significantly. AThe higher dose of the red yeast rice extract Xuezhikang (2400 mg/day) resulted in significantly greater reductions in total cholesterol TC and low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol compared with 1200 mg/day group (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively.

While they observed a less reduction in triglycerides (TG) levels and no significant difference in mean high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels compared with baseline. [5]


In another study of patients with coronary heart disease at a dose of 1200 mg/d for 6 weeks, researchers also observed the reduction of lipid levels and improvement of inflammation after the administration of the red yeast rice extracts. [8]

Hyperlipidemia is a well-known risk factor for atherosclerosis and statins are widely used to treat patients with elevated levels of lipids in their plasma. Notwithstanding the proven benefits of statin drugs on both primary and secondary prevention of heart disease, the high cost of statin treatment, in addition to possible side effects such as liver function abnormalities, may limit their widespread use. We conducted a study on a natural product as an alternative to statin treatment. Cholestin, a dietary supplement, is prepared from rice fermented with red yeast (Monascus purpureus), which has been shown to significantly decrease total cholesterol levels in hyperlipidemic subjects. Our objective was to determine the cellular effect of Cholestin on cholesterol synthesis in human hepatic cells (HepG2) and the mechanism by which it caused a change in lipid metabolism.

A red yeast extract was found to have a direct inhibitory effect on HMG-CoA reductase activity (78-69% of control). In the study, researchers found this red yeast extract (25-100 microg/mL) were significantly reduced cholesterol levels in human hepatic cells HepG2in a dose-dependent manner (81-45% of control, respectively). They found and association of this reduction with the decreased synthesis and secretion of both un-esterified cholesterol (54-31 and 33-14% of control, respectively) and cholesteryl ester (18-6 and 37-19% of control, respectively). Thus, one of the anti-hyperlipidemic actions of the Red Yeast Rice in the study was a consequence of an inhibitory effect on cholesterol biosynthesis in hepatic
cells. [9]

A recent study of 62 people who stopped taking statins because of side effects reported a significant cholesterol-lowering effect of a commercially available nonprescription Red Yeast Rice product. The average drop in cholesterol was 43 points at 12 weeks. The participants took three 600-milligram vials of red yeast rice twice a day. Each vial had only one milligram of lovastatin, so they took about 6 mg a day. The participants also followed a lifestyle change program, including education on nutrition, exercise and relaxation techniques. [AA1]

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