Does Red Yeast Rice Lower Cholesterol? by Dr Sam Robbins

Red Yeast Rice is a traditional Chinese medicine which is known to have cholesterol lowering properties. It is extracted from rice which has been fermented with a type of yeast called Monascus purpureus. It is used not only as medicine but also as food colouring, additive and preservative.

The cholesterol lowering properties of Red Yeast Rice (RYR) come from the naturally occuring substances called monacolins in it. In particular, Monacolin K resembles the statin Lovastatin, which is the key component of the cholesterol lowering drug, Mevacor. For those who have been advised to lower their cholesterol levels and are concerned about the side effects of statin drugs like liver dysfunction, muscle atrophy etc., Red Yeast Rice is a natural alternative.

Red Yeast Rice was judged by the Physician's Desk Reference On Nutritional Supplements to "significantly reduce total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and total triglyceride concentrations, compared to a placebo."

Studies have shown that taking 2.4 g of Red Yeast Rice per day reduced LDL or bad cholesterol levels by 22% and total cholesterol by 16% in 12 weeks. Another study showed that taking 1.2g of RYR lowered LDL levels by 26% in just 8 weeks. In China and other Asian countries, the daily intake of Red Yeast Rice is much more as it is used commonly as an ingredient in many preparations such as Peking Duck.

READ this Special Report to know the TRUTH about Red Yeast Rice. Click Here and read the Doctor’s opinion.

http://TheCholesterolBlog.info/week2/RedYeastRiceLowerCholesterol

Besides reducing cholesterol, Red Yeast Rice also has many other side benefits:

• Chemopreventive: It inhibits colon cancer.

• Reduces cardiac mortality: It has been found that in people who already had a history of heart attacks, Red Yeast Rice reduced heart attack and death by cardiac reasons by 45% compared to the placebo group.

• Atherosclerosis: Building up of cholesterol plaque and endothelial damage is inhibited by RYR.

• Type II diabetes/ Coronary disease: Studies have shown that Red Yeast Rice reduces non-fatal heart attack by 64%, fatal heart attacks by 58%, sudden death from coronary heart disease by 27% as against the placebo group in Type 2 diabetes with coronary heart disease.

• Anitmutagenic/ antioxidant : Red yeast Rice exhibits anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties.

• Neuroprotective: It exhibits a protective effect against amyloid beta peptide induced neurotoxicity, thereby benefitting people with Alzhemiers and other neurodegenerative disorders.

The amount of monacolins obtained from RYR extracts vary a lot. There are different strains of yeasts and different types of fermentation methods used. The amount of monacolins in RYR ranges from 0% to 0.58%. So even though studies have shown that red yeast rice can lower cholesterol, the supplement must contain the right dosage for it to be effective. Drug companies have aggressively campaigned against RYR because it is a natural alternative to their costly drugs and one-fifth the quantity is sufficient to show the same result.

To find out the secret tip about the other ingredients needed to counter the potential side effects of Red Yeast Rice, please visit the Doctor’s Report at

http://TheCholesterolBlog.info/week2/RedYeastRiceLowerCholesterol.