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A new study, from physicians in Pennsylvania and reported in the June 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, found a significant cholesterol-lowering efhttp://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/06/15/hscout628030.htmlfect of a commercially available nonprescription red yeast rice product in a small group of people who could not take statin drugs, for various reasons.
Red yeast rice is produced when a yeast, Monascus purpureus, is grown on rice. It has been used in Asian countries for more than a thousand years as food and medicine. In the study, half of the 62 participants took 1800 mg of red yeast rice supplements every day, while the other half took a placebo.
After 12 weeks, those taking the red yeast rice supplements saw their LDL (“bad cholesterol”) drop by 27%. Those taking the placebo saw a drop of their LDL in only 6% of the participants.
Interestingly, red yeast rice contains lovastatin, but in extremely small quantities, However, that is enough to make the FDA wary of the product.
Dr. Ram Y. Gordon, a cardiologist in private practice who was a member of the research group said that trial participants took three 600-milligram vials of red yeast rice twice a day, each vial of which had the equivalent of 1 mg of lovastatin.
"Each vial had one milligram of lovastatin. So the total was six milligrams a day, which is really a tiny amount. And lovastatin is one of the weaker statins. The cholesterol drop was much more than what you'd expect from that low dose of lovastatin."
More worries, though, is that as an unregulated substance, the potency of any red yeast rice supplement you migth buy can't be assumed.
More study is required. The sample set was pretty small, so Gordon emphasized that more tests are necessary.
Posted June 16th, 2009 by Michael Santo
