Red Yeast Rice 600 mg 60 capsules: K
Red Yeast Rice is manufactured by the fermentation of a strain of yeast, Monascus purpureus, on rice. Red yeast rice is an all-natural whole food powder made from dried fermented rice, with a remarkable ability to lower LDL-cholesterol levels with minimal side effects. For over 20 centuries, Red Yeast has been used in China by millions of folks as a part of they’re daily health program. Today, research is looking at a key ingredient in Red Yeast called Monacolin K to see how it helps maintain cholesterol levels already in the normal ranges, plus inhibit the production of it. Red Rice Yeast is a traditional Chinese herbal remedy that has been shown in animal and human studies to lower serum cholesterol levels. Red Rice Yeast is derived from a strain of yeast (M purpureus Went) that is prepared by a traditional rice fermentation process. The yeast has been shown to contain compounds that posses the same activity as found in the statin drugs, which is responsible for inhibiting cholesterol synthesis in the liver. A rigorous trial from the UCLA School of Medicine, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999, confirmed that a supplement known as red yeast extract reduces cholesterol levels by an average of 40 points in 12 weeks when combined with a low-fat diet. That''s about the same result you''d expect from a low dose of the popular cholesterol drug, Mevacor. Red yeast extract contains a number of cholesterol-lowering compounds known as statins, among them lovastatin, the same active ingredient that''s in Mevacor. Researchers have determined that one of the ingredients in red yeast rice, called monacolin K, inhibits the production of cholesterol by stopping the action of a key enzyme in the liver (e.g., HMG-CoA reductase) that is responsible for manufacturing cholesterol. The drug lovastatin (Mevacor®) acts in a similar fashion to this red yeast rice ingredient. However, the amount per volume of monacolin K in red yeast rice is small (0.2% per 5 mg) when compared to the 20–40 mg of lovastatin available as a prescription drug. This has prompted researchers to suggest that red yeast rice may have other ingredients, such as sterols, that might also contribute to lowering cholesterol. A double-blind trial at the UCLA School of Medicine determined that red yeast rice in the amount of 2.4 grams per day (approximately 10 mg total monacolins) in capsules significantly decreased total- and LDL-cholesterol levels in a sample of people with elevated cholesterol after 12 weeks of therapy. Triglycerides were also reduced in those taking red yeast rice. However, unlike the original study, HDL values did not increase substantially. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study at UCLA, a dose of 2.4 grams of red yeast rice powder per day decreased LDL-cholesterol by 18% after 8 weeks. Similar studies conducted in China with a more concentrated form of the same product resulted in decreases in LDL-cholesterol of up to 32% after 8 weeks.