The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in keeping with its unfortunate habit of blocking the availability of safe and effective natural substances, has ruled that
red yeast rice products that provide 4 mg per day or more of lovastatin are unapproved drugs, rather than dietary supplements.
Red yeast rice. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplememnt/red-yeast-rice#ixzz30CZPFZcf.
"If used according to their suggested serving sizes, only two of the nine
red yeast rice supplements we tested would provide amounts of lovastatin known to lower cholesterol," said ConsumerLab President Tod Cooperman, MD.
However,
red yeast rice is not without its drawbacks.
Red yeast rice has also frequently associated to policosanols, also mildly inhibiting the HMGCoA reductase (Cicero and Ertek 2009).
Study of the effects of Monacolin K and other constituents of
red yeast rice on obesity, insulin-resistance, hyperlipidemia, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis using a mouse model of metabolic syndrome.
A ConsumerLab review of
red yeast rice products available since the FDA ban in 2011 tested products marketed in the United States and found variable amounts of lovastatin.
The chromatogram and UV spectrum of
red yeast rice revealed 4 peaks with a similar spectrum of monacolin K.
Nottingham, United Kingdom, July 19, 2012 --(PR.com)-- A complete range of EFSA approved
Red Yeast Rice ingredients have been developed by ProTec Nutra for use in Food Supplements & the Fortification of Food products.
I decided before I used the GP, to try to reduce my cholesterol naturally by taking a product called
Red Yeast Rice capsules.
Chinese
red yeast rice inhibition of prostate tumor growth in SCID mice.
25,2010, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that levels of lovastatin varied significantly among 12
red yeast rice products.