Red yeast rice (RYR) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 1,000 years to improve circulation and digestion. But in the Western world, RYR has a good reputation for its ability to lower cholesterol. Most type 2 diabetics have problems with their cholesterol levels.
RYR is also known as Went rice, red fermented rice, red koji rice, akakoji, red koji rice, or Anka. "Koji" means "grain or bean overgrown with a mold culture" in Japanese, which is an apt description.
Red yeast rice is made by fermenting a species of yeast called Monascus purpureus with rice. Once the rice combines with the fermenting yeast, it turns a bright red-purple color.
In Asia, people eat 15 to 55 grams of occurring RYR every day. In Chinese communities around the world, powdered RYR is used to color foods such as tofu, meat, fish, cheese, vinegar, and baked goods. It is also added to alcoholic beverages such as Japanese Saki and Korean rice wines to give them a reddish tinge.
Red yeast rice extract (RYRE) is used to make red yeast rice supplements.
The problem with statins
Statins are a group of drugs that doctors often prescribe to help lower blood cholesterol levels to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Studies show that in some people, statins reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death from heart disease by about 25% to 35%.
There are two types of cholesterol, LDL ("bad" cholesterol), which builds up plaque in your arteries, increasing your risk of heart attacks and strokes, and HDL ("good") cholesterol, which prevents plaque build-up by carrying the bad (LDL) cholesterol from the blood to the liver, where it is excreted from the body.
Some people find it difficult to take statins, including this writer, because of the side effects. Instead, I take 1000 mg of cod liver oil and 10 mg of Ezetimibe Teva every day. Ezetimibe Teva is another medicine to lower high cholesterol.
Side effects of statins include muscle pain and weakness, neuropathy, heart failure, dizziness, cognitive impairment, cancer, pancreatic cancer, and depression. In my experience, statins slowed my thinking, which I found unbearable. The side effects of RYR are less nasty and much more tolerable.
RYR contains occurring chemicals called monacolins. Monacolins block the formation of cholesterol. One of these monacolins, monacolin K, sometimes found in RYR supplements, is an active statin-like compound with the same chemical makeup as prescription statins such as lovastatin and mevinolin. Despite this, the side effects of RYRs are different and more tolerable than those of statins.
How red yeast rice lowers cholesterol
The monacolin in red yeast rice is less than equal compounds found in medical statins, so it is unlikely that monacolin is the only reason RYR can lower cholesterol.
RYR contains other plant compounds such as phytosterols and isoflavones as well as unsaturated fatty acids. So it's likely that these substances play a role in red yeast rice's ability to lower cholesterol.
What is certain is that the red yeast (monarchs purpureus) used to make RYR stops the action of an enzyme that helps in the formation of cholesterol in the human body, thereby lowering cholesterol.
The benefits of red yeast rice go beyond reducing high cholesterol:
Lowering high cholesterol
Reduction of muscle fatigue
Improving insulin sensitivity
Reducing obesity
Reduction of oxidative stress
Cholesterol Reduction and Red Yeast Rice
Red yeast rice supplements are most used to reduce hyperlipidemia, i.e. high cholesterol.
Many studies are proving the effects of RYR extracts on cholesterol. The average benefits found by comparing the results of dozens of studies are (despite the inconsistency) as follows:
1.2 grams per day lowers LDL cholesterol by 26% in 8 weeks
2.4 g daily reduces LDL by 22% and total cholesterol by 16% in 12 weeks
A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology in 2010 examined how RYR supplements affected 25 patients who could not tolerate statins. The results... on average, total cholesterol dropped by 13% and LDL dropped by 19%. And RYR was well tolerated.
In another 2007 study in European, Some subjects took 600 mg of RYR twice a day for 8 weeks, while others were given a placebo. Subjects given RYR showed lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol at the end of two months compared to those given a placebo.
Muscle fatigue and red yeast rice
Many statin users complain of muscle fatigue, muscle pain, and a real sense of muscle weakness, as this author can attest. Estimates suggest that 10% to 15% of statin users experience muscle fatigue Muscle fatigue score, physical activity, serum lipid profile, and safety profile were then assessed.
Besides, the level of physical activity was reduced in patients in the simvastatin group compared to those in the red yeast rice group. Similar lipid-lowering effects were observed in both groups. The safety profile was not affected after treatment.
The study concluded that RYR worked as well as a statin, but with less fatigue.
Improving insulin sensitivity with red yeast rice
RYR can help maintain normal blood glucose levels.
A study published in 2012 in the World Journal of Cardiology showed that RYR extract can help maintain normal blood glucose levels when given in a dietary supplement that also contains berberine and policosanol to people with metabolic syndrome compared to those without was served. placebo.
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