Red yeast rice is a substance produced when cooked rice has been fermented using red yeast. This procedure has been practised in China since as far back as 800 A.D and is used to produce a food preservative and a flavouring or is dried to make a medicine.
Red yeast rice contains in addition to the usual nutrients found in rice, a mixture of compounds, which help lower cholesterol levels. These compounds are thought to be sterols, fatty acids and monacolin K. Monacolin K has been shown to inhibit the production of liver enzymes that manufacture cholesterol and is similar in action to many drugs normally used to treat high cholesterol levels.
Red yeast rice Supplementation
Traditionally Red yeast rice has been used in Chinese herbal medicine for digestive and circulatory disorders.
Modern research has confirmed that Red yeast rice may be useful at lowering cholesterol, however the quality and potency of some supplements has been questioned. Supplements need to be guaranteed free from the toxin, citrinin and be standardised so that they contain around 0.5% monacolins.
It is suggested that if you are using Red yeast rice as a supplement, you be may depleting co-enzyme Q10 from the body, it may therefore be beneficial to take a coQ10 supplement to offset this loss.
Side Effects of Red yeast rice
Generally there are no major side effects with Red yeast rice supplements, however some individuals may experience mild digestive discomfort.
Red yeast rice should be avoided by people with liver diseases and until there is more research on safety, it is best not taken during pregnancy or when breast-feeding.
Red yeast rice simulates the action of drugs that lower cholesterol, it is therefore best to avoid using this supplement if you already on cholesterol medication, unless advised by your doctor.
When this article was written there were no other well-known negative drug interactions with the herb red yeast supplements.
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