Advocacy » Health news » Red Yeast Rice Lowers Cholesterol
April 12, 2009
The family of statin drugs that lower cholesterol generate almot $100 billion in revenue for the drug industry. These drugs are all based on chemicals naturally present in red yeast rice (RYR). In this study, 79 people with high cholesterol were given either 600mg of RYR or a placebo twice daily for 8 weeks. This lowered LDL (bad) cholesterol by 26% and improved several cholesterol ratios. Although they were not reported in the study, research suggests that RYR also causes fewer problems with muscle pain and liver toxicity. A recent trial found that side-effects of statin drugs were improved by taking a Coenzyme Q10 supplement.