Ancient Chinese Nutrient Safely Lowers Deadly Cholesterol Levels (Red Yeast Rice)

In this week's newsletter, I detail for you two recently released medical reports that once again alarm us to the dangers of not treating improper cholesterol levels. You'd think by now that the health risks associated with high LDL("bad")/low HDL("good") levels have been so well-documented that we wouldn't need yet another series of studies to get our attention. Yet millions of us and our physicians tend to ignore the warnings and play a deadly game of chicken with cholesterol. Of course, the pharmaceutical companies continue licking their chops and lining up their billion-dollar advertising budgets to bombard us with cholesterol-lowering drugs. Many of them can produce so many side effects that you may not sleep at night if you read about them in the Physician's Desk Reference.

Let's spend some time today talking about that cycle and how you avoid it. I'll share with you some safer, natural ways to avoid dangerous cholesterol levels, including an ancient Chinese nutrient that I consider a "miracle" in the fight against bad cholesterol, and believe me, anyone who knows me understands that I don't use that term lightly. Its results are excellent, and much safer when compared to drugs.

First, let's address the causes of unhealthy cholesterol levels. In my almost 25 years as a physician, I am still amazed at how abusive people can be to their bodies. There are millions of people in this country who are at risk for stroke, heart attack and sudden death. Too many of us eat and drink to excess, eat in a gluttonous fashion, avoid exercise and go on living our lives in a normal fashion until a catastrophe strikes one day-often without warning.

Obviously, those of you who are reading this newsletter are clearly more concerned about your health than the average person. Nevertheless, many of us still might not be paying enough attention to the potential dangers of high LDL/low HDL levels, also called an "unhealthy ratio." Since I talk with patients every day in my practice, I can certainly understand the reason why it can happen. You may be feeling well, taking your vitamins and not being overly concerned about a little elevation in cholesterol. But let me warn you: If you're falling into this trap, please get yourself out of this mindset. Your life or the life of a member of your family is potentially on the line.

There is a new study just published in the April 1, 2005 edition of the American Journal of Cardiology. It was a small article and received no fanfare whatsoever. It details 2 million patients, identifying medical and prescription claims along with laboratory results in a commercially-insured population. Within this group, patients with multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease, but no history of coronary artery disease or diabetes, were identified. Patients with the multiple risk factors were identified based on the presence of two or more of the following items: men 45 years or older, women 55 years or older, history of hypertension, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) of less than 40 mg per dl, total cholesterol of 200 mg per dl or greater or obesity. Of the 2 million studied, over 293,000 patients were identified as having two or more risk factors, yet an amazing 62% of these patients were not receiving any treatment for their elevated cholesterol.

In a related study out of a European cardiovascular journal from April 2005, cholesterol control in stroke prevention was studied in Italy. Over 5,000 men and women who had suffered either stroke or transient ischemic attack (warning of the stroke) were included. The study found that even in this group that had already suffered a neurologic event, approximately 40% of patients were not being treated adequately for elevations in LDL cholesterol.

For me, the message of these two studies is very clear: Physicians are not showing enough urgency in their treatment of cholesterol. They frequently are lolled into a sense of false security when their patients are stable and exhibiting no apparent medical problems beyond unhealthy cholesterol levels. The literature clearly suggests that with advancing age, some mild obesity and elevated LDL cholesterol, there's clearly increased risk of both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.

Of course, the drug companies are rushing to our "rescue." We are bombarded on television with advertisements from pharmaceutical companies promoting their cholesterol-lowering drugs. Unfortunately, these drugs frequently have many side effects, including muscle weakness, liver damage and so on.

But as I mentioned earlier, there is a natural alternative that I think is a lot safer and yet quite effective: Red Yeast Rice. It has been used in Chinese cuisine for centuries. The "miracle" of red yeast rice comes from it naturally forming HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors known as monacolins. These monacolins exhibit benefits that are actually very similar to many of the statin drugs, although they appear to be significantly safer.

In a study out of China published earlier this year, 48 consecutive patients with stable angina were randomly assigned to receive 1,200 or 2,400 mg daily of red yeast rice for two weeks. At the end of this short study, the patients given 1,200 mg reduced their total cholesterol by 13% and their LDL cholesterol by 23% . The patients treated with 2,400 mg lowered total cholesterol by 22% and LDL cholesterol by 32%. The study also showed that red yeast rice significantly lowered C-reactive protein (CRP) levels literally within one day. (CRP elevations indicate inflammation in the body.) Lowering CRP levels may even be more important than lowering cholesterol due to the fact that numerous studies have linked elevated CRP levels to heart and vascular dysfunction, heart attack and stroke incidence. For more information about CRP, I urge you to read a newsletter I wrote recently.

In another separate open label study, 187 patients with elevated cholesterol were treated with 2,400 mg. of red yeast rice daily for eight weeks. At the end of this eight-week trial, total cholesterol decreased by 16%, LDL by 21%, triglycerides by 24%. HDL increased by almost 15%.

Please note: Because red yeast rice does act in a similar fashion to the prescription statin drugs, it can lower your co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) levels. I recommend that you take 100 mg to 200 mg of Nutraceutical Sciences Institute's (NSI) pharmaceutical-grade natural Japanese CoQ10 daily while on red yeast rice. CoQ10 has so many other benefits for your heart function, immune system and energy. I highly recommend it to everyone, and I take it as a foundational supplement. It should also be noted that toxicity with red yeast rice in human trials has shown no elevations in liver enzymes or renal impairment, unlike statin cholesterol-lowering drugs.

You should certainly not be taking red yeast rice if you are on other statin drugs, cyclosporin, anti-fungal agents, erythromycin or protease inhibitors. Also, it is recommended that individuals with kidney or liver impairment or women who are pregnant or breast feeding should NOT take this product. It is always best to work with your physician and monitor your cholesterol levels closely and try to achieve the intended goals utilizing exercise, diet and supplements first. Drugs should only be used if these three excellent and safe options fail.

Of course, there are other nutrients that can have beneficial effects in promoting healthy cholesterol that we've discussed before, including fiber, tocotrienols (Tocomin), Sytrinol, policosanol, niacin, pantethine and garlic. For more info about pantethine and fiber, I'd like you to read these recent newsletters: Promote Healthy Cholesterol Ratios with Pantethine, and The 7 Lifesaving Properties of Fiber.

NSI has just released a red yeast rice extract of which I'm extremely proud. Each capsule contains a full and powerful 600 mg of the highest-quality red yeast rice. The product is direct priced at 50% less than other brands and is only $19.99 for 240 capsules. At 1,200 mg per day, this provides a four-month supply and costs less than 17 cents per day. Compare this to the cost of statin drugs that cost $100-$200 per month!

NSI also sells a product called Healthy Cholesterol, a patented formulation containing multiple beneficial nutrients including niacin in the inositol "no-flush" form, along with beta sitosterol, pantethine, policosanol and other important nutrients.

With so many natural, effective nutrients, healthy diet and exercise options for promoting healthy cholesterol, there is no reason why most people cannot have ideal cholesterol ratios without drugs.

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