Why You Should Avoid Red Rice Yeast

Red yeast rice, a mainstay of Chinese medicine since ancient times, is emerging in drug stores and vitamin shops as a natural tool to lower cholesterol. The substance is actually derived from a fungus that grows on rice and is eaten as a dietary staple in certain Asian countries.



As its popularity grows, I wanted to share some important information, and a warning of sorts, about red yeast rice.



Even though it is natural, red yeast rice is not a panacea or miracle cure for those of you looking to lower your cholesterol. In fact, using it is an approach I would recommend avoiding.


What’s All the Hype about Red Yeast Rice?



Red yeast rice is sold over-the-counter and is often promoted as an alternative to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, especially for those who stop taking the drugs due to side effects, like unbearable muscle pain.



In one recent study, researchers studied 62 people with high cholesterol, half of whom were given red yeast rice twice a day for six months while the other half received a placebo. The people taking red yeast rice also had weekly meetings for three months during which they learned about how to incorporate healthy nutrition, exercise and stress management into their lives.



After six months, the researchers found[1]:



LDL (bad) cholesterol levels decreased by an average of 35 mg/dL in those taking red yeast rice, compared with 15 mg/dL in the placebo group
Total cholesterol levels improved more in the red yeast rice group than the placebo group


Although the researchers acknowledged that the study was small and of short duration, they concluded that red yeast rice, coupled with lifestyle changes, could decrease LDL cholesterol without increasing pain levels or liver or muscle enzyme levels (as often happens in people taking statin drugs). They recommended the yeast rice as a valid treatment option for people who cannot tolerate statin drugs.



A separate study, this one of 5,000 people who have suffered a heart attack, also found favorable results. Those who took an extract of red yeast rice for five years reduced their risk of repeat heart attacks by 45 percent. It also lowered their chances of having a heart procedure such as bypass surgery or angioplasty, and even appeared to reduce their risk of cancer by as much as two-thirds.[2]



So why, then, do I NOT recommend you take this “natural” supplement if you have high cholesterol?



The answer is two-fold and may surprise you:



Red yeast rice is a statin drug -- with all the same side effects
Cholesterol is not your enemy


Red Yeast Rice is a Statin Drug



The “active” compounds in red yeast rice are known as monacolins, and are substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. One type of monacolin, "monacolin K," is also known as mevinolin or lovastatin.[3]



Lovastatin, as you might now recognize, is the first statin drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it goes by the brand names of Mevacor and Altocor. So if you’re taking red yeast rice in the hopes of avoiding a statin drug -- surprise!



They’re actually essentially the same drug.



And if you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, taking a drug, even a “natural” drug like red yeast rice, should be your absolute last resort. And when I say last resort, I’m saying the odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that you don’t need drugs to lower your cholesterol.



To put it another way, among the more than 20,000 patients who have come to my clinic, only four or five of them truly needed these drugs, as they had genetic challenges that required it.




Why Statin Drugs -- Including Red Yeast Rice -- Should be Avoided



Count yourself lucky that you probably do NOT need to take cholesterol-lowering medications of any kind, because these are some nasty little pills.



Statin drugs work by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver that’s needed to manufacture cholesterol. What is so concerning about this is that when you go tinkering around with the delicate workings of your body, you risk throwing everything off kilter.



For starters, statin drugs deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is beneficial to heart health and muscle function. Because doctors rarely inform people of this risk, and advise them to take a CoQ10 supplement, this depletion leads to fatigue, muscle weakness, soreness and eventually heart failure.



Muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, is actually the most common side effect of statin drugs, which is thought to occur because statins activate the gene atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy.[4]



By the way, muscle pain and weakness may be an indication that your body tissues are actually breaking down -- a condition that can cause kidney damage.



Statin drugs have also been linked to:



An increased risk of polyneuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain in the hands and feet and trouble walking)
Dizziness
Cognitive impairment, including memory loss[5]
A potential increased risk of cancer[6]
Decreased function of your immune system[7]
Depression
Liver problems, including a potential increase in liver enzymes (so people taking statins must be regularly monitored for normal liver function)

Women With Strong Thigh Muscles Protected From Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

A new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics found that thigh muscle strength does not predict the occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) uncovered in x-rays, but does predict incidence of painful or stiff knee OA. Women with the strongest quadriceps muscles appeared to be protected against the development of knee OA symptoms.

Details of this study appear in the September issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.

The knee is the most common weight-bearing joint affected by osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease, a major cause of disability in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 26.9 million U.S. adults are affected by OA with 16% (aged 45+ years) of those cases occurring in the knee. Approximately 18.7 % of symptomatic knee OA patients are female and 13.5% are male. A Medical Expenditure Panel Survey estimates that total out-of-pocket expenditures for treatment of arthritis was $32 billion in 2005.

Neil Segal, M.D., M.S., and colleagues in a study funded by the National Institute on Aging followed 3,026 men and women ages 50-79 over a 30-month period in the Multicenter Knee Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) to assess whether knee extensor strength would predict incident radiographic (OA that can be determined through X-ray) or symptomatic knee OA. Of those enrolled, a total of 2,519 knees were included in the study of radiographic knee OA and 3,392 knees were evaluated for the combination of radiographic OA and symptoms of OA that include pain, aching or stiffness on most days of the month.

Participants were evaluated for thigh muscle strength using an isokinetic dynamometer, a device that measures the strength of different muscle groups. The balance of muscle strength between quadriceps and hamstrings (H:Q ratio) was used to assess weakness in the lower extremity musculature. X-rays of the knees were taken at the onset of the study and the conclusion to determine the presence of OA. A telephone screen at the beginning and end of the study was conducted to establish if frequent pain, aching or stiffness was present in the knee. Data on height, weight (Body Mass Index-BMI), femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD), and physical activity status was also collected from participants.

By the conclusion of the study 48 of 680 men and 93 of 937 women developed OA detected by x-ray. At the end of the 30-month period 10.1% of women and 7.8% of men displayed signs of symptomatic knee OA. "Our results showed thigh muscle strength was not a significant predictor of radiographic knee OA," concluded the authors. Women in the top third of peak knee extensor strength had a lower incidence of symptomatic knee OA, while men with strong thigh muscles had only slightly better odds of developing OA symptoms compared to men with weaker knee extensor strength. "The H:Q ratios were not predictive of symptomatic knee OA in either men or women," added researchers.

Researchers acknowledge there to be some limitation to the study by not including assessments of hip abductor strength. "Study of hip abductor strength, which is important for control of the knee joint, may be useful in a more comprehensive study of risk for OA of the knee," said Dr. Segal. "These findings suggest that targeted interventions to reduce risk for symptomatic knee OA could be directed toward increasing knee extensor strength," he added.

Why Low Vitamin D Raises Heart Disease Risks In Diabetics

Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why.
They have found that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can't process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. The new research has identified a mechanism linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease risk and may lead to ways to fix the problem, simply by increasing levels of vitamin D.

"Vitamin D inhibits the uptake of cholesterol by cells called macrophages," says principal investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, M.D., a Washington University endocrinologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "When people are deficient in vitamin D, the macrophage cells eat more cholesterol, and they can't get rid of it. The macrophages get clogged with cholesterol and become what scientists call foam cells, which are one of the earliest markers of atherosclerosis."

Why Low Vitamin D Raises Heart Disease Risks In Diabetics
ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2009) — Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why.


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See also:
Health & Medicine
Cholesterol
Vitamin
Diabetes
Dietary Supplement
Blood Clots
Heart Disease
Reference
B vitamins
Low density lipoprotein
Vitamin K
Coronary heart disease
They have found that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can't process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. The new research has identified a mechanism linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease risk and may lead to ways to fix the problem, simply by increasing levels of vitamin D.

"Vitamin D inhibits the uptake of cholesterol by cells called macrophages," says principal investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, M.D., a Washington University endocrinologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "When people are deficient in vitamin D, the macrophage cells eat more cholesterol, and they can't get rid of it. The macrophages get clogged with cholesterol and become what scientists call foam cells, which are one of the earliest markers of atherosclerosis."

Macrophages are dispatched by the immune system in response to inflammation and often are activated by diseases such as diabetes. Bernal-Mizrachi and his colleagues believe that in diabetic patients with inadequate vitamin D, macrophages become loaded with cholesterol and eventually stiffen blood vessels and block blood flow.

Bernal-Mizrachi, an assistant professor of medicine and of cell biology and physiology, studied macrophage cells taken from people with and without diabetes and with and without vitamin D deficiency. His team, led by research assistants Jisu Oh and Sherry Weng, M.D., exposed the cells to cholesterol and to high or low vitamin D levels. When vitamin D levels were low in the culture dish, macrophages from diabetic patients were much more likely to become foam cells.

In the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Circulation, which currently is available online, the team reports that vitamin D regulates signaling pathways linked both to uptake and to clearance of cholesterol in macrophages.

"Cholesterol is transported through the blood attached to lipoproteins such as LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol," Bernal-Mizrachi explains. "As it is stimulated by oxygen radicals in the vessel wall, LDL becomes oxidated, and macrophages eat it uncontrollably. LDL cholesterol then clogs the macrophages, and that's how atherosclerosis begins."

That process becomes accelerated when a person is deficient in vitamin D. And people with type 2 diabetes are very likely to have this deficiency. Worldwide, approximately one billion people have insufficient vitamin D levels, and in women with type 2 diabetes, the likelihood of low vitamin D is about a third higher than in women of the same age who don't have diabetes.

The skin manufactures vitamin D in response to ultraviolet light exposure. But in much of the United States, people don't make enough vitamin D during the winter — when the sun's rays are weaker and more time is spent indoors.

Pomegranate seed oil may prevent diabetes: Study

Consuming oil from pomegranate seeds may prevent the development of diabetes, suggest results from a study with mice fed a high-fat diet.

Pomegranate seed oil, rich in conjugate linolenic acid, was found to change weight gain, reduce body weight, and improve insulin sensitivity in mice, “suggesting that risk of developing type 2 diabetes may have been reduced”, says a paper published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

While the juice and pulp of pomegranate have received considerable attention, particularly for their potential heart health benefits, as well as benefiting joint health and as a potential prevention of prostate cancer, the seeds have been largely ignored.

The source of the fruit and juice’s benefits is the antioxidant content, particularly ellagitannin compounds like punicalagins and punicalins, which accounts for about half of the fruit's antioxidant ability.

However, oil from the fruit’s seeds has minimal antioxidant content, but it is a rich source of 9-cis, 11-trans conjugate linolenic acid. This is a different compound to the one currently on the market - CLA or conjugated linoleic acid.

Study details

Led by Brian McFarlin from the University of Houston, the researchers divided 60 male mice into three equal groups. The first group consumed a high-fat diet, the second group consumed the same high-fat diet but was supplemented with the pomegranate seed oil (61.8 mg per day, POM Wonderful), and the third group consumed a normal diet.

At the end of the study, the mice fed the high-fat diet and supplemented with the pomegranate seed oil gained about 10 grams less than the high-fat only group. Furthermore, insulin sensitivity increased, while leptin decreased and adiponectin increased. “Leptin and adiponectin are closely related to body weight and body composition,” they explained.

However, the researchers did not note any heart health benefits, in terms of reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease. “Despite reduction in weight gain and type 2 diabetes risk, markers for CVD were not altered,” they said.

“It is reasonable to speculate that CVD risk was not altered because POMo lacks the antioxidant properties of pomegranate fruit/juice or was not used at a high enough dose,” they said.

Dr McFarlin and his co-workers stated that future studies should evaluate the potential effects and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the health benefits of consuming the oil during a period of weight gain.