Chinese Cholesterol Control?

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Chinese Cholesterol Control? JoAnn Guest Jun 07, 2003 20:22 PDT

 

Chinese Cholesterol Control?

 

" I am ordering red rice yeast supplement from a Canadian store. Can you

tell me what I should look for when purchasing this product? Is it

safe? "

 

-- Leanne MacDonald

 

 

 

(Published 10/01/2002)

 

 

I’m assuming that you’re referring to red rice yeast extract, a

supplement that can help lower cholesterol and once was sold in the

United States under the name “Cholestin”. To give you a bit of

background, in 2001 the FDA won a long legal battle to remove Cholestin

from the market on the grounds that its primary ingredient is

lovastatin, which had been approved as a prescription drug (the

cholesterol-lowering prescription medication Mevacor) before Cholestin

was introduced. The FDA concluded that by marketing Cholestin, the

manufacturer, Pharmanex, Inc., was selling an unapproved drug. In fact,

there are several natural sources of “statin” drugs from mushrooms and

other fungi. Cholestin and its active components come from a strain of

red yeast cultivated on rice that has been used for centuries in China

as a natural food flavoring and coloring agent. And it contains seven

different statins, not just lovastatin. In my experience, the natural

mixture of compounds is less toxic (to the liver and muscles) than

isolated lovastatin.

 

Although Pharmanex no longer can sell Cholestin made from red rice yeast

extract in the United States, it can market the supplement elsewhere in

the world, including Canada. If the red rice yeast supplement you’re

purchasing from your Canadian source, is Cholestin and consists of red

rice yeast, you should be getting a product that can safely help lower

cholesterol. Be sure to check the label to verify that the product

contains red rice yeast extract.

 

I’m concerned that Pharmanex is still selling a product called Cholestin

in the U.S. with a changed formula. It now contains policosanol from

beeswax, which is not a statin and is not as effective as a

cholesterol-lowering agent. People buying this version of Cholestin may

think that they’re getting red rice yeast extract when, in fact, they’re

not. Incidentally, the federal ban applies only to Cholestin. Other

brands of red rice yeast extract are still available in the U.S.,

although they haven’t been clinically proven as was Cholestin, and may

not be as effective.

 

Dr. Andrew Weil

www.drweil.com

 

 

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