Red Yeast Rice, Monascus purpureus, Hung-chu, Hong-Qu

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Red Yeast Rice Latin name: Monascus purpureus Other names: Hung-chu,

Hong-Qu

 

As best as I can tell yeast rice has been used in China to enhance

the flavor of foods for centuries. It also has been used medicinally

in China to promote blood circulation. In any case I have been using

it in the form of 600mg capsules sold by Pharmanex. The operative

word in that last sentence is `have'. The FDA has stopped

Pharmanex from selling this product. (It is still available in

capsule form from several other sources, but probably not for long.

See below.)

 

This apparently is a common natural food product . . . I believe it

is used to color Peking Duck and Chinese style ribs). Can I expect

to find it in an oriental grocery store? If so, what would I ask

for? And once I find it, how much of the culinary variety might be

needed to match the extracted variety sold by companies such as

Pharmanex? Since it is produced be fermentation of rice, would it

reasonable to manufacture my own. One final question (which I

don't expect an answer to) is what is it going to take to get the

FDA to work for the health of the nation and not drug manufactures?

 

I have pasted some additional information about Red Rice Yeast below:

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Excerpt from Wall Street Journal on 6/22/2001

 

FDA IS HALTING MOST SALES OF RED YEAST RICE

 

" WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is moving to halt

most sales of red yeast rice, a product being sold as a dietary

supplement, but which contains a widely prescribed

cholesterol-lowering drug. The agency sent out warning letters within

the last two months to two companies selling red yeast rice products

containing lovastatin, the active ingredient in Merck & Co.'s

cholesterol-lowering drug Mevacor. The action followed a March 30

ruling by a federal court in Utah that Pharmanex Inc. needs FDA

approval to sell its red yeast rice product because legally it is a

drug, not a dietary supplement. "

 

~~~~~

 

Ancient Chinese secret? Red yeast rice is a traditional Chinese

dietary staple that has been shown in clinical studies to effectively

lower serum lipid levels (cholesterol levels). Also known as Monascus

purpureus went rice, it is prepared by a traditional rice

fermentation method. It's proven to contain compounds with HMG-CoA

reductase inhibitor activity, which is responsible for the inhibition

of cholesterol synthesis in the liver. In addition, red yeast rice

also contains unsaturated fatty acids that may help reduce serum

lipids. The formula has been used in China since the Ming Dynasty,

633 years ago.

 

In fact even today, due to the daily dietary use of red yeast rice in

China, the average cholesterol profile among Chinese people is below

150. Cholestene's sole ingredient is red yeast rice that actually may

block the production of cholesterol in the liver. In simpler terms:

LDL (bad) cholesterol is taken from the blood, HDL (good) cholesterol

is increased, and as a result of a better LDL to HDL ratio,

triglycerides are reduced as well.

 

Scientific proof. There have been more than 34 clinical studies

assessing the effects of Monascus purpureus went yeast. In one major,

randomized clinical trial, 446 hyperlipidemic patients with baseline

total serum levels of >230 mg/dl were given two capsules of red rice

extract (1.2g/day) orally for eight weeks. Hyperlipidemia is a

metabolic disorder characterized by high levels of lipids (or

cholesterol) in the blood. All patients maintained their normal

lifestyle and diet throughout the trial period. At the end of the

treatment period, it was found that serum total cholesterol levels

were reduced by an average of 23%, triglycerides by 36.5%, LDL-

cholesterol by 28.5%, and HDL-cholesterol levels increased by 19.6%.

Major clinical tests prove it works. For people whose cholesterol

levels are slightly elevated (between 200 and 240mg/dl) red yeast

rice is effective at regulating elevated serum cholesterol and

triglycerides.

 

In another study, cited by Elkins, J. Wang and his staff performed a

randomized, single-blind trial in 502 patients who were diagnosed with

high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These test subjects had a

serum total cholesterol greater than or equal to 230, or triglycerides

values ranging from 200 to 400. They also had HDL counts that were

less than or equal to 40 for men and 45 for women. The patients were

divided into four groups, three of which were designated for

treatment (600mg of red yeast rice twice a day) and one set up as a

control (this group received a Chinese herb, Jiaogulan, which is

reputed to have cholesterol-lowering properties).

 

At the end of four weeks, total cholesterol levels in the treatment

groups decreased by 17.1%, against a drop of just 4.8% in the control

group. LDL counts were down an average of 24.6%, versus an average of

6.3% among the controls. Also, red yeast rice treatment appeared to

have effected a 19.8% decrease in serum triglycerides (9.2% for the

control group) and a 12.8% rise in HDL levels (4.9% for the controls).

 

At the end of eight weeks, treated patients showed the following

numbers: total cholesterol (down 22.7%); LDL (down 30.9%); and total

blood triglycerides (down 34.1%). All these figures were considerably

better than the corresponding results seen in the control group.

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

This substance, native to China, is a fermentation by-product of

cooked non-glutinous rice on which red yeast has been grown. The red

yeast rice has been employed by the Chinese as both a food and a

medicinal agent. Its therapeutic benefits as both a promoter of blood

circulation and a digestive stimulant were first noted in the

traditional Chinese pharmacopeia, Ben Cao Gang Mu-Dan Shi Bu Yi,

during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Practitioners of traditional

Chinese medicine utilize red yeast rice to treat abdominal pain due to

stagnant blood and dysentery, as well as external and internal

trauma. In addition to its therapeutic applications, red yeast rice

has been used for centuries as a flavor enhancer, a food

preservative, and a base for a Taiwanese alcoholic rice-wine beverage.

 

Researchers have determined that one of the ingredients in red yeast

rice, called monacolin K, inhibits the production of cholesterol by

stopping the action of a key enzyme in the liver (e.g., HMG-CoA

reductase) that is responsible for manufacturing cholesterol. The

drug lovastatin (Mevacor®) acts in a similar fashion to this red

yeast rice ingredient. However, the amount per volume of monacolin K

in red yeast rice is small (0.2% per 5 mg) when compared to the

20–40 mg of lovastatin available as a prescription drug. This

has prompted researchers to suggest that red yeast rice may have other

ingredients, such as sterols, that may also contribute to lowering

cholesterol.

 

Along with its evaluation in animal trials, red yeast rice has been

clinically investigated as a therapy for reducing cholesterol in two

human trials. In one study, both men and women taking red yeast rice

per day for two months had significant decreases in serum cholesterol

levels. In addition, persons taking red yeast rice had a significant

increase in HDL ( " good " ) cholesterol and a decrease in LDL ( " bad " )

cholesterol. Elevated triglycerides were also found to be lowered.