Red Yeast Rice and Fish Oil Reduce Cholesterol

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NaturalNews.com <http://www.naturalnews.com/index.html> printable

article Originally

published November 17 2008

Study Shows Red Yeast Rice and Fish Oil Reduce Cholesterol by David

Gutierrez

 

(NaturalNews) A combination of fish oil, red yeast rice and lifestyle

changes can produce as great a decrease in cholesterol levels as

prescription drugs, according to a study conducted by researchers from the

University of Pennsylvania Health System and published in the *Mayo Clinic

Proceedings*.

 

" These results are intriguing and show a potential benefit of an

alternative, or naturopathic, approach to a common medical condition, "

researcher David Becker said.

 

Researchers gave 74 people with high cholesterol a daily dose of either 40

milligrams of simvastatin (a generic cholesterol drug also marketed as

Zocor) or a combination of fish oil, red yeast

rice<http://www.naturalnews.com/red_yeast_rice.html>and a number of

cardiovascular positive lifestyle

changes <http://www.naturalnews.com/lifestyle_changes.html>. The fish oil

contained 2,106 milligrams of EPA and 1,680 milligrams of DHA, while the red

yeast rice contained 5.3 milligrams of monacolin, including 2.53 milligrams

of monacolin K.

 

Monacolin K, also known as lovastatin, is the naturally occurring fungal

compound from which the statin drugs were first derived.

 

After 12 weeks, levels of LDL ( " bad " ) cholesterol decreased significantly in

both groups. There was no significant difference between the groups,

indicating that the yeast and fish

oil<http://www.naturalnews.com/fish_oil.html>combination was just as

effective as the pharmaceutical drugs. In addition,

the fish oil and red yeast rice decreased triglyceride levels by 29 percent,

while the statins <http://www.naturalnews.com/statins.html> did not lead to

any significant decrease.

 

" Lifestyle changes combined with ingestion of red yeast rice and fish oil

reduced LDL-C in proportions similar to standard therapy with simvastatin, "

the researchers wrote. " Pending confirmation in larger trials, this

multifactorial, alternative approach to lipid lowering has promise for a

subset of patients unwilling or unable to take statins. "

 

The researchers noted that due to the small size and short duration of the

current study, it was not possible to determine if red yeast rice and fish

oil can actually decrease rates of illness and death, " which is clearly the

most important outcome. " They called for larger, long-term studies to make

sure.

 

Sources for this story include: foodnavigator-usa.com.

 

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