From: Gary L. Hawley (a24b31n82client186.hawaii.rr.com)
Subject: Chinese Red Yeast Rice testimonial
Date: April 25, 2001 at 12:41 pm PST
I have been strictly following the Ornish program for almost 4 years. During the first 6 months or so I managed to get my cholesterol down to an average of about 150 (from an average of about 205). But then, during the last 2 years or so I have averaged about 170 and have not been able to get it lower. Recently, I heard about Chinese Red Yeast Rice (see previous post in this forum). I began taking two 600mg capsules daily about 2 1/2 months ago and have gotten pretty amazing results:
08/12/00 - before Red Yeast Rice
TOTAL=170
LDL=120
HDL=40
TRIG=52
RATIO=4.3
04/24/01 - adding 1200mg Red Yeast Rice daily for 2 1/2 months
TOTAL=133 (22% reduction)
LDL=79 (35% reduction)
HDL=37 (9% reduction)
TRIG=85 (63% increase)
RATIO=3.6 (16% reduction)
The best part about all this is that it seems to have affected mainly the LDL which is what I needed most. The HDL also dropped, but as Dr. Pinckney has stated when the total cholesterol is below 150, the HDL level isn't as important. Triglycerides went up as well, but they're still well within a desirable range. These results are fairly consistent with other results I have seen published from trials and studies. It seems to work for me, and is a safer and way cheaper alternative to a prescription statin.
Listed below is one of the many links for info, but here is a brief description:
"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.6 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.7 This has prompted researchers to suggest that red yeast rice may have other ingredients, such as sterols, that may also contribute to lowering cholesterol."
