Red Yeast Rice Plus Berberine: Practical Strategy for Promoting Vascular and Metabolic Health.

Red Yeast Rice Plus Berberine: Practical Strategy for Promoting Vascular and Metabolic Health. Altern Ther Health Med. 2015 Aug;21 Suppl 2:40-5 Authors: McCarty MF, O'Keefe JH, DiNicolantonio JJ Abstract Lovastatin, the progenitor of the statin family, is in fact a naturally occurring compound produced by the yeast Monascus purpureus. Red yeast rice (RYR), a traditional Chinese food made by fermenting rice with M purpureus, is an herbal medicine that has been used for 1200 y as a therapy for problems related to circulation and digestion. RYR contains a range of compounds known as monacolins, of which monacolin K-renamed lovastatin by pharmaceutical researchers-was found to be the most potent inhibitor of cholesterol synthesis. Standardized extracts of RYR, providing 10 mg of monacolins daily, have been shown to lower elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by approximately 20%. In a large secondary prevention trial in China, RYR was found to be markedly protective with respect to cardiovascular events and total mortality. Yet RYR very rarely induces the myopathy and hepatic damage commonly seen with prescription statin therapy. The Chinese herbal compound berberine, used to treat diabetes and congestive heart failure in China, has been shown to increase hepatic expression of LDL receptors and, hence, to lower LDL cholesterol, by extending the half-life of LDL receptor messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). This effect is compl...
Source: Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Tags: Altern Ther Health Med Source Type: research