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In other words, you have to take enough to approximate the dose of a prescription statin.
If you think you can use red yeast rice to avoid taking a statin you are only deceiving yourself.
There is no way to know the "quality" of the majority of herbal supplements sold in the US. You really cannot be sure how much of the active ingredient (if any) is in any product because there is no requirement for the supplement makers to do the testing.
"Our take
Yellow light: Caution
Caution
Red yeast rice is capable of lowering blood cholesterol levels and total blood cholesterol levels. While the supplement is generally considered safe, it might carry the same potential side effects as statin cholesterol drugs.
Red yeast rice might cost less than a statin. However, with a supplement, there's less assurance regarding quality and how much active ingredient is actually in the product. Some red yeast products might contain only small amounts of monacolin K and potentially have little effect on cholesterol levels."
"However, to avoid being considered an unapproved drug by the FDA, red yeast rice manufacturers typically do not disclose levels of lovastatin or other monacolins in their products, and there is no standardization of these levels across manufacturers. Consequently, there may be considerable variation in the composition of monacolins in red yeast rice products from different manufacturers and discrepancies between label information and actual content."
In other words, you have to take enough to approximate the dose of a prescription statin.
If you think you can use red yeast rice to avoid taking a statin you are only deceiving yourself.
There is no way to know the "quality" of the majority of herbal supplements sold in the US. You really cannot be sure how much of the active ingredient (if any) is in any product because there is no requirement for the supplement makers to do the testing.
"Our take
Yellow light: Caution
Caution
Red yeast rice is capable of lowering blood cholesterol levels and total blood cholesterol levels. While the supplement is generally considered safe, it might carry the same potential side effects as statin cholesterol drugs.
Red yeast rice might cost less than a statin. However, with a supplement, there's less assurance regarding quality and how much active ingredient is actually in the product. Some red yeast products might contain only small amounts of monacolin K and potentially have little effect on cholesterol levels."
"However, to avoid being considered an unapproved drug by the FDA, red yeast rice manufacturers typically do not disclose levels of lovastatin or other monacolins in their products, and there is no standardization of these levels across manufacturers. Consequently, there may be considerable variation in the composition of monacolins in red yeast rice products from different manufacturers and discrepancies between label information and actual content."
Are you an MD, a cardiologist or a naturopath? Because these are the professionals I seek advice from - not some google-obsessed CD poster with too much time on her hands and some sort of twisted need to get the last word on every health thread.
My husband has zero side effects, his doctors are happy, end of story...
I just looked up RYR and Policosanol brands on my favorite supplement site. And as with pharma drugs, there are different strengths and different dosing and if one needs more support to talk to their physician. Some of these brands have COQ10 in the blend. When I buy my next supply of Policosanol I'll buy one with COQ10 in it. I've been taking 100mg COQ10 for years anyway and a little more will not hurt, only support the heart.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 06-28-2018 at 11:20 AM..
Are you an MD, a cardiologist or a naturopath? Because these are the professionals I seek advice from - not some google-obsessed CD poster with too much time on her hands and some sort of twisted need to get the last word on every health thread.
My husband has zero side effects, his doctors are happy, end of story...
I am glad your husband is doing well and his doctors are happy.
I appreciate the input. It's all new to me. I can see it both ways. I'm glad I'm on 10mg to start. That seems very conservative.
About 15 years ago I took Solaray red yeast rice and took co-enzyme Q10 along with it. The proof is in the pudding---my numbers came out perfect.
Most people know that ryr is just a statin. It would be scary for me to go back on a prescription statin again but I probably should. I don't know if it makes any difference as long as your ryr is a reliable brand. Back 15 years ago no dr told me to take CoQ10--a naturopath told me.
I don't know if there are any other ingredients in the Rx statins...sometimess there are. The ryr just has a cellulose capsule, silica and magnesium stearate.
About 15 years ago I took Solaray red yeast rice and took co-enzyme Q10 along with it. The proof is in the pudding---my numbers came out perfect.
Most people know that ryr is just a statin. It would be scary for me to go back on a prescription statin again but I probably should. I don't know if it makes any difference as long as your ryr is a reliable brand. Back 15 years ago no dr told me to take CoQ10--a naturopath told me.
I don't know if there are any other ingredients in the Rx statins...sometimess there are. The ryr just has a cellulose capsule, silica and magnesium stearate.
You would need to know how much to take.
What is a "reliable brand"? Who determines its reliability? How do you know how much of the active ingredient (if any) is in the ryr capsule? How do you know whether there are any ingredients in it that you are not told about on the label?
Here is the info on one prescription version of lovastatin:
"In addition to the active ingredient lovastatin, each tablet contains the following inactive ingredients: cellulose, lactose, magnesium stearate, and starch. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is added as a preservative. Tablets Mevacor 20 mg also contain FD&C Blue 2 aluminum lake. Tablets Mevacor 40 mg also contain D&C Yellow 10 aluminum lake and FD&C Blue 2 aluminum lake."
The dyes are used to differentiate the doses of the tablets.
The active ingredient in red yeast rice is exactly the same as Mevacor.
What about the inactive ingredients. I can't see how they can be exactly the same as supplements vs pharma statins.
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