What is Red Yeast Rice?

Red yeast rice is a substance made by fermenting a type of red yeast called Monascus purpureus over rice. Red yeast rice has been used in China as a preservative, spice, food coloring and is a very popular dietary staple. It's used to give Peking duck its characteristic red color and can also be an ingredient in fish sauce, fish paste, and rice wine. Red yeast rice is used in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for poor circulation, indigestion, and diarrhea. It is known by other names such as Hong Qu, red rice, red yeast.

Red yeast rice contains naturally-occurring substances called monacolins. These substances are known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. Monocolins, particularly one called lovastatin, is known to be converted in the body to a substance that blocks HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme that is responsible cholesterol production. As a result of the action, red yeast rice products that contain a higher concentration of monocolins have been created and marketed as a natural product to lower cholesterol.

Lovastatin is one of the main ingredients in red yeast rice. It is also an active ingredient in many cholesterol medications. This is why many years ago the extract was sold as a natural cholesterol lowering agent. It was known by the name Cholestin.

Since lovastatin is found in red yeast rice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went out and banned red yeast rice products that contained lovastatin. Their reasoning was that the same ingredient found in cholesterol medications were the same found in the red yeast rice supplement. As a result of this, the FDA placed a warning that several red yeast rice products still contained lovastatin and they actually pulled Cholestin from the shelves. Cholestin's manufacturer quickly reformulated the product using policosanols, and it's still sold under the same brand name.


Other types of red yeast rice extract are available. You can find them on the internet and in specialty health food stores. These alternative supplements still have cholesterol lowering effects and they can at times cost much less than the prescription statins.

Why People Use Red Yeast Rice?

The main reason people take red yeast rice is to lower their cholesterol and triglycerides. However since red yeast rice products can no longer contain lovastatin there is some amount of cloudiness as it relates to the product having an effect on cholesterol levels.

Red Yeast Rice Regulation

Red yeast rice has been classified as a dietary supplement by the FDA. The reason for this is that it is very similar to the statin drugs that are used to treat high cholesterol. There currently is a legal dispute going on regarding if red yeast rice should be reclassified as a prescription drug rather than a dietary supplement.

Study of Red Yeast Rice

Studies have been conducted to test the effects of red yeast rice on humans.
One specific study that was done at the UCLA School of Medicine looked at the use of red yeast rice in 83 people with high cholesterol.

The patients were selected randomly and they were either given a placebo or 2.4 grams a day of red yeast rice. The patients were told that that needed to have a diet that was mainly 30% fat (with no more than 10% of this from saturated fat and less than 300 mg cholesterol a day).
Once the 3 month study period was completed, the patients who took the red yeast rice showed that there was a significant decrease in their cholesterol. Their LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were all affected positively compared to the ones who took the placebo. HDL cholesterol however was not affected.

 

How is Red Yeast Rice Produced?

Red yeast rice is produced by cultivating Monascus purpureus. The rice is place in water and soaked. This is done until the rice grains become totally saturated. Once this is done, the raw soaked rice can the either be directly directly inoculated, or steamed for the purpose of sterilizing and cooking the grains prior to inoculation. Inoculation occurs by mixing the Monascus purpureus spores and combining it together with processed rice. The combination is then placed in controlled environment which is usually around room temperature from 3 days to a week. During this time, the rice should turn red because it has become fully cultured with Monascus purpureus. The insides of the rice should be bright red and the outside should have a purplish, reddish look.