Frequently Asked Questions

About Cholesterol Lowering Supplements and Cholesterol Dietary Supplements Including...

Red Yeast Rice Benefits, Red Yeast Rice Effects, CoQ10 Benefits, CoQ10 Effects and Cholesterol in General

Q1:  What is Red Yeast Rice?

Q2:  How Does Red Yeast Rice help the body's cholesterol control?

Q3:  Is Red Yeast Rice effective?

Q4:  Is Red Yeast Rice safe to consume?

Q5:  Is RYR recommended for people with borderline-high cholesterol or with hypercholesterolemia?

Q6:  Is Red Yeast Rice the same product as the commonly prescribed drug Lovastatin (Mevinolin)?

Q7:  Are Red Yeast Rice supplements regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?

Q8:  Why is Coenzyme Q-10 ( CoQ10 ) recommended for people who take Red Yeast Rice?

Q9: What are the recommended daily dosage of Red Yeast Rice and CoQ10 as dietary supplements?

Q10: What is triglyceride and how does it relate to cholesterol?

Q11: Can you explain to me what the LDL, HDL and total cholesterol (TC) levels mean?

Q12: I am seeking some information and advice... what are your suggestions?

Q13: What actions should I take to avoid a heart attack or cardiovascular disease?

Q14: Can you suggest a low-fat, low cholesterol diet?

Q15: What is the best way to contact somebody within your company?

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Q1: What is Red Yeast Rice?

A: Red Yeast Rice—also known in the United States and other English-speaking countries as Red Rice Yeast, Red Rice or Red Yeast—is a bright, reddish-purple powder that comes from the fermentation of rice while being cultivated with Monascus Purpureus Went, a strain of fungus. The powder has been commonly used as food spice in Asian cuisine for thousands of years. In addition to its common use as food spice, the ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia Ben Cao Gan Mu records the use of Red Yeast Rice to promote a healthy cardiovascular system.

In the 1980s, Japanese scientists discovered that Red Yeast Rice extract naturally inhibited the enzyme—HMG-CoA reductase—responsible for producing cholesterol in the liver. Since then, dozens of professional clinical studies have been conducted—in China, Germany, Japan, the United States and many other countries—documenting the effects of Red Yeast Rice on cholesterol. The results of these scientific and clinical studies have proven that certain proprietary formulations of Red Rice extract, when taken as a dietary supplement in capsule form, are very effective in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. Dozens of professional clinical studies have been conducted worldwide on Red Yeast Rice effectiveness.

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Q2: How Does Red Yeast Rice help the body's cholesterol control?

A: The proper balance of cholesterol is essential to human health. Cholesterol is a key component of cell membranes and an important substrate for the biosynthesis of essential hormones. Most of the body's supply of cholesterol, some estimates are 80 percent, is produced in the liver. This biosynthetic process is rigorously controlled by biochemical feedback mechanisms. The amount of cholesterol produced by the liver is controlled by the enzyme HMG-CoA (Hydroxymethyl-glutaryl CoA) reductase. When the liver senses that more cholesterol is needed, more of the enzyme is produced to increase cholesterol production. When the liver senses that there is enough cholesterol in your body, less of the enzyme is produced to decrease cholesterol production. This essential feedback mechanism helps to keep your body's cholesterol level in balance.

The effect of Red Rice Yeast is partially attributed to the presence of natural HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (monacolins) in its composition. The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors in Red Yeast Rice are important because they help the body maintain healthy levels of cholesterol by emulating the natural metabolism processes that take place within your body.

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Q3: Is Red Yeast Rice effective?

A: When taken as directed in a dietary supplement form, good quality formulations of Red Yeast Rice extract have been clinically proven effective in the promotion of healthy cholesterol levels. To find out more about the effectiveness of Red Rice supplements we recommend you click on each of the following links to read summaries of several important and professional clinical studies:

Multi Center Study conducted by James Rippe, M.D.

UCLA Study conducted by David Heber, M.D., Ph. D.

China Studies conducted by Joseph Chang, M.D., Ph. D.

References to other studies on Red Yeast Rice.

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Q4: Is Red Yeast Rice safe to consume?

A: For thousands of years as a food spice, Red Yeast Rice has an extraordinary record of being generally well tolerated. Like with any other dietary supplement, herb or prescription drug, you must always read the label on the bottle to follow the manufacturer's suggested use and directions, and to be aware of any product warnings.

Although Red Yeast Rice side effects are very rare, it is recommended to be ingested with food to minimize the possibility of any adverse reactions which may include: skin rash, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, flu-like symptoms and muscle pain or muscle weakness. If any of these Red Rice Yeast side effects are experienced, you must discontinue its use and consult with a qualified health care provider you trust.

Dosage recommendations for Red Yeast Rice supplement: In the US, the recommended dosage for Red Rice Yeast supplement is 2,400 mg/day in four capsules. Never exceed this dosage without the express direction of a qualified health care provider. Once your cholesterol levels are within a healthy range, you should consider adjusting your daily dosage to between 1,200-1,800 mg/day by reducing your consumption to 2-3 600 mg capsules per day.

Important Note: If you decide to take a Red Yeast supplement to control your cholesterol for extended periods of time—or any other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor that acts in the liver like statin prescription drugs—it is strongly recommended that you supplement your diet with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) since all HMG-CoA inhibitors also reduce the amount of CoQ10 naturally produced by the body. The reason being is that both—cholesterol and CoQ10—have the same biosynthesis process.

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Q5: Is the Red Yeast Rice supplement recommended for people with borderline-high cholesterol or for people with hypercholesterolemia?

A: If you are a healthy adult, you have not been diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia—abnormally high cholesterol levels in the blood indicated by a total blood cholesterol level greater than 300 mg/dL—and you don't have any other condition that puts you at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD)—such as obesity, high blood pressure or diabetes—you are a good candidate for Red Yeast Rice, a dietary supplement that has been proven effective in the promotion of healthy levels of cholesterol. This will be of special importance if diet and exercise alone have not helped you maintain your cholesterol within healthy levels. On the contrary, if you have family history of cardiovascular disease or you have been diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia, you should be under a cholesterol-reducing treatment supervised by a qualified health care provider.

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Q6: Is Red Yeast Rice the same product as the commonly prescribed drug lovastatin (Mevacor)?

A: Red Yeast Rice is the only known naturally dietary supplement that controls the body cholesterol levels in the same way the commonly prescribed “statin” prescription drug Mevacor—generic name lovastatin—reduces cholesterol; that is, inhibiting a liver enzyme known as HMG-CoA reductase. This enzyme alone is responsible for the production of an estimated 80% of the cholesterol found in the body’s bloodstream.

Scientific research in the 1970s and 1980s came to the conclusion that certain type of fungus could produce by-products that in turn could be used to inhibit the production of cholesterol in the body. As a result of the scientific research, a new prescription drug lovastatin was patented using the brand name Mevacor. Realizing the huge potential financial benefits that this type of prescription drugs could bring to the pharmaceutical companies, several of these companies started their own research to produce similar cholesterol lowering drugs. As a consequence, a new class of prescription drugs—known as statins—was firmly established in the medical community during the past three decades.

Statin prescription drugs (lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, etc.) are laboratory synthesized to be extremely effective in the reduction of LDL, but they have no effect whatsoever on other blood lipids such as LDL and triglyceride. Consequently, while trying to control several types of blood lipids, doctors have to prescribe several kinds of drugs; each one to act separately on LDL, HDL and Triglyceride. This specific and potent multi-drug approach makes it very difficult for doctors, and very cumbersome for patients, to achieve compliance in order to obtain the desired levels of blood lipids. Furthermore, the powerful active ingredients in these commonly prescribed prescription drugs have proven to cause: leg pain, muscles pain, cognitive problems and neuropathy among several other statins potentially serious side effects.

Good quality Red Yeast Rice dietary supplements do not include any statin-like laboratory synthesized ingredients. Instead, they include a combination of up to eight (8) natural fermentation by-products—known as monacolins—which synergistically have been proven to help in the promotion of healthy levels of the three most common blood lipids: LDL, HDL and triglyceride. Red Yeast rice should be considered as a natural and effective alternative to “statin” prescription drugs only by people with border-line high cholesterol. On the contrary, those individuals diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia must be under a blood lipid reducing treatment supervised by a medical doctor. Finally, while considering taking a dietary supplement for cholesterol, keep in mind that dozens of scientific and clinical studies have concluded that Red Yeast Rice—at the maximum USA recommended dosage of 2,400 mg/day—have not known side effects like those experienced by people taking the commonly prescribed “statin” drugs. 

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Q7: Are Red Yeast Rice supplements regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?

A: The FDA does not regulate dietary supplements the same way it regulates prescription drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry. However, under the legal framework provided by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, and subsequent updates to such legislation, the FDA has a very active role in supervising the dietary supplement industry with the collaboration of their manufacturers and associations. Since then, the industry—under supervision of the FDA—has made great progress to bring qualified manufacturing companies into compliance with new and updated Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

In addition to the issue of industry self-regulation with FDA supervision, the FDA monitors very closely: (A) the importation of Red Yeast Rice raw materials and (B) the distribution and retail—both in stores and online—of dietary supplements containing Red Yeast Rice. This monitoring started in the late 1990s when the FDA detected that Cholestin—a specific brand of a Red Yeast Rice dietary supplement—contained "enhanced" levels of a cholesterol-reducing ingredient (lovastatin- see question 7) that infringed patents held by a pharmaceutical company. Since then, the FDA has been constantly testing dietary supplements containing Red Yeast Rice and has sent numerous cease and desist letters to companies that "enhanced" the effectiveness of its dietary supplements containing Red Yeast Rice.

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CoQ10 supplementation is good for both antioxidant support and for enhancing the energy of the body organs. CoQ10 is considered an excellent dietary supplement choice for any person taking Red Yeast Rice, especially if Red Yeast Rice is being taken for extended periods of time. For the same reasons explained here, dietary supplementation with CoQ10 is also recommended for those individuals taking the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs.

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Q9: What are the recommended daily dosage of Red Yeast Rice and CoQ10 as dietary supplements?

A: In the US, the recommended dosage for Red Yeast Rice is 2,400 mg/day in four capsules. Never exceed 2,400 mg/day without the express direction of a qualified health care provider. Once your cholesterol levels are within a healthy range, you should consider adjusting your daily dosage between 1,200-1,800 mg/day by reducing your consumption of one or two 600 mg capsules per day. The recommended dosage for CoQ10, for people taking Red Yeast Rice for extended periods of time, is between 300-1,000 mg/day.

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Q10: What is triglyceride and how does it relate to cholesterol?

A: Triglyceride is a compound that is naturally present in animal and vegetable tissues, an important energy source forming much of the fat stored by the body.  You can learn more about triglyceride and other important blood lipids by visting the important concepts section of this Web site.

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Q11: Can you explain to me what the LDL, HDL and total cholesterol (TC) levels mean?

The complete original question was... I just returned from my annual medical checkup. I was told that my bad cholesterol (LDL) level is too high, that my good cholesterol (HDL) is too low and that I could be at risk of developing heart and cardiovascular diseases. I’m confused, scared and upset because I don’t understand how this can be happening to me. I exercise and follow a low-fat diet every day. Please help. Can you explain to me what the LDL, HDL and total cholesterol (TC) levels mean?

A: Unfortunately, for some people, exercising and following a healthy diet is not enough to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and a low risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). The reason is that genetics—family history of CVD—is also an important factor that needs to be taken into consideration.

To help you understand your particular condition—and to empower yourself with knowledge that you can use to talk to a health care provider you trust—we suggest that you read the content of this Web site thoroughly. Here are some hints to get you started:

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