Red Yeast Rice: As good as it once was?

[Ceredumbellum]

I've recently added Red Yeast Rice to my arsenal to help combat slightly high cholesterol.

After digging into the literature I came across some troubling information. It seems the potency of RYR can no longer be as great as it was years ago. Apparently the pharmacuetical industry and the FDA don't like effective, natural statins cutting into their share of the statin/ cholesterol-control market.
But I also read that that information is bunk and the RYR you buy today is still as potent as ever. Since RYR isn't cheap it would be nice to know what the deal is...

PA (or anybody else), do you know if the RYR you buy OTC today is potent and effective at controlling cholesterol or am I just wasting my money? Thanks.

 

[T-Bone]

I thought I read years ago that it caused liver problems...AI sports removed it from its cycle support product because of that....Now it's back in the formula so I'm not sure. It was several years ago they had removed it for some reason, thought it was that it could cause liver problems. My memory isn't so good anymore, but I'm sure they did remove it for a time several years back.

 

[flightposite]

I thought I read years ago that it caused liver problems...AI sports removed it from its cycle support product because of that....Now it's back in the formula so I'm not sure. It was several years ago they had removed it for some reason, thought it was that it could cause liver problems. My memory isn't so good anymore, but I'm sure they did remove it for a time several years back.

I thought it was do to the fact that it could lower coQ10 levels.

 

[Patrick Arnold]

i wouldnt screw around with statins to begin with. natural or synthetic

 

[Beejis60]

RYR was never good.

 

[Bamski]

I thought it was do to the fact that it could lower coQ10 levels.

The use of statins has shown to lower coq10 levels.

 

[gyarados]

So what is a good thing to lower bad cholesterol? I heard that niacinamide can do this but I'm not sure. And niacinamide is pretty cheap.

 

[Patrick Arnold]

So what is a good thing to lower bad cholesterol? I heard that niacinamide can do this but I'm not sure. And niacinamide is pretty cheap.

cut out the carbs

 

[Beejis60]

cut out the carbs

Tell that to a tren user....

 

[flightposite]

The use of statins has shown to lower coq10 levels.

Right. Which I believe was the reason for them taking it out of the formula.

 

[Ceredumbellum]

So what is a good thing to lower bad cholesterol? I heard that niacinamide can do this but I'm not sure. And niacinamide is pretty cheap.

I'm pretty sure it has to be Niacin, not Niacinamide, to be effective at lowering cholesterol.

 

[Ceredumbellum]

i wouldnt screw around with statins to begin with. natural or synthetic

Care to elaborate why? I know they can be hard on the liver and lower testosterone. Any other reasons? And I've been supplementing CO-Q10 with the RYR.

 

[Patrick Arnold]

Care to elaborate why? I know they can be hard on the liver and lower testosterone. Any other reasons? And I've been supplementing CO-Q10 with the RYR.

cuz they suck

 

[gyarados]

I'm pretty sure it has to be Niacin, not Niacinamide, to be effective at lowering cholesterol.

What is the effective dosage of Niacin?

 

[bossman523]

eat food sources of good cholesterol

 

[Jiigzz]

Firstly, LDL isn't necessarily bad. If you have low triglycerides then the LDL particle size is much larger and "fluffier" and thus less likely to be oxidised and lead to atherosclerosis, however, if you have high triglycerides then LDL particles are generally much smaller and denser and easily oxidised which is where problems occur.

Secondly, statins lower LDL-C and mild increase LDL particle size, but still not low enough to reduce heart disease risk :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1420088
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19657464

 

[Ceredumbellum]

cuz they suck

Lol... Jesus...

 

[bioman]

Many other routes to lower cholesterol without the negative side effects of statins.

 

[SBH]

A big rub of skoal

 

[SBH]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23493662/?i=6&from=niacin ldl

 

[SBH]

A big rub of skoal

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19678716/?i=5&from=b3 ldl

 

[Beejis60]

Nicorette or davebrand nicorette is better. Just buy the cinnamon stuff; citrus flavored tastes like SHYT.

Oh ya, and nicotine + ECA shows 100% greater efficiency, iirc.