Red yeast rice

[Angela]

Hi does any know anything about red yeast rice I know it can lower cholesterol but can it be taken with levothyroxine??

[helvella Administrator]

Yesterday I put this in a reply:

Red Yeast Rice Vegetable Capsules

solgar.com/products/red-yea...

I suggest you read the link below. (I know this is a USA link but most of the decent links are on USA sites.)

Red Yeast Rice: What You Need To Know

What is red yeast rice?

Red yeast rice is produced by fermentation of a yeast on rice. The yeast is usually Monascus purpureus.

Depending on the yeast strain used and the conditions of fermentation, the yeast can enrich the rice with substances known as monacolins, including monacolin K. Monacolin K is structurally identical to the medicine lovastatin.

Lovastatin, like other statin drugs, helps slow the production of cholesterol in the body to decrease the amount of cholesterol that may build up on the walls of arteries and block blood flow to the heart, brain, and other parts of the body. Statin drugs are used together with diet, weight loss, and exercise to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Red yeast rice comes in the forms of food, traditional Chinese medicine, dietary supplements, and other products.

How much monacolin K is in red yeast rice?

Traditional red yeast rice may contain trace amounts of monacolin K (lovastatin).

Some commercial red yeast rice products contain very little or no detectable monacolin K. Other products, however, have been found to contain large amounts of monacolin K. Some researchers reported that commercial lovastatin is illegally added to some red yeast rice products.

It’s impossible for consumers to know the amount of monacolin K in red yeast rice products. Levels of monacolin K and lovastatin are not usually included on product labels. A 2017 review analyzed 28 brands of red yeast rice products from mainstream retailers in the United States, and none of the products included the quantity of monacolin K on the label. Monacolin K was not detected in two brands, and in the 26 brands that contained monacolin K, the quantity ranged more than 60-fold, from 0.09 to 5.48 mg per 1,200 mg of red yeast rice.

Rest of article here:

nccih.nih.gov/health/red-ye...

In other words, if it works, it contains the same substance as lovastatin.

In general, statins should not be taken while actually hypothyroid. And many question whether they can ever be safe in someone with a thyroid issue.

Further, why do you want to reduce cholesterol?

[Angela in reply to helvella]

Thank you for your reply my Dr said cholesterol is 5.5 she wanted to put me on cholesterol tablets I was just looking for a alternative I believe they have lowered the guide line here in the UK

[greygoose]

I second that: why do you want to lower your cholesterol? It's not doing you any harm. Your body needs it. Most of your body is made up of cholesterol, and so are a lot of your hormones. High cholesterol is usually cause by low T3 or high inflammation, both can be caused by being hypo. Optimising your thyroid hormone levels is a better solution that taking any sort of pills.

[Angela in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for your reply Sorry about the lateness it's my Doctor that wants to put me on cholesterol tablets I was looking for a alternative, cholesterol is about 5.5 I think I am going to call her and try and get an appointment

[greygoose in reply to Angela]

Yes, most doctors want to put their patients on statins. That doesn't mean that it's a good thing to do, and it doesn't mean that cholesterol is a problem, because it isn't. Low cholesterol is dangerous because your body needs it. High cholesterol isn't.