We use the natural statin red rice yeast only with caution (and mandatory coenzyme Q10 restoration) as a palliative when cholesterol is high and may be damaged (oxidized) by on-going inflammation. But why use it instead of pharmaceutical statins? This welcome randomized trial published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine documents that patients who had to discontinue conventional statin therapy due to muscle pain could tolerate red rice yeast. The red rice yeast was able to “decrease [the] LDL cholesterol level without increasing CPK or pain levels.” [Note: CPK = creatine phospho-kinase, an enzyme found in several tissues. One form of it is elevated when skeletal muscle is damaged.]
Tags: cholesterol, CPK, creatine phospho-kinase, LDL, red rice yeast, statin