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Red Yeast Rice

Red yeast rice is an herb that's been used by the Chinese for over a thousand years as a food and medicinal agent. After some brief controversy with the Food and Drug Administration, red yeast rice can once again be found in health food stores in America.

The herb, whose benefits were first noticed during the Ming Dynasty, has a variety of uses. It's been used for centuries as a flavor enhancer, as a food preservative, and as a base for a Taiwanese alcoholic rice-wine beverage.

According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Chinese medicine, red yeast rice has also been used to promote blood circulation, soothe upset stomach, and invigorate the function of the spleen. In addition, this dietary supplement has been used traditionally for bruised muscles, hangovers, indigestion, and colic in infants.

Recently, red yeast rice has been shown to reduce overall blood cholesterol, improving the ratio of HDL (the so-called "good" cholesterol) to LDL ("bad" cholesterol). Or more specifically, writes certified nutritionist Larry DeSantis, researchers have determined that one of the ingredients in red yeast rice, monacolin K, inhibits the production of cholesterol by stopping the action of a key enzyme in the liver, HMG-CoA reductase, that's responsible for manufacturing cholesterol.

A group of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins act in a similar fashion to this red yeast rice ingredient. However, the amount per volume of monacolin K in red yeast rice is small (.2 percent per 5 mg) when compared to the 20-40 mg of lovastatin available as a prescription drug.