Red Yeast Rice Lowers Cholesterol: Study Backs Up Centuries of Traditional Use

(NaturalNews) Research just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes a nonprescription, natural supplement -- red yeast rice -- has significant cholesterol-lowering effects. However, one important part of this story is that this isn't really a new discovery at all. Red yeast rice, a bright reddish purple fermented rice cultivated with the mold Monascus purpureus, has been used in Chinese medicine for more than a millennium to treat heart ills and other health problems.

The new study was a randomized controlled trial conducted by doctors at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. David Becker, MD, and his research team studied 62 patients whose super high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol put them at risk for heart attack or stroke. Why weren't these people already on statin drugs, the supposedly miraculous cholesterol lowering "wonder" drugs?