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| Red yeast rice |
 Red yeast rice, also known as Hong qu or Monascus, is rice that is fermented with the yeast monascus purpuerus, which gives it a red colour. Hong qu has been used for centuries in China both as a food and an herbal medicine. Even today, red yeast rice continues to be a staple in the diets of people in Asian communities in the United States, as well as in the countries of China and Japan. It is used as a food coloring agent when they prepare fish, fish paste, rice wine and fish sauce. An average of 14 to 55 grams of red yeast rice is eaten per day, per person. It is not just used for food though as studies have been shown. For over 1,000 years, red yeast rice has also been used for medicinal purposes. It has long been written that in ancient China, red yeast rice was used for improving blood circulation, and alleviating problems such as indigestion and diarrhea. Chinese and American scientists also recently came together to develop modern red yeast rice to be used as a product to lower blood lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides.There are an incredible amount of benefits that are associated with red yeast rice. Not only does it help you to lower your levels of bad cholesterol, or LDL’s, it is also found to increase your levels of good cholesterol, or HDL. Red yeast rice is considered a heart healthy alternative to prescription drugs for those people who are concerned with taking a prescription medication on a daily basis. A study that was run by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that in as little as 12 weeks, red yeast rice reduced the cholesterol of the average person by an amazing 40 points. Red yeast rice has also been show to benefit the functioning capabilities of your spleen by filtering out substances such as alcohol, and destroying old blood cells that can affect how your spleen works with the rest of your body. This can help with bruised or strained muscles, indigestion such as heartburn, colic in babies, and hangovers. Although there are many considerable benefits, there are some precautions that you need to concern yourself with. Red yeast rice is a natural form of statin, which is a pharmaceutical agent that is used to lower cholesterol. Therefore it may have the same effect on your body as prescription statins. This could include dizziness, and muscle weakness. It is also shown to give you a slight risk of liver damage, although not enough is known about this. So remember that you should never mix it with other prescription statin medications unless you speak with your doctor first. Most likely he will recommend that you take one or the other. It can be combined with niacin supplements however without any risk. Click here to check out our favourite Red Yeast Rice supplement |
