Red Yeast Rice Plus CoQ10 Supplement

Have you considered taking a red yeast rice plus CoQ10 supplement? Consider the many uses, benefits, side effects and caveats of taking a red yeast rice plus CoQ10 supplement.

Red yeast rice that is cultivated with yeast grown on it. It is a common food in many Asian countries. It's known to inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol in the human body, which can lead to lowered cholesterol levels. This has led to use as a natural anti-cholesterol supplement.

One of the cholesterol synthesis inhibiting chemicals in red yeast rice, monacolin K, is used in an anti-cholesterol drug manufactured by Merck & Co., known as Mevacor (also known as lovastatin and mevinolin).

CoQ10, also known as coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone, is a substance produced in the body necessary for the basic functioning of cells. It speeds up the rate at which chemical reactions take in the body. It is used by the cells for cell growth and maintenance, as well as repair from free-radical oxidative damage. CoQ10 also plays an important role in protecting the brain cells from oxidative stress.

A red yeast rice plus CoQ10 supplement is believed to lower cholesterol. Each ingredient acts on cholesterol in a different way.

The red yeast rice inhibits cholesterol synthesis in the human body, thus having an effect on the overall level of LDL and overall cholesterol.

CoQ10 acts on cholesterol differently than the red yeast rice. Some evidence seems to indicate that it may not be LDL that causes artherosclerosis, but rather the oxidation of that LDL. Enter CoQ10. Because CoQ10 has an anti-oxidative effect on all of the body tissue, it also has an an anti-oxidative effect on LDL. While it doesn’t lower the amount of LDL, it keeps it from oxidizing and becoming artery clogging plaque.

Recent research seems to indicate that cholesterol reducing drugs, especially statins, may lessen brain function. The reason behind this is that cholesterol is essential to brain function.

According to Yeon-Kyun Shin, a biophysics professor at Iowa State University, “If you deprive cholesterol from the brain, then you directly affect the machinery that triggers the release of neurotransmitters.”

Those neurotransmitters directly affect memory and data processing in the brain. Since red yeast rice extract contains the same chemical as certain statins, it may have the same affect as a statin medication. It can also affect the body’s ability to synthesize ubiquinone – or CoQ10.

This is why CoQ10 supplementation is necessary with any cholesterol lowering medication – whether a statin or red yeast rice extract. There is also mounting evidence that CoQ10 can protect the body from cognitive difficulties arising from cholesterol medications. Many patients who take statins are also prescribed a daily dose of CoQ10 for just this reason, and natural health practitioners who recommend red yeast rice extract recommend it be taken alongside CoQ10 supplementation.

• Red yeast rice extract is a powerful anti-cholesterol medication. There is some debate as to whether it should even be available without a prescription. Check with your doctor or personal health care provider before self-prescribing red yeast rice.
• 100-200 mg of CoQ10 is recommended daily for statin users. Most red yeast rice with CoQ10 supplements have far less than this amount. Additional supplementation of high-quality CoQ10 may be required.
• CoQ10 is better absorbed in oil than as a powder. Try to select supplements that include oil to aid absorption of CoQ10.
• The following side effects have occurred from taking red yeast rice:
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Bloating
  • Indigestion
  • Gas
  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Liver inflammation
  • Decreased CoQ10 metabolism
  • Nerve damage

CoQ10 and Red Yeast Rice supplements can be quite expensive. A month’s supply costs about $50, and nutritional supplements are not typically covered by health insurance prescription coverage. Red Yeast Rice with CoQ10 can be found at your local health food store, or it is available on the Internet at the following resources:

• GNC offers NOW Red yeast Rice with CoQ10 for $44.99.
• Vitanet Online offers Solaray red yeast rice with CoQ10 supplements for about $18 for a month’s supply.
• iHerb.com offers a variety of brands of red yeast rice with CoQ10.

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