History: In October 2006, I went to see a new cardiologist. He wanted me to have some blood work done. In November my total cholesterol was 222, LDL (bad) cholesterol was 143. With my heart condition he said he would rather see my LDL at 70 or below, with below 100 being normal otherwise. He immediately wanted to put me on Crestor for 2 months and have a redraw on the blood. I told him I would rather try diet and exercise before starting on any more drugs – I’m already on 2 heart meds. He wasn’t too happy with me but it was my choice.
Two months later I went in for my fasting lipids and my total was up from 222 to 228 and my LDL was down by only 3 points (143 to 140). Shortly after getting my results I was talking with my sister and she said her mother-in-law knew of a product her sister and brother are taking to reduce cholesterol – a natural product called Red Yeast Rice. I got on the Internet and researched Red Yeast Rice and found that it is a natural statin. I ordered a 4-month supply from Swanson Vitamins. The next day I emailed Uchee Pines (a natural medicine institution) requesting their advice. They wrote back within the hour recommending Red Yeast Rice.
I wanted to take it for at least 2 months before I had my blood drawn again. Also as I thought about it, I really didn’t want to pay the high price of the specialist to be told I needed to take Crestor when I still didn’t want to take it. I guess my faith was a little weak as to how much the Red Yeast Rice would lower my cholesterol. So I wrote to the specialist and said I would do my cholesterol follow-up with my local family doctor (much less expensive).
Result: After 11 weeks on Red Yeast Rice, I had my fasting lipids drawn on Monday the 30th of April, 2007. The next day I went in to see my local family doctor for the results. He said my cholesterol was just fine. My total is now down to 169 and my LDL is down to 88. He asked if I was taking any medication for it. I told him the specialist wanted me to take Crestor but I opted for an alternative route and I’m taking Red Yeast Rice. Before I could finish my sentence he said, “Red Yeast Rice, oh yes. I have other patients on Red Yeast Rice. Keep taking it,” he added.
When he told me my LDL was 88 I said, “Praise the Lord.” But I also felt like “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” I was afraid to go to the cardiologist and not have the numbers down far enough and then be encouraged to still take the drug route, but the lab results and progress report were already being faxed to his office.
A week after my visit to my family doctor, my cardiologist’s nurse called. With a very pleased tone of voice she said the doctor wanted to know what I had done to so drastically reduce my cholesterol. I told her Red Yeast Rice. She acknowledged they knew about Red Yeast Rice. I asked why the doctor had not mentioned the product to me (since he knew I didn’t want to take statins). Her response was that they cannot recommend it unless a patient absolutely cannot tolerate statin drugs.
Source: Red Yeast Rice is available at any health food store. SwansonVitamins.com is where I went to order the Red Yeast Rice at a lower price than the stores. A 120-capsule bottle will last 2 months. Uchee Pines said I should stay on it for the rest of my life, and at Swanson’s prices that won’t be hard. With the shipping, it averages out to be about $5 a month. Swanson Vitamans sells Red Yeast Rice in two formats—just Red Yeast Rice and Red Yeast Rice with Policosanol (also a cholesterol lowering agent).