Lentil Soup With Red Yeast Rice

Lentil Soup With Red Yeast Rice


Red Yeast Rice Ingredients

• 1 cup lentils
• 2 beef bouillon
• 4 cups water
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1-2 tbsps minced garlic
• 2 carrots (sliced)
• 4-5 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 cup yeast (red, rice)
• 2 cups water
• salt
• pepper

Red Yeast Rice Instructions:
First of all rinse and then soak the lentils in enough water to cover for at least 20 minutes. Drain off any rinse.
2.And then put lentils into a saucepan with water for cooking.
3.Next is to add the other ingredients, except for the parsley, to the sauce pan.
4.Cook until the lentils are tender which takes about 30 minutes.
5.Cool and put into a blender to combine.
6.Add fresh parsley and blend.
7.Add water to taste.
8.Rinse red yeast rice and cook in a saucepan with 2 cups water for about 25 minutes.
9.Serve over red yeast rice. Enjoy the lentil soup !
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Pan-Fried Tofu with Red Yeast Rice Paste

Pan-Fried Tofu with Red Yeast Rice Paste
Red Yeast Rice Ingredients:
* 2 pieces of bean curd (cut into thick rectangles)

Seasonings

* 1 tablespoon of sugar
* 1 tablespoon of red yeast rice paste

Red Yeast Rice Instructions

* Pan-fry tofu, dish out and set on a plate.
* Stir-fry red yeast rice paste + sugar.
* Add some water, cover the pan and simmer for a while.
* Then scoop the red yeast rice sauce over the fried tofu.

Update on Red Yeast Rice

Update on Red Yeast Rice
Red yeast rice in the United States

Thanks to the FDA and the federal courts, there has been a lot of confusion about the red yeast rice products available in the United States. In the late 1990s, studies showed that this over-the-counter dietary supplement was quite effective at reducing cholesterol levels, mainly because one of the natural ingredients in red yeast rice turned out to be lovastatin. (Statins were originally derived from yeast products; the lovastatin in red yeast rice is "natural.") When the FDA figured out that red yeast rice contained a regulated substance, an effective drug protected under patent law, it banned red yeast rice products, unless manufacturers took extra steps to remove the lovastatin.

The question of whether the red yeast rice products available in the United States over the past decade have actually been allowed to contain lovastatin or not is remarkably complex. The bottom line is that for the past several years, lovastatin-containing red yeast rice is clearly illegal. You can read about lovastatin, red yeast rice and the feds here. Nonetheless, as recently as the summer of 2007, the FDA issued "warnings" that certain over-the-counter red yeast riceproducts from at least two companies still contained lovastatin and announced that it was taking immediate steps to remove these illegal products from the shelves.
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Does Red Yeast Rice Extract Lower Your Cholesterol?

Does Red Yeast Rice Extract Lower Your Cholesterol?

Red yeast rice extract is an Asian product developed by fermenting rice with the organism Monascus purpureus, otherwise known as red yeast. This product is used as a coloring and flavoring agent in many Asian foods. Although red yeast fermented rice extract has gained popularity over the years because of its ability to lower cholesterol levels, it has been the center of a huge legal and regulatory debate between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturers of red rice fermented yeast extract.

When red rice fermented yeast extract supplements first hit the pharmacy shelves, they were highly effective. This was because of the red rice fermentation process, during which a by-product, known as monacolin K, was produced. Monacolin K is structurally and functionally similar to lovastatin (Mevacor®), a cholesterol-lowering medication that is only available by prescription in most countries. Like lovastatin, as well as other statins, red rice yeast extract positively affected all aspects of the lipid profile: LDL, HDL, and triglycerides . For instance, most studies have shown that around 1,200-2,400 mg of red rice yeast extract (or 2400-4800 mg of monacolin K component) lowers LDL on an average of 23 percent, lowers triglycerides by about 25 percent, and raises HDL by 14 percent. Once lovastatin was discovered as the major ingredient of red rice fermented yeast extract, the FDA became interested and wanted to have tighter regulation over what they considered to be a drug.

The FDA regulates foods, nutritional supplements, and drugs differently. The nutraceutical companies manufacturing red yeast rice extract were arguing that it was a nutritional supplement, which is not subject to the stringent regulation that drugs are held to. The FDA, on the other hand, contended that since red yeast rice extract contained a prescription drug in it (lovastatin), it should be categorized as a drug and be more tightly regulated. Through many beginning in 2000, the FDA has won this position and the formulation of red yeast fermented rice extract was subsequently changed.

So, does red yeast rice extract work? Yes, if it is fermented in such a way that results in the byproduct monacolin K (lovastatin). Do the currently available red yeast fermented rice extract supplements work? Because of the judgment in favor of the FDA to consider the monacolin K (lovastatin) component of red yeast rice extract a drug, nutraceutical companies have had to change the way the red yeast rice is fermented.

As a result, these supplements contain very minute, if any, amounts of the cholesterol-lowering drug, lovastatin. Because of this, the red yeast rice supplements you see on the shelves would not be effective and should not be expected to significantly lower cholesterol levels.
red-yeast-rice-lowers-cholesterol

Red Yeast Rice Lowers Cholesterol

Red Yeast Rice Lowers Cholesterol
Research just published concludes a nonprescription, natural supplement -- red yeast rice -- has significant cholesterol-lowering effects. 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.

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? All of them had a history of trying those medications but had to stop them because of severe side effects often reported by statin users, including muscle pain and weakness.

Half of the research subjects were given 1,800 mg of red yeast rice twice a day for 24 weeks and the other half took inactive placebo pills. After the first 12 weeks, the study participants taking red yeast rice showed a significant improvement in their levels of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol. In fact, on average their cholesterol dropped an amazing 43 points. The placebo group had an LDL drop of only 11 points. After 24 weeks, there was a 35 point drop in "bad" cholesterol levels in the red yeast rice group. The researchers think this second cholesterol measurement showed less of a decrease than the earlier tests simply because some of the study participants may have stopped taking their supplements.

Another important finding: the "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) count, remained the same in both groups. This indicates red rice yeast only lowers the artery damaging type of cholesterol. What's more, the red yeast rice did not produce the common side effects like elevated liver enzymes and weakness that are quite common in people taking prescription statin drugs.

In their Annals of Internal Medicine paper, the researchers concluded that while more research is needed, red yeast rice supplements may provide an alternative treatment for people with high cholesterol levels who cannot take statin drugs because of the medications' side effects.

Red yeast rice may not be totally side effect free. But side effects for the most part appear to be mild. For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medline information web site reports red yeast rice can cause mild headache and abdominal discomfort and should not be used by people with liver disease. On the other hand, reports of serious side effects from statins have continued to mount over the past few years. They range from muscle pain so severe it interferes with daily activities to serious liver damage. Moreover, as previously reported in NaturalNews, the drugs have been linked to an increase in prostate cancer in overweight men and to the development of serious eye problems, too

So why is red yeast rice rarely -- if ever -- prescribed while statin drugs are being taken by 11 million to 30 million Americans? Because Big Pharma has consistently fought the concept that a natural, low cost, over-the-counter product could work as well as prescription statin medications (and most likely be far safer, too). According to the NIH web site, there has been an ongoing and protracted legal and industrial dispute about whether red yeast rice is a drug or a dietary supplement involving the manufacturers of red yeast supplements, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the pharmaceutical industry -- specifically Big Pharma producers of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor prescription drugs, the official name for statins.

red-yeast-rice-monascus-purpureus

Red Yeast Rice -3

Red Yeast Rice -3
Red yeast rice is the product of yeast ( Monascus purpureus ) grown on rice, and is served as a dietary staple in some Asian countries. It contains several compounds collectively known as monacolins, substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. One of these, "monacolin K," is a potent inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, and is also known as mevinolin or lovastatin (Mevacor®, a drug produced by Merck & Co., Inc).

Red yeast rice extract has been sold as a natural cholesterol-lowering agent in over the counter supplements, such as Cholestin TM (Pharmanex, Inc). However, there has been legal and industrial dispute as to whether red yeast rice is a drug or a dietary supplement, involving the manufacturer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the pharmaceutical industry (particularly producers of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor prescription drugs or "statins").

The use of red yeast rice in China was first documented in the Tang Dynasty in 800 A.D. A detailed description of its manufacture is found in the ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia, Ben Cao Gang Mu-Dan Shi Bu Yi, published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In this text, red yeast rice is proposed to be a mild aid for gastric problems (indigestion, diarrhea), blood circulation, and spleen and stomach health. Red yeast rice in a dried, powdered form is called Zhi Tai. When extracted with alcohol it is called Xue Zhi Kang.
Red Yeast Rice..

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Should You Take Red Yeast Rice?

Should You Take Red Yeast Rice?
Taking Red Yeast Rice would seem to be at least a reasonable consideration if you are looking for a non-prescription means of cholesterol lowering. However, what you would really be doing is taking variable amounts of certain statin-like substances. It is impossible to tell, from manufacturer to manufacturer, or even from bottle to bottle, what you are really buying.

If you want to reduce your cholesterol without losing your shirt to the big drug companies, ask your doctor about generic statin drugs. They're readily available, and may even be cheaper than Red Yeast Rice -- and as a bonus, the dosage will actually be known, and can be controlled and adjusted to optimize your results.
modern-medicine-of-red-yeast-rice