Red Yeast Rice

Red Yeast Rice is used to lower cholesterol. Some red yeast rice products monacolin K, which is identical to the active ingredient in lovastatin.

Red Yeast Rice Overview

Reviewed: June 19, 2014
Updated: 

Red yeast rice is used most often to help lower blood levels of cholesterol and related lipids.

Common side effects of red yeast rice include:

  • myopathy (muscle symptoms such as pain and weakness)
  • rhabdomyolysis (a condition in which muscle fibers break down, releasing substances into the bloodstream that can harm the kidneys)
  • liver toxicity

Red Yeast Rice Cautionary Labels

Back to Top
precautionsprecautionsprecautionsprecautionsprecautions

Uses

Back to Top

Red yeast rice is used most often to help lower blood levels of cholesterol and related lipids.

Red yeast rice may be used for other conditions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Side Effects of Red Yeast Rice

Back to Top

Common side effects of red yeast rice include the following:

The same types of side effects that can occur in patients taking lovastatin can occur in patients taking red yeast rice.

  • myopathy (muscle symptoms such as pain and weakness)
  • rhabdomyolysis (a condition in which muscle fibers break down, releasing substances into the bloodstream that can harm the kidneys)
  • liver toxicity

This is not a complete list of red yeast rice side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Red Yeast Rice Interactions

Back to Top

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

  • other cholesterol-lowering agents
  • certain antibiotics
  • nefazodone
  • drugs used to treat fungal infections
  • drugs used to treat HIV infection

This is not a complete list of red yeast rice drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

 

Red Yeast Rice Precautions

Back to Top

Special precautions & warnings:

  • Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which can cause kidney failure.
  • Consumers have no way of knowing how much monacolin K is present in most red yeast rice products. The labels on these products usually state only the amount of red yeast rice that they contain, not the amount of monacolin K.
  • Red yeast rice supplements should not be used while pregnant or breastfeeding.