Red yeast rice is produced by cultivating M purpureus on polished rice. The fully cultured rice is then either sold as the dried grain, or cooked and pasteurized to be sold as a wet paste, or dried and pulverized to be sold as a fine powder. China is the world’s largest producer of red yeast rice. It has been used for centuries by the Chinese as a spice. This is what gives Peking duck its red color. As well as its culinary uses it has been documented as far back as the Tang Dynasty for its use in traditional Chinese medicine to invigorate the body, aid in digestion and remove “blood blockages”
There have been several studies lately that suggest red yeast rice has the ability to reduce the instance of repeat heart attacks, lower cholesterol, and may be an alternative for people that can not take statin drugs due to the negative side effects.
One study of patients that previously had heart attacks showed that partially purified extract of red yeast rice reduced repeat heart attacks by 45%, while by-pass surgery and mortality were reduced by one third. The study was a multi center, randomized, double blind study conducted on 5,000 patients ranging in age from 18 to 70 over a five year period at 60 hospitals in the Peoples Republic of China.
David M. Capuzzi, M.D., Ph.D, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program at Jefferson’s Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and Zonliang Lu, M.D., Ph.D, from the Fuwai Hospital at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science reported their findings in the June 15th edition of the American Journal of Cardiology. Dr. Capuzzi is quoted as saying “It’s very exciting because this is a natural product and had very few adverse side effects including no abnormal blood changes”.
In another study researchers at the University of Tromso in Norway, Shanghai University of Traditional Medicine and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine conducted a meta-analysis of 93 randomized studies that tested the effectiveness of three different red yeast rice preparations. The researchers were assessing the effectiveness in treating hyperlipidemia which is a condition in which patients have an abnormally high concentration of lipids (fats) in the blood. They found that all three preparations significantly reduced total blood cholesterol as well as triglyceride and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
The study also showed that all three preparations were as effective in lowering lipid cholesterol levels as popular statin drugs Zocor, Lipitor and Mevacor. However, unlike statin drugs they did not exhibit the side effects such as muscle discomfort, liver damage, depression and sexual dysfunction. The effects of these three preparations seemed to be limited to dizziness and some gastrointestinal discomfort.
It is estimated that about 15% of people taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol stop the medication because of the side effects. This leaves this population with no effective treatment.
Research by two Philadelphia area cardiologists finds that over-the-counter dietary supplements sold at health food stores and pharmacies may be an alternative for those patients suffering from high cholesterol that can not take statin drugs. Dr. David Becker and Ram Gordon, M.D. at Chestnut Hill Cardiology, published the findings of their study, “Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients,” in the June 16, 2009 edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.
When the study was concluded some of the findings were:
- LDL (bad) cholesterol levels decreased more in patients receiving red yeast rice than in the patients who did not.
- Total cholesterol levels improved more in the group taking red yeast rice than the placebo.
According to Dr. Becker “Every physician has patients who refuse to take statins or have significant side effects from them”. And he goes on to say “One of the largest challenges in the medical community has been that there is no agreement or consensus on how to treat these patients. We are convinced that our research may lead to some answers.”
Dr. Gordon goes on to say, “While red yeast rice isn’t appropriate for everyone, the goal of our research was to see if it has potential to be an option for those patients who discontinue their statins because of the side effects. Often these patients with high cholesterol are left without lipid-lowering therapy. This is especially worrisome if the patient has a history of heart attacks, stents, bypass surgery or strokes.”
This study has added significance because it was funded by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rather than the pharmaceutical companies with their commercial interest in mind.
Help answer the question about culinary academy
Culinary Art schools in Seattle?
Has anyone ever gone to a culinary arts school in Seattle? I am thinking about getting a pastry chef degree but I'm not sure which school to attend. I did a little research and SCCC has the Seattle Culinary Academy and there is always the Art Institute but it is SO EXPENSIVE. Does anyone have any advice?
About Author
John Bradstreet is an experienced Biochemist with extensive knowledge in nutritional supplementation. He has more than 25 years in his field. To learn more about the benefits of red yeast rice we have included additional links at the bottom of the page to help educate you on the subject.
I went to the California Culinary Academy before it added the "Cordon Bleu" stuff. Loved it, learned a lot, but I think I'd pick the Professional Culinary Institute if I had to decide now.
Le Cordon Bleu is more well known
I'm a graduate of the California Culinary Academy. And no, it's not in Los Angeles. It's in San Francisco. I do not recommend this school to anyone. They seem more interested in collecting tuition money than actually teaching.
Housing is located in the Tenderloin – a drug and homeless infested area of San Francisco. I've seen shoot-outs, crack head smoking up at the bus stop right outside the front door, people droping the pants to use the bathroom where ever they please, and cops shake down drug dealers for their drugs.
The food that's served to the students is horrible. They don't practice any of the food handling you learn about in the safety and sanitation course. Cold things aren't kept cold, hot things are kept hot. There was a food-illness outbreak that got 40 people sick.
I've had a chef instructor insult me and the rest of the class on the first day. A friend of mine had a butchery chef who liked to throw raw chicken at students when he got upset.
The only way to fail your classes is to not show up. I got an A in a class that I honestly should have recieved a C. That same instructor and five others, including the Master Chef, were fired for cheating on an ethics test.
I think you can find a better way to spend 50 Grand.
I don't recommend The Kitchen Academy either. They were a little too small for me. Certification is only available.
Out of the three schools you have listed, I would look into The Art Institute.
Good luck with that.
its over $30,000 & it does not include houseing but it covers everything you need for the school. & you get to do a 8 week extership anywhere in the world which is covered in your trition. Its a great package
There is a magazine that you will find at the library called "Mailbox". It is a teacher's magazine with lots of ideas for classroom activities. In each issue, there is a kids in the kitchen section with ideas of things to make. In issues for the younger kids, they have pictures you can copy so the kids can do it themselves.
Culinary Academy is a more prestigious school.
MICHAEL LEVITT President, Culinary Academy of Long Island
It is if you want to be a chef. It's a good career with good pay in some cases, so if that's what you want to do I say go for it.
just classes alone is about $50,000 for the complete chef course.
The baking program is different and would have a different price.
The Culinary Academy has severl dorms so the rooms are going to vary greatly depending on which building you are assigned. Try asking CCA for info about your building assignment you might actually get an answer that way.
Do you have myspace? If so, join the Texas Culinary Academy group at:
http://groups.myspace.com/texasculinaryacademy
I live in Las Vegas and have heard great things.
The Academy is in a great part of town so you can rely on it being a credible school.
# The school has a four year program and has a very extensive hands on program for students.
The 18 month, $45,000 program graduates professionally trained chef's every three weeks.Their classes are held at several downtown S.F. locations
Here's its site. There's no mention though about fees.
http://www.internationalculinaryschool.com/index.html
Its contact information below:
E-Mail : info@internationalculinaryschool.com
Follow the links below to the main website and then the second link is to contact the school regarding costs.
Good luck!
It sounds like you're still in school, so I suggest talking to your guidance counselor about it. The Cordon Bleu is considered the gold standard of culinary institutions, but there are lots of others, all over the country and the world. If you live in California and wanted to stay relatively close to home, here's a good list:
http://chef2chef.net/culinary-institute/state/california-culinary-schools.htm
That website, by the way, is an excellent resource for a budding chef!
It's hard to go to a culinary school without a high school certificate let alone study abroad. better check with the school requirements first and the immigration laws before making any plans. I would suggest you look at Whitireia Community Polytechnic. They don't have specific pattisserie course but they have commercial cookery. But if you want the best school that offers Pattisserie course, I would suggest Le Cordon Bleu in Australia or At-Sunrice Global Academy in Singapore.
The tuition at the California Culinary Academy Le Cordon Blue will run between $32,000 to $48,000. I know this because, I have a daughter going to school there right now. $32,000 is for the Baking and Pastry course and $48,000 is Cooking course. The rent on the dorms $600 a month with a roommate or $1,000 a month for private room, but this can be paid my the Sallee May Foundation (loan). Also includes their uniforms, hats, towels, shoes, and all utensils used in the course. They have a bus to take them to the different parts of the school. Part of the Academy is in the bad part of San Francisco called the Tenderloin. .The regular bus transportation is $1.50 each time you ride. Hope this helps you.
Not I.