Red-yeast cholesterol fighters can be worthless

A little more than a decade ago, a federal court ruled that over-the-counter red-yeast rice products were not drugs — despite the fact that these products contained naturally occurring chemicals that were functionally indistinguishable from lovastatin, a cholesterol-lowering prescription drug. And so a major dietary supplement industry was born. By 2008, Americans were spending $20 million a year on red-yeast rice products, many on their doctor’s recommendation (and perhaps even via their doctor’s offices).

But a new study warns that not all red-yeast rice products contain pharmacologically active concentrations of the fungal products. As such, its authors caution: “Buyer Beware!”

Red-yeast cholesterol fighters can be worthless

DHEA no fountain of youth

The supplement DHEA, widely marketed as an anti-aging supplement, has been found to be no better than placebo at slowing markers of aging.

http://altmedicine.about.com/b/2006/10/19/dhea-is-no-fountain-of-youth-study-finds.htm