Food colourant may cut cancer

Published on Monday 9 June 2008 22:08

A RED colouring ingredient widely used in Chinese food may help to ward off heart disease and cancer, a study suggests.

Researchers found that an extract of red yeast rice cut cancer death rates by two-thirds, and reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by 33 per cent.

Heart patients who took the supplement lowered their chances of a repeat heart attack by 45 per cent, according to the large-scale study in China.

Red yeast rice extract also reduced the likelihood of undergoing bypass surgery or treatment to open up arteries by a third. Total death rates were reduced by the same amount.

An American scientist involved in the research described the results as "profound". Dr David Carpuzzi, from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said the health benefits from red yeast rice even exceeded those of statins, the acclaimed cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Red yeast rice – rice that has been fermented by the red yeast Monascus purpureus – has been used in China for thousands of years as a food preservative, colourant and seasoning, and herbal medicine.

It is the ingredient that gives Peking duck its red colour. Used medicinally, it is said to improve blood circulation and aid digestion.

Recently there has been evidence to show that the ingredient can lower cholesterol and combat heart disease. The new study was conducted among almost 5,000 heart patients aged 18 to 70 at more than 60 hospitals in China. Although the study focused mainly on heart disease, the number of cancer deaths was also recorded.

Patients took either two 300 milligram capsules of a partially purified extract of the red yeast rice preparation Xuezhikang (XZK), or an inactive dummy supplement daily. Researchers compared the progress over a five-year period.

Dr Capuzzi said: "I think it is surprising that a natural product like XZK would have this great an effect.

"If further testing and study prove true, my hope is that XZK becomes an important therapeutic agent to treat cardiovascular disorders and in the prevention of disease whether someone has had a heart attack or not."