Interesting articles, and I think the critique highlights some of the differences between the 2 practices.
I found this response from DCaplinger very interesting and seems to me to be the central argument that I've heard used time and time again by those who argue for the natural versus artificial.
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That statement is so scary, it's almost terrifying. Statins either come from red yeast rice, or they are chemically identical. They can't be both. In the case of statins, there is nothing natural about them. They are chemical recreations, which are neither as beneficial as the original source, or nearly as safe.
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Let me start by stating I do not understand the logic behind this statement, particularly this statement...
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Statins either come from red yeast rice, or they are chemically identical. They can't be both.
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this argument seems to be central to the natural versus artificial argument, that a chemical that is naturally derived just CAN'T possibly be the same as one that is artificially created.
this thinking is scientific heresy of the highest order. Current scientific thinking is that elementary particles have discrete and unalterable properties. The point is this...
if I gave you a molecule of the statin extracted from red yeast rice, there is no test that you could perform that could differentiate it from a molecule of the same statin made artificially. To all intents and purposes they are the same.
yet this belief seems to persist that somehow a natural produced substance is somehow different to an artificially produced one.
This thinking is clearly not scientific, however it is clearly compatible with the thinking applied to alternative health therapies, for instance...
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They are chemical recreations, which are neither as beneficial as the original source, or nearly as safe.
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And there was me thinking that red yeast rice was poisonous. Originally statins were going to be used as a pesticide. And if the artificial ones are chemically the same, then they are either as beneficial or as harmful as the natural ones, unless you believe that how they are made matters, in which case while this argument may not be scientific, it is consistent with the beliefs of other health practices.
PS - before someone points it out scientific thinking is in fact a belief system. Scientists may claim that it relies on logic, but it is still a belief system.
