The Taiwan-ASEAN Investment Strategy Partner Forum, organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’s (MOEA) Department of Investment Services, was held at the Taipei International Conference Center today (the 13th).

A CL member asked about a newer type of red yeast rice known as ANKASCIN 568-R Plus. ConsumerLab added information about it to its Red Yeast Rice Review.   Ankascin 568-R Plus A very different type of red yeast rice product on the market is Ankascin 568-R Plus (Sunway Biotech Co., Ltd., Taiwan), which contains an extract of red yeast rice focusing on two compounds, ankaflavin and monascin, as opposed to the lovastatin compounds normally in red yeast rice products. It is a certified health food in Taiwan for regulating lipid function and to assist in regulating blood glucose function. It was accepted by the U.S. FDA as a new dietary ingredient in 2018 (which does not mean that it is effective, but that the FDA has not expressed safety concerns). An 8-week, placebo-controlled (but not double-blinded) study in Taiwan among 40 people with metabolic syndrome found no negative effects of Ankascin 568-Plus (500 mg daily) on liver, kidney, or thyroid function, nor any indication of muscle breakdown. There was no significant decrease in fasting blood glucose or triglyceride levels compared to placebo, but there was a 19% decrease in LDL cholesterol versus a 1.9% decrease with placebo. Although funding of the study was not disclosed, one of the study authors is employed by Sunway Biotch (Liu, J Food Drug Analysis 2018). It […]

  “The superior effects of MS and AK in ANKASCIN® 568-R show significant results, from managing glycation and inflammation to improving hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and cognitive health. This novel ingredient is clinically proven, safe, has multiple applications in dietary supplements and functional food, is compliant with EU and US regulations, and provides excellent support for healthy aging.”   According to the WHO, around one in ten people in Europe or US has diabetes, which means that if you go out with your relatives, there’s a good chance that the person you’re arm-in-arm with is someone who has diabetes. Chronic diabetic complications, including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, or Alzheimer’s disease, have been related to advanced glycation end product (AGE) accumulation. Glycation and AGEs lead to accelerated organ aging, thus causing the vicious cycle of tissue glycation and aging. However, the Western diet, which is full of AGEs, and COVID-19 have aggravated this already grim scenario. Reports show that patients with hyperglycemia and COVID-19 have a 2-to-4-fold risk of severe COVID-19 or death than those without diabetes. ANKASCIN® 568-R is a state-of-the-art ingredient containing high MS and AK levels. It addresses the root cause, mainly via PPARγ/Nrf2 pathways, to manage anti-glycation, antioxidant, and anti-inflammation and acts synergistically in improving the impairment of pancreatic β-cell function (blood glucose regulation), resolving lipid plaque accumulation in the blood […]