Red meat causes heart disease by messing up your bacteria, study says

Red meat causes heart disease by messing up your bacteria, study says


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SALT LAKE CITY — If there weren't already dozens of reasons not to eat too much red meat, here's one more from a recent study: It will mess up your gut's bacteria which turns your veins to stone.

Of course, that's an exaggeration. But research out of the University of Washington suggests that it does create the conditions in your gut that facilitate heart disease and the hardening of veins throughout the body, aside from providing lots of fat and cholesterol.

Here's how it works. There are lots of bacteria in your intestines. That's a really good thing because they help digest and break down all kinds of things that your body can't all by itself.

What bacteria are found depends on what you eat. It turns out that red meat promotes a kind of bacteria that love eating carnitine, a chemical often consumed as a dietary supplement (like in many energy drinks) and found in high levels in red meat.

The only problem is that the bacteria that love red meat turn carnitine into TMAO, or trimethylamine N-oxide, a chemical that hardens veins and contributes to heart disease. The more red meat you eat, the more TMAO in your system, the more at risk you are.

"This process is different in everyone, depending on the gut microbe metabolism of the individual," said lead author Stanley Hazen. "Carnitine metabolism suggests a new way to help explain why a diet rich in red meat promotes atherosclerosis."

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But it's not just about how much carnitine you take in. Vegans and vegetarians were tested as well during the study. They had much lower TMAO levels even when their carnitine consumption was high, likely due to less carnitine loving bacteria in their systems.

"Vegans and vegetarians have a significantly reduced capacity to synthesize TMAO from carnitine, which may explain the cardiovascular health benefits of these diets," Hazen said.

Cholesterol and saturated fat are found in red meat, but studies have suggested that they are not enough to explain the strong association between red meat and heart disease. This study could help fill in the gap by providing a further explanation.

The study was published this week in the journal Nature Medicine.

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David Self Newlin

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