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Scientists might have finally discovered why meat is considered a contributor in heart and vascular disease.
For a long time, researchers believed that it was the fat content in the meat that hardened the arteries.
New evidence however shows that it is the carnitine amino acid in meat, which when metabolized by certain gut bacteria causes fat deposits to form inside our arteries.
This is an important finding, because carnitine is a supplement that is added to many products, including energy drinks and diet pills.
Carnitine is found in high concentration in red meat. When gut bacteris metabolize carnitine into trimethylamine_N_oxide (TMAO), atherosclerotic plaques form in our body. Why this happens is still not known. However, vegetarians produce far less TMAO than omnivores.
In blood tests of patients who participated in the study, carnitine levels were associated with the risk of cv disease, but it was only so in those people who had high TMAO levels, leading scientists to believe that some people may not have the type of bacteria responsible for the metabolism of carnitine into TMAO.
When given antibiotics, mice in the laboratory were shown not to produce TMAO.
What scientists believe at this point in the research is that the bacteria in our gut is a consequence of our long-term eating habits. A diet high in carnitine shifts microbe composition to a higher number of carnitine metabolizing bacteria.
The discovery might finally explain why the link between the fat component in the diet of carnivores and cv disease was never fully established.
They also warned against the assumption of carnitine supplements, which could significantly shift the bacterial balance in our gut.
Source: Forbes 4.8.13
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