Is TMAO a missing link in the heart disease debate?

New debate on red meat and saturated fats was again triggered recently with a study linking more associative evidence that red meat consumption may lead to heart disease.

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, ScienceDaily, and The Scientist broke the story with the provocative headlines:

• Study Points to New Culprit in Heart Disease

• New Health Worry in Red Meat

• Red Meat May Clog Arteries Because of Gut Bacteria

• New Link Between Heart Disease and Red Meat: New Understanding of Cardiovascular Health Benefits of Vegan, Vegetarian Diets

• Steak Linked to Heart Disease

The articles discuss new research that may show a missing link in the debate on heart disease . The research suggests that atherosclerosis may be related to an increase of carnitine in the diet which is thought to raise trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels when processed by gut bacteria.

TMAO does not seem to be present in vegan or vegetarian patients, and TMAO levels were shown to disappear following antibiotic therapy in meat-eating participants.

TMAO levels have been correlated with heart disease and is responsible for fishy smell. In fact, TMAO is also the reason fish smell like fish.

Initial questions immediately rise: [click to continue…]

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