Principal investigators
Vienna Brunt; Doug Seals
Funding
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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A compound produced in the gut when we eat red meat plays听a key role in boosting heart disease risk with age, suggests听research published by integrative physiology Professor听Doug Seals.
Eat a steak and your gut bacteria break it down, churning听out a metabolic byproduct called trimethylamine, which听the liver converts to trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO).听People with higher blood levels of TMAO are known听to be twice as likely to have a heart attack and听tend to die earlier.
But scientists haven鈥檛 known why.听
When the researchers studied 101听older adults and 22 young adults, they听found that TMAO levels rise with age,听and adults with higher blood levels听had worse artery function and more听vessel damage. When fed TMAO听directly, young mice swiftly began听to look like old mice in terms of听vessel health.
Even a young vegan听produces some TMAO.听But over time, the study听suggests, eating excess听animal products may听prompt you to make听too much, exacerbating听vascular decline.