
New Health Culprit Carnitine Found in Red Meat - rlalwani
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324050304578408702646200088.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
======
dave1619
Here's some highlights from the article for those seeing the wsj paywall:

"Doctors have long assumed that saturated fat and cholesterol in red meat are
what raise the risk of heart disease. But a study in the journal Nature
Medicine fingers another culprit: carnitine, a compound abundant in red meat
that also is sold as a dietary supplement and found in some energy drinks.

Health reporter Melinda Beck points out a compound found in red meat, energy
drinks and several other foods has been found to raise the risk of heart
disease. Photo: Getty Images.

Carnitine typically helps the body transport fatty acids into cells to be used
as energy. But researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that in both humans
and mice, certain bacteria in the digestive tract convert carnitine to another
metabolite, called TMAO, that promotes atherosclerosis, or a thickening of the
arteries.

The researchers, led by Stanley Hazen, chief of cellular and molecular
medicine at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, tested the
carnitine and TMAO levels of omnivores, vegans and vegetarians, and examined
records of 2,595 patients undergoing cardiac evaluations. In patients with
high TMAO levels, the more carnitine in their blood, the more likely they were
to develop cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke and death."

~~~
dave1619
Also an interesting note on vegans:

"One surprising finding, Dr. Hazen said, was how a long-term diet that
includes meat affected the amount of TMAO-producing bacteria in the gut and
thus magnified the risk. In the study, when longtime meat-eaters consumed an
eight-ounce steak and a carnitine supplement, their bacteria and TMAO levels
rose considerably. But when a vegan ate the same combination, he showed no
increase in TMAO or bacterial change.

'Vegans basically lose their ability to digest carnitine,' said Dr. Hazen."

