There is a chemical in red meat which helps explain why eating too much steak, mince and bacon is bad for your heart health. This is according to a new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, which found that bacteria in your guy breaks down the carnitine in red meat, which kicks off a chain of bad wellness events that increase your levels of cholesterol, as well as your risk of heart disease.
As a result of this study, dieticians have warned that if you are taking carnitine supplements you may be putting your wellbeing at risk. Dietician Catherine Collins said, ‘I would strongly recommend that unless you’re a vegetarian or vegan, there is a potential risk from taking L-carnitine, lecithin, choline or betaine supplements in an attempt to ward off cognitive decline or improve fat metabolism.’
Here in the UK, it is recommended that you eat 70g or less red or processed meat a day, which is the equivalent of two slices of bacon. This is because numerous studies have shown that regular consumption of red meat may be damaging to health, as saturated fat and the way processed meat is preserved are thought to contribute to heart problems. Yet this new study has shown that fats and cholesterol are not the whole story.
Lead researcher Dr Stanley Hazen explained, ‘The cholesterol and saturated fat content of lean red meat is not that high, there’s something else contributing to increases in cardiovascular risk.’ His experiments, which were performed on mice and people, showed that bacteria in the gut could eat carnitine, breaking it down into a gas which your liver converts to a chemical called TMAO. This waste product is strongly associated with a build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessels, which can cause heart disease and death.
Dr Hazen, from the Cleveland Clinic, commented that TMAO is often ignored: ‘It may be a waste product but it is significantly influencing cholesterol metabolism and the net effect leads to an accumulation of cholesterol. The findings support the idea that less red meat is better. I used to have red meat five days out of seven, now I have cut it way back to less than once every two weeks or so.’ He added that the results highlighted that probiotic yogurt can change the balance of bacteria in your gut.