Increased health risk due to red meat

Carnitine in red meat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease

08/04/2013

With meat eaters who consume a lot of red meat, cardiovascular disease is more common. The results of a new study now seem to have identified the meat ingredient L-carnitine as part of the problem. Researchers point out that the substance is also sold as a dietary supplement.

Vegetarians rarely suffer a heart attack
The German Nutrition Society recommends that the weekly consumption of meat and sausages should not exceed 300 to 600 grams. At the same time, she advises low-fat products. Above all, sausages and red meat, especially consumed in large quantities, are considered unhealthy. For example, studies suggest the increased risk of cardiovascular disease. British researchers recently discovered that vegetarians are less likely to have a heart attack, which could be explained by their healthier lifestyle.

Beef steak dangerous for vessels?
The high salt content and contained nitrites and nitrates of sausages should make their consumption is not exactly health-promoting, but researchers did not seem to be clear why, for example, the consumption of a beef steak should have a detrimental effect on the vessels. In the trade magazine „Nature Medicine“ An explanation has now been presented by a group around Robert Koeth of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. It states that L-carnitine (a naturally occurring chemical compound that is abundantly present in red meat) is converted by intestinal bacteria into the so-called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). This substance promotes arteriosclerosis. These assumptions are supported by various experiments on mice as well as on humans. In meat eaters TMAO is formed in larger quantities than vegetarians, since such microbes are particularly important to the intestinal flora, if someone regularly consumes meat so the US researchers. This was tested by testing vegans, vegetarians, regular meat eaters and meat eaters whose intestinal flora had been reduced by antibiotics. For the study, a long-time vegan was ready to eat a steak, so that his subsequently determined blood levels contributed to a life-like experimental series.

Check nutritional supplements more closely
Although the human body can produce L-carnitine itself, it mainly absorbs it through food. As a substance that can increase fat burning, carnitine is marketed as a dietary supplement in the form of capsules and powders. The researchers around Robert Koeth recommended that the safety of such dietary supplements should be considered in light of the study's findings. „Large amounts of ingested L-carnitine could, under certain conditions, cause the intestinal flora to produce more TMAO and thus promote arteriosclerosis. "Nutritionist Brian Ratcliffe (Robert Gordon University), who was not involved in the study, said: „People who take L-carnitine for no medical reason should think again. "However, the study does not provide complete clarity, for example TMAO is abundant in sea fish and, unlike red meat, fish is not considered harmful to the blood vessels. ad)

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