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New TMAO, DMB, gut biome and heart disease
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/about-cleveland-clinic/newsroom/releases-videos-newsletters/2015-12-17-cleveland-clinic-researchers-identify-potential-approach-to-treat-heart-disease

This novel approach centers around the research team’s previous discovery that TMAO – trimethylamine N-oxide, a byproduct formed in the gut during digestion of animal fats – is linked to atherosclerosis and heart disease. Now, the team has identified a naturally occurring inhibitor called DMB – 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol, found in some cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils and grape seed oils – that reduced levels of TMAO and reduced atherosclerosis in mice.


TMAO is a gut metabolite formed during the digestion of the nutrients choline, phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and carnitine, which are abundant in animal products. Blood TMAO levels are associated with heightened risk of heart attacks, stroke and death in clinical studies. Carnitine is abundant in red meat and liver, while choline and lecithin are abundant in beef, lamb, liver, egg yolk and high-fat dairy products.


From the TMAO Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimethylamine_N-oxide

Studies published in 2013 indicate that high levels of TMAO in the blood are associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.[9] The concentration of TMAO in the blood increases after consuming foods containing carnitine[10] or lecithin[9] if the bacteria that convert those substances to TMAO are present in the gut.[11] High concentrations of carnitine are found in red meat, some energy drinks, and some dietary supplements; lecithin is found in soy, eggs,[11] as an ingredient in processed food and is sold as a dietary supplement. Some types of normal gut bacteria (e.g. species of Acinetobacter) in the human microbiome convert dietary carnitine to TMAO. TMAO alters cholesterol metabolism in the intestines, in the liver, and in artery wall. In the presence of TMAO, there is increased deposition of cholesterol in, and decreased removal of cholesterol from, peripheral cells such as those in the artery wall.[12]

Another source of TMAO is dietary phosphatidylcholine, again by way of bacterial action in the gut. Phosphatidyl choline is present at high concentration in egg yolks and some meats.

Vegan and vegetarian diets appear to select against gut flora that metabolize carnitine (in favor of other gut flora more coordinated with their food supply). This apparent difference in their microbiome is associated with substantially reduced gut bacteria capable of converting carnitine to TMAO.[10]

3,3-Dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB), a structural analog of choline, inhibits microbial TMA formation in mice and in human feces, thereby reducing plasma TMAO levels after choline or carnitine supplementation. It is found in some balsamic vinegars, red wines, and some cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils and grapeseed oils.


So, eating the things that we've been told are bad for the heart may actually be bad for the heart, but not because of the things they told us were bad for the heart, namely cholesterol. Other compounds, lecithin, choline, and carnitine, are converted by certain gut bacteria into a compound that actually does the damage. Vegetarian diets select against these gut bacteria, and a substance commonly found in the main ingredients of the Mediterranean diet actively lower amounts of this damaging compound.

The Mediterranean diet isn't good because it's low in cholesterol and saturated fats, but rather because it's high in DMB. The Western diet isn't bad because it's high in cholesterol and saturated fats, but rather because it's high in lecithin, choline, and carnitine. If this avenue of research pans out, it will explain the hit-or-miss nature of testing the cholesterol/saturated fat hypothesis: those substances are correlated with the actual causes.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Expand Edited by malraux Jan. 1, 2016, 12:32:37 PM EST
New Damn interesting! :)
Alex

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

-- Isaac Asimov
New OTOH...
http://jacknorrisrd.com/eggs-tmao-and-heart-disease/

http://chriskresser.com/choline-and-tmao-eggs-still-dont-cause-heart-disease/

Dunno if their points that kidney function is more important is correct or not...

Bodies are very, very complicated.

:-/

My doc is a big fan of B12 supplements. B12 apparently interacts with TMAO and can impact the various risks of bad things - http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/1_Supplement/370.5

I like him a lot, but he's a big fan of all kinds of supplements, so I always wonder how much of the supplement stuff is woo and how much is actually accepted science.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Scott.
     TMAO, DMB, gut biome and heart disease - (malraux) - (2)
         Damn interesting! :) - (a6l6e6x)
         OTOH... - (Another Scott)

Messing with brain chemistry is not something to be lightly considered.
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