The Cleveland Clinic has discovered that carnitine is linked
to hardening of arteries.
Carnitine shows up in red meats and is a supplement in
energy drinks.
But they also found that carnitine on its own is not
dangerous. It’s when a bacteria converts carnitine into timethylamine-N-oxide
(TMAO) that hardening, or clogging, of arteries happens.
Further, the research finds that a diet high in
carnitine promotes the growth of the bacteria that metabolize carnitine,
compounding the problem by producing even more of the artery-clogging TMAO.
The researchers found that increased carnitine
levels in patients predicted increased risks for cardiovascular disease and
major cardiac events lsuch as heart attack, stroke and death, but only in subjects
who also had a high level of TMAO.
They also found that vegans are more healthy,
even when they take in large volumes of carnitine.
Meat makes the difference.
The study, led by Dr. Stanley Hazen, tracked
2,595 patients, comparing those who pursue vegan and vegetarian diets with
those who eat meat.
"The bacteria living in our digestive
tracts are dictated by our long-term dietary patterns," Hazen said in a
news release.
"A diet high in carnitine actually shifts
our gut microbe composition to those that like carnitine, making meat eaters
even more susceptible to forming TMAO and its artery-clogging effects,” he
said.
“Meanwhile, vegans and vegetarians have a
significantly reduced capacity to synthesize TMAO from carnitine, which may
explain the cardiovascular health benefits of these diets," the news
release says.
