Health Issues with Red Meat

We all eat kmeat. That is, we people who are not vegetarians, eat meat. There are many different kinds of meat. One in particular, red meat, is at the top of the concern list of some doctors. Some doctors are now seeing some other "health issues" with the meat product, itself. They have assumed for a long time, that the saturated fat and high cholesterol that comes with the meat, is what is causing the huge risk for people to obtain heart disease. But recent studies have shown that there is a new issue with the meat has been discovered: carnitine. Carnitine, is a compound that is abundant in red meat, but is also sold in most energy drinks, as a "dietary supplement". Research shows that carnitine helps the body transport fatty acids into cells throughout the body, to be used as energy. But, research also shows that the carnitine can also be retracted by a certain bacteria in the digestive system, to a metabolite called TMAO. Even more research has been conducted, and they consist of TMAO being a promoter of atherosclerosis, meaning thickening of the arteries.
Stanley Hazen, who led the researches, tested patients who were already undergoing "cardiac evalutations", with the TMAO levels. Doing these tests, he found that patients with high TMAO levels, there was more likely a chance that they would have more carnitine in their blood, and an even more high chance that they will have cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, and even death. The Harvard School of Public Health reported last year, that "—among 83,000 nurses and 37,000 male health professionals followed since the 1890's, those who consumed the highest levels of red meat had the highest risk of death during the study, and that one additional serving a day of red meat raised the risk of death by 13 percent.". Researchers aren't saying that anyone should stop eating red meat all together, but just that they are now getting a better understanding of what kinds of health issues, the meat is causing. So, the next time you see red meat, you might want to think about how much of it, you should eat.

Information from "New health worry in red meat" from Fox News.com