They think this could lead to illness prevention – with treatments offsetting the damage. And they believe it should turn the focus away from saturated fat as the big danger.
The researchers followed 4,000 people aged 65-plus for up to 26 years to see who developed heart disease.
This led them to trimethylamine N-oxide (TMNO). It is produced by gut bacteria to digest red meat that contains high amounts of the chemical L-carnitine.
But high blood levels of TMNO may be linked with heart problems, chronic kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Dr MengWang, of Boston’s Tufts University, told Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology journal: “Interventions may be helpful to target interactions between red meat and microbiome.”