Research
Mixed
Low adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with higher urinary trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) levels, a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease, driven by microbial genera associated with animal protein/fat intake.
If you consume a diet low in Mediterranean principles (low plant diversity, high animal products), you may have higher levels of TMAO, a biomarker linked to cardiovascular risk. To mitigate this, increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, which are associated with lower TMAO levels.
GoodRefutesMEDIUM confidence
Conversely, we detected higher urinary trimethylamine oxide levels in individuals with lower adherence to the MD... L-Ruminococcus correlation with TMAO was found to be significant after correction for multiple comparisons (p=0.022).
Why this rating
Observational cross-sectional data; strong correlation but not causal proof of disease risk.
Source
High-level adherence to a Mediterranean diet beneficially impacts the gut microbiota and associated metabolome
Francesca De Filippis et al. · Gut · 2015
DOI 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309957
cross_sectional · n=153Cited 1,579×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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