Research

Hormonal

Gut microbiota metabolize dietary choline and carnitine into trimethylamine (TMA), which is converted to trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in the liver; elevated TMAO levels are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Your gut bacteria convert nutrients from eggs and red meat into a compound (TMAO) linked to heart and kidney disease. This risk depends on your specific gut bacteria. While you don't need to avoid these foods entirely, maintaining a diverse gut microbiome through fiber may help manage TMAO levels.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Three metabolites of dietary phosphatidylcholine (choline, TMAO, betaine) predict risk for CVD... TMAO... Accelerates atherosclerosis... Contributes to kidney dysfunction and chronic kidney disease
Linda Zhang et al. · Genome Medicine · 2016

Why this rating

The paper cites multiple studies linking TMAO to CVD and CKD, including genetic and animal models, suggesting strong mechanistic evidence.

Source

Microbial metabolism of dietary components to bioactive metabolites: opportunities for new therapeutic interventions

Linda Zhang et al. · Genome Medicine · 2016

DOI 10.1186/s13073-016-0296-x

narrative_reviewCited 496×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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