Eggs interact with stomach bacteria to produce a chemical compound which scientists believe may be integral in increasing heart disease. A study on the phenomenon was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
When lecithin, a chemical abundant in egg yolks, is digested by the body, it is broken up into its component parts. One of those parts, choline, is metabolized by intestinal bacteria, releasing, in the process, a substance that the liver converts to a chemical called TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide). High TMAO levels are correlated with high risk of heart attack and stroke.
"Heart disease perhaps involves microbes in our gut," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Stanley Hazen, at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
Hazen added that levels of lecithin and choline may be reduced by simply eating foods with low levels of fat and cholesterol. He also warned of vitamin supplements which include either compound.
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