Benefits of not eating red meat

Michael Jordan was always a gutsy player. On March 29, 1982, the then 19-year-old freshman made a 16-foot jump shot with 15 seconds left to give the Tar Heels a 63-62 win over Georgetown for the NCAA tournament championship. His career blossomed from there. Too bad his gutsy NBA pregame ritual of eating a hefty steak turns out not to have been good for his guts — or his heart health.

Researchers at Tufts University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have unraveled the association between atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease — that’s clogged up arteries and heart woes — and eating red/processed meats. For the first time it’s been shown that a lot of the damage that red/processed meats cause comes from the way they affect your gut bacteria. Seems they stimulate production of specialized metabolites, such as TMAO, that cause destructive inflammation in your circulatory system.

The study, published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, shows that for every 1.1 servings of red/processed meats that you eat daily, your risk of heart disease increases 22%. Apparently the levels of L-carnitine and heme iron found in red meats are especially damaging.

Eating fish (Bravo, salmon!) and poultry doesn’t cause the same troubles. And, making a switch to plant-based and fish/ poultry sourced proteins can reduce your gut levels of TMAOs and other harmful metabolites. So, it’s a slam dunk: For better heart-and-gut health, ditch red and processed meats. You’ll also reduce chronic inflammation that’s implicated in everything from diabetes to dementia.

Health pioneer Michael Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic and author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. His next book is “The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow.” Do you have a topic Dr. Mike should cover in a future column? If so, please email questions@ GreatAgeReboot.com.