The blood of patients who had experienced a heart attack or stroke was compared to the blood of those who hadn’t, and that’s how TMAO, short for trimethylamine oxide, was identified.1832 The more TMAO people had in their blood, the more likely they were to go on to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or otherwise die prematurely.1833 Where does TMAO come from? Just as short-chain fatty acids are produced by good bacteria in our gut when we eat fiber, TMAO originates from bad bacteria in our gut when we eat lots of choline (concentrated in eggs, but also lecithin supplements) or carnitine
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