Eating moderate amounts of lean beef as part of a Mediterranean diet does not increase an emerging risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to a new study by an interdisciplinary research team at Penn State. The researchers examined indicators of heart health and gut microbiome diversity among relatively young and healthy participants who ate four different diets, including varying amounts and types of beef, for four weeks.
In the study, recently published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers found that eating a Mediterranean diet with either .5 or 2.5 ounces of lean beef each day did not increase blood levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), an emerging indicator of risk for cardiovascular disease. This was in comparison to an average American diet with 2.5 ounces of regular beef each day and a third Mediterranean diet that included 5.5 ounces of lean beef each day. TMAO, a byproduct of metabolism, can be produced when people consume animal products including beef.
