I reported earlier on a misleading report sensationalized by the media about the supposed effects of carnitine on cardiovascular disease. The headlines of this story asserted that carnitine found in red meat would react with certain gut bacteria in certain individuals to promote a compound (TMAO) that would then cause heart disease.
In my earlier post, I demonstrated many discrepancies in this study. Here are a few others to keep in mind. These findings were based on an evaluation of 10 people. They were obscure, theoretical and have no other basis in the peer-reviewed literature. Yet the media ignored hundreds of studies showing significant cardiovascular benefits to carnitine, choosing instead to use this study in isolation to imply that carnitine, rather than red meat, was responsible for increased rates of cardiovascular disease amongst people that regularly consume red meat. Common sense should prevail here.
Many science-based groups have published more extensive rebuttals of this study. One of the most comprehensive that I have seen was written by the doctors and scientists at Life Extension®.
If you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, you know that money can buy almost any result imaginable (and even some, like this, that stretch well beyond the believable). Unfortunately, the media are often only too eager to publish these erroneous results, which only make it more confusing for the general public.
It usually doesn’t take much digging to discover the facts behind these misleading reports and we’ll be sure to keep you as up to date as possible as reports like these continue to circulate. If you come across an article or story that you think needs a good “BS-test”, send it to us; we’ll be happy to find out the facts and get them to you.
To your health!