紅肉的化學物「傷害心臟」，美國科學家說 Red meat chemical ’damages heart’, say US scientists

A study in the journal Nature Medicine showed that carnitine in red meat was broken down by bacteria in the gut. This kicked off a chain of events that resulted in higher levels of cholesterol and an increased risk of heart disease.

「自然醫學」期刊刊登的研究顯示，紅肉中的肉鹼在膽中被細菌分解。這引發一連串事件，最後造成膽固醇升高，增加心臟病風險。

There has been a wealth of studies suggesting that regularly eating red meat may be damaging to health. However, this was not thought to be the whole story.

大量研究顯示，常吃紅肉可能傷害健康，但並非僅止於此而已。

Experiments on mice and people showed that bacteria in the gut could eat carnitine. Carnitine was broken down into a gas, which was converted in the liver to a chemical called TMAO.

老鼠與人體實驗顯示，膽中的細菌可能吃肉鹼。肉鹼分解為氣體，在肝裡轉化成一種稱為「氧化三甲胺」的化學物質。

In the study, TMAO was strongly linked with the build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessels, which can lead to heart disease and death.

在這份研究中，氧化三甲胺與血管中的脂肪累積強烈相關，可能導致心臟疾病與死亡。

新聞辭典

kick off：片語，展開。例句：I’d like to kick off the discussion with a few statistics.（我想以一些數據來展開討論。）

a wealth of：片語，大量…，豐富的…。例句：Jim has a wealth of teaching experience.（吉姆有豐富的教學經驗。）

convert：動詞，轉變、轉化。例句：Could we convert the small bedroom into a second bathroom?（我們能把這間小臥室改成第二衛浴嗎？）