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A new mechanism has been discovered that connects phosphatidyl choline (also called lecithin), a common dietary fat, along with intestinal microflora, to an increased risk of heart disease. The study shows that the heart risk of people with a diet high in the lipid depends on how the micro-organisms that live in their digestive tracts metabolize it.
When lecithin and choline were fed to mice, the substances were converted to a heart disease-forming product by the intestinal microbes. In humans, higher blood levels of choline and the heart disease forming microorganism products are strongly associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk.