Leading heart researchers to appear in BBC documentary
Leading heart researchers at our University are to appear in a BBC documentary - after finding a link between red meat and heart disease.
The documentary, 'The Truth About Meat', will be broadcast on Thursday 29 September at 9:00PM and will feature Professor Toru Suzuki and Dr Liam Heaney.
Professor Suzuki, from the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and the NIHR Leicester Cardiovascular BRU, was asked to conduct an experiment looking at how steak affects the body.
The production team spent 13 hours filming at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) located at the Glenfield Hospital.
Professor Suzuki said: “We recently identified that people who suffer from heart failure often have high levels of a metabolite called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) – of which red meat is a major dietary source.
“We were able to show that people who have heart disease and high TMAO levels are at a higher risk of poor outcomes (including death) than those with the same condition but who have lower TMAO levels.
“It’s because of our findings that the BBC asked if I would participate in their show looking at how food can affect health outcomes."
The Trimethylamine N-oxide and Prognosis in Acute Heart Failure study was the first to investigate the association of TMAO levels in acute heart failure patients.
The research was supported by the John and Lucille van Geest Foundation and the NIHR Research Leicester Cardiovascular BRU.
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- More information is available here
- Press release about the documentary appearance
- Press release about Professor Suzuki's research into red meat and heart disease
Listen to an interview with Professor Toru Suzuki here: