Nick Norwitz explains how a gut molecule called deoxycholic acid, made by bacteria, prevents blood clots and heart attacks. People with heart disease have lower levels of it. In mice, adding the molecule or transplanting healthy gut bacteria protected the heart during heart attacks.
What if a molecule your body makes to digest fat could protect you from a heart attack? I'm not joking. This isn't even exaggeration. A new study in Nature Cardiovascular Research found that people with heart disease, coronary artery disease, have lower levels of a bile acid made by the gut called, brace for it, deoxycholic acid, or DCA for short. This is produced by gut bacteria and circulates in the blood. And it matters because DCA reduces blood clotting. And clots are the direct cause of most heart attacks and strokes. The study found that lower DCA levels meant more platelet clumping, more clotty blood, and higher risk of cardiovascular events. They even showed— the researchers showed that mice supplemented with DCA, or the microbe that makes it, or fecal transplants from healthy humans containing DCA-producing bacteria literally protected against heart tissue death during and after a heart attack. So what can you do with this? Well, while I do provide some informed speculation on lifestyle tips in the longer form content, which you can see in the video links, the short of it, the big picture, is that your gut can change your blood and your risk of a heart attack. Metabolism is connected. Metabolism is unified. Remember that.
