A diet rich in animal-sourced foods like meat, eggs, and cheese can contribute to heart disease, stroke, and death through a biochemical process that clogs arteries with plaque. Atherosclerosis is the formal term for plaque collecting on and hardening the arterial walls. Animal foods increase the production of an atherosclerosis-inducing substance called Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). With the help of certain gut bacteria, the choline and carnitine found concentrated in animal products can get converted into TMAO. Cholesterol is a primary cause of atherosclerosis, but TMAO appears to accelerate the process. Research led by Stanley Hazen, an endocrinologist and head of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, tells us TMAO appears to increase the ability of inflammatory cells within the atherosclerotic plaque in the artery walls to bind to bad LDL cholesterol. This can make the cells more prone to gobble up cholesterol. The findings provide researchers important insight on how cholesterol causes heart disease. …