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[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44593748
[2] "Imidazole propionate is a driver and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09263-w
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As time goes on, more "lifestyle diseases" will be root-caused like this, rather than just being due to "personal choice" and "willpower". The article directly says that diet and lifestyle factors are associated with levels of imidazole propionate > When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult it is to diagnose cardiovascular problems early and how simple it is to prevent them, with measures su…
>So it's not correct to wave it all away and say that it's all random bacterial infections That is not what I said (per my comment "Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these.") But it seems likely we'll find that lifestyle and diet are not the only cause, maybe not even the primary one. >>> When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult it is to diagnose cardiovascular probl…
"another shocking finding: atherosclerosis was ubiquitous"... yikes, can't wait till this inhibitor makes it to market. Anyway, fascinating. As time goes on, more "lifestyle diseases" will be root-caused like this, rather than just being due to "personal choice" and "willpower". There are a ton of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_disease 1. Ulcers: (stress?)... now root-caused to H.pylori infection. 2. A…
Microbially produced imidazole propionate impairs prostate cancer progression through PDZK1 https://molmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s10020-025...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-78787-4 There exists a statistically substantial inverse association between angina pectoris and lung cancer (β = − 0.118, p = 0.001), breast cancer (β = − 0.049, p = 0.029), and colorectal cancers (β = − 0.152, p = 0.003). A noteworthy inverse correlation was observed between heart attack and lung cancer
Also Imidazole propionate is metabolized by bacteria from histidine. And Histidine turns into Histamine withe the help of B6 via Histidine decarboxylase.
So maybe people with heart disease need B6?
Vitamin B6 and cardiovascular disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22116704/
So it is personal choice, but you have to know the choices. Many things deplete B6, alcohol being one opf them.
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A quick Google search reveals these bacteria produce the imidazole propionate from histidine. Unfortunately, histidine is an essential amino acid (necessary for life and our bodies can't produce it so we need it in our diet).
The bacteria in your microbiome aren't a fixed quantity. Changing diet will change the microbiome over time. The researchers found that healthier diets and lifestyle were associated with lower levels of imidazole propionate. Trying to starve the bacteria of precursors isn't practical.
Not starve them, but put them on a diet?
Low B6 will lead to increased histidine by inhibiting Histidine decarboxylase.
https://healthmatters.io/understand-blood-test-results/histi...
thought that was going to be about TMAO (Trimethylamine N-Oxide) https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9235870/figure/F1/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6213249/figure/nutr...
TMAO is the precursor of imidazole propionate.
https://www.caymanchem.com/product/33458/imidazole-propionat...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>So it's not correct to wave it all away and say that it's all random bacterial infections That is not what I said (per my comment "Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these.") But it seems likely we'll find that lifestyle and diet are not the only cause, maybe not even the primary one. >>> When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult it is to diagnose cardiovascular probl…
> That is not what I said (per my comment "Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these.") But it seems likely we'll find that lifestyle and diet are not the only cause, maybe not even the primary one. What would it even mean for lifestyle choices to directly cause some condition? Attributing causation is largely subjective (up to a point). It's like saying "flipping the light switch didn't turn…
>What would it even mean for lifestyle choices to directly cause some condition?
The glib answer would be something like woodworking and missing fingers :-)
But there are plenty of people (not me!) who believe, for example, that obesity and type-2 diabetes are directly caused by overeating and/or lack of exercise.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Massively. Changing diet is about the only realistic way to elicit long-term changes in the microbiome. Even taking probiotics doesn't last very long. There's a lot of questionable microbiome science that hasn't been replicated. You can find a lot of studies that say something changes the microbiome, but it's almost always a single short-term observational study on a small group of people. Realistically, increasing v…
What is your definition of processed food? Are potatoes processed because they are cleaned? Is chicken breast processed because the chicken is plucked? Is vinegar processed because it has undergone a chemical transformation via fermentation? Are potato chips processed because they are sliced potatoes fried in oil? Are fried plantains processed because they are sliced plantains fried in oil? I do not mean to come acro…
Most processed food is made of ground meat and various types of mush/pastes, so it easily falls apart in the gut.
"The new study shows that blood levels of imidazole propionate are lower in people with diets rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, tea, and low-fat dairy products." That's encouraging
Microbially produced imidazole propionate impairs prostate cancer progression through PDZK1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39819421/
You really need to know your genetics to be certain, and make sure you have enough B6.
Meat is very high in histidine so that is why this meat, without enough B6, will raise the risk of heart disease and T2D as well as colon cancer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That is not what I said (per my comment "Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these.") But it seems likely we'll find that lifestyle and diet are not the only cause, maybe not even the primary one. What would it even mean for lifestyle choices to directly cause some condition? Attributing causation is largely subjective (up to a point). It's like saying "flipping the light switch didn't turn…
Yep, totally agree with your points. >What would it even mean for lifestyle choices to directly cause some condition? The glib answer would be something like woodworking and missing fingers :-) But there are plenty of people (not me!) who believe, for example, that obesity and type-2 diabetes are directly caused by overeating and/or lack of exercise.
Lifestyle choices increase the risk of these diseases but if they caused the disease, everyone who ate the diet would get the disease, and we know that is not true.
The difference is crucial because we know genetics plays a role as well so matching diet and genetics would be useful.
"A team of Spanish scientists made a striking announcement 15 years ago: they were seeking thousands of volunteers among the employees of Banco Santander in Madrid: researchers wanted to study them in depth for decades, in order to understand the onset of cardiovascular disease in healthy people." Is there a project like this one can join in the US? I've always wanted to contribute to a biomedical study.