In a New York Times article titled “Culprit in Heart Disease Goes Beyond Meat’s Fat,” Gina Kolata explains how Cleveland Clinic Dr. Stanley Hazen led a study that discovered a new explanation regarding why red meat may contribute to heart disease.

“The researchers had come to believe that what damaged hearts was not just the thick edge of fat on steaks, or the delectable marbling of their tender interiors. In fact, these scientists suspected that saturated fat and cholesterol made only a minor contribution to the increased amount of heart disease seen in red-meat eaters,” Kolata writes.

It was proposed that the real issue with red meat is a chemical released by bacteria in the intestines after eating red meat that quickly gets converted by the liver and released into the blood. This little-studied chemical is called TMAO.

The piece goes on to detail findings of the study and their correlations to red meat consumption.

Read the complete piece here.