The TESSA study; testing the health benefits of pomegranate extract

The TESSA study aimed to understand how a pomegranate extract can change the production of compounds associated with increased heart disease risk. Here members from the TESSA study research team along with participants reflect on the study. Previous studies have linked a high production of TMAO with increasing a person’s risk of heart disease, but more research is needed to understand this link. TMAO is formed in the gut from nutrients such as L-carnitine and choline, found in meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. During digestion, some of these nutrients make their way to the gut where gut microbes break them down. Some people produce high levels of TMAO, depending on the makeup of their gut microbiome. At the Quadram Institute we have shown that naturally occurring compounds in pomegranate fruit, called ellagitannins, can reduce the production of TMAO precursors by the gut microbes. In the TESSA study, researchers looked more closely at the difference between people’s gut microbes and the impact of pomegranate extract on how much TMAO they produce. Read more about the TESSA study https://quadram.ac.uk/study-in-norwic... https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/...