Most people know their height and weight by heart. Many also know their BMI score, even if it feels like a blunt tool that rarely tells the full story.
Two people with the same BMI can live very different lives, eat very differently and face very different health risks. That gap has long frustrated both doctors and patients.
Now, new research suggests there may be a more precise way to assess cardiovascular risk, one that looks not at the body’s size, but at what is happening inside the gut.
Looking beyond the scales
Researchers from King’s College London have found that chemical compounds found in stool samples can reveal detailed information about diet and gut microbiome activity.
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According to the study, analysing these metabolites provides a clearer picture of heart disease risk than body mass index alone.
The research draws on data from more than 2,600 participants in two large UK cohorts, TwinsUK and ZOE PREDICT1.
Scientists examined hundreds of stool metabolites alongside dietary questionnaires and microbiome data, using machine learning to identify patterns linked to nutrition and long-term health.
Diet, microbes and the heart
The findings show that stool metabolites closely reflect the intake of different food and drink groups, including meat, whole grains, nuts, tea and coffee.
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They also capture how closely individuals follow healthy dietary patterns such as the DASH diet, which is known to support cardiovascular health.
When researchers compared different prediction models, those combining stool metabolites with BMI were significantly better at identifying people at higher or lower risk of cardiovascular disease over ten years than models based on diet scores and BMI alone.
In practical terms, this suggests that the gut’s chemical “fingerprint” may capture how the body truly responds to food, something BMI cannot do.
What this could mean next
The study also found that a much smaller set of metabolites could still deliver strong predictive power, opening the door to simpler and more accessible testing in the future.
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Researchers say this approach could eventually support personalised nutrition strategies and more targeted prevention of heart disease.
Sources: Eleconomista
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