Choline is an essential nutrient necessary for a wide range of functions including cellular maintenance, liver function, creating neurotransmitters, and regulating homocysteine metabolism. (1,2)
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Due to its role in brain development in the early stages of life, adequate choline levels are particularly essential for pregnant women. (3,4)
While rare, a deficiency in choline often causes an increase in the levels of certain liver enzymes in the blood, which indicates liver damage. Besides the liver, the heart and nervous system are also affected by choline deficiency. (2)
While more research needs to be conducted, preliminary studies suggest that the health benefits of adequate choline intake include a reduced risk of dementia and cancer. (1,5,6)
Note: As with many nutrients, more choline is not always better, and it's possible to get too much. The tolerable upper limits are mg per day for children, mg for teenagers, and mg for adults. (3)
High choline foods include lean chicken, fish, lean pork, eggs, beef, shrimp, beans, low-fat milk, broccoli, and green peas. The daily value (DV) for choline is 550mg per day. (7)
Below is a list of common foods high in choline. For more see the extended list of choline rich foods, and the complete ranking of 200 foods high in choline.
This article provides everything you need to know about choline, including what it is and why you need it.
However, many people are not meeting the recommended intake for this nutrient ( 1 ).
Although your body makes some, you need to get choline from your diet to avoid a deficiency.
It was only acknowledged as a required nutrient by the Institute of Medicine in .
Choline is a vital nutrient, but what many people may not realize is that their consumption levels fall below the recommended intake. Beef and chicken liver, salmon, and eggs are among the richest dietary sources of choline.
Choline is an essential nutrient that must be included in your diet to maintain optimal health.
Therefore, adequate amounts are needed for optimal health ( 1 ).
It impacts liver function, healthy brain development, muscle movement, your nervous system and metabolism.
However, it is often grouped with the vitamin B complex due to its similarities. In fact, this nutrient affects a number of vital bodily functions.
Choline is an organic, water-soluble compound. It is neither a vitamin nor a mineral.
This means it's required for normal bodily function and human health. Though your liver can make small amounts, you must obtain the majority through your diet.
Choline is involved in many different processes, such as cell structure and messaging, fat transport and metabolism, DNA synthesis and nervous system maintenance.
Choline plays an important part in many processes in your body, including:
The adequate intake of choline is 425 mg per day for women and 550 mg per day for men. However, requirements may vary depending on the individual.
In one study in 26 men, six developed symptoms of choline deficiency even when consuming the AI ( 9 ).
It is important to note that choline needs may depend on the individual. Many people do fine with less choline, while others need more ( 2 ).
Here are the recommended AI values of choline for different age groups ( 10 ):
In addition, determining choline intake is difficult because its presence in various foods is relatively unknown.
Nevertheless, requirements differ according to genetic makeup and gender ( 7 , 8 , 9 ).
This value is intended to be sufficient for most healthy people, helping them avoid negative consequences of deficiency, such as liver damage .
However, the Institute of Medicine has set a value for adequate intake (AI) ( 6 ).
Due to a lack of available evidence, a Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for choline has not been determined.
Choline deficiency is associated with liver and/or muscle damage. Low intake during pregnancy is linked to complications.
While most Americans do not consume adequate amounts in their diets, actual deficiency is rare.
In addition, low choline intake may raise your risk of other pregnancy complications. These include preeclampsia, premature birth and low birth weight ( 2 ).
One study determined that a higher dietary intake around the time of conception was associated with a lower risk of neural tube defects ( 13 ).
Choline is especially important during pregnancy , as a low intake may raise the risk of neural tube defects in unborn babies.
However, these symptoms disappeared once they began getting enough choline.
Another study noted that when postmenopausal women consumed a diet deficient in choline, 73% developed liver or muscle damage ( 12 ).
One small study in 57 adults found that 77% of men, 80% of postmenopausal women and 44% of premenopausal women experienced liver and/or muscle damage after going on a choline-deficient diet ( 11 ).
Choline deficiency can cause harm, especially for your liver.
People who are at an increased risk of choline deficiency include athletes, those who drink a lot of alcohol, postmenopausal women and pregnant women.
Although choline deficiency is rare, certain people are at an increased risk ( 14 ):
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Rich food sources of choline include beef liver, eggs, fish, nuts, cauliflower and broccoli. Choline can also be taken as a supplement, of which CDP-choline and alpha-GPC seem to be the best types.
Some sources claim that choline in nutritional supplements may reduce body fat , but there is little to no evidence supporting these claims.
If you are looking for a supplement, CDP-choline and alpha-GPC tend to be higher in choline content per unit weight. They are also more easily absorbed than others.
Other forms of supplements include choline chloride, CDP-choline, alpha-GPC and betaine.
Phosphatidylcholine can also be taken as a pill or powder supplement, yet choline comprises only about 13% of the weight of phosphatidylcholine ( 24 ).
Lecithin can also be purchased as a supplement. However, lecithin tends to only contain 10'20% phosphatidylcholine.
Soy lecithin is a widely used food additive that contains choline. Therefore, it is likely that extra choline is consumed through the diet via food additives .
In addition, a single 3-ounce (85-gram) serving of beef kidney or liver can supply all of a woman's daily requirement and most of a man's ( 23 ).
As a single egg supplies about 20'25% of your daily requirement, two large eggs provide almost half ( 22 ).
Dietary sources are generally in the form of phosphatidylcholine from lecithin, a type of fat.
Choline can be obtained from a variety of foods and supplements.
Choline may help reduce your risk of heart disease by lowering homocysteine levels. However, the evidence is mixed.
Although choline may lower homocysteine levels, the association of choline intake with heart disease risk is not clear ( 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ).
Elevated levels of homocysteine in your blood are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and strokes ( 26 ).
Therefore, a deficiency of either nutrient can result in an accumulation of homocysteine in your blood.
Folate and choline help convert the amino acid homocysteine to methionine .
Higher intake of choline is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease ( 25 ).
Choline is required to produce acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in regulating memory, mood and intelligence (33).
It's also needed for the process that synthesizes DNA, which is important for brain function and development (34).
Therefore, it's not surprising that choline intake is associated with improvements in brain function.
Large observational studies link choline intake and blood levels to improved brain function, including better memory and processing (35, 36).
Supplementing with 1,000 mg per day led to improved short- and long-term verbal memory in adults aged 50'85 who had poor memory (37).
In a 6-month study, giving phosphatidylcholine to people with early Alzheimer's disease modestly improved memory in one small subgroup (38).
However, other studies on healthy people and those with dementia found no effects on memory (39, 40, 41).
Several animal studies suggest that taking choline supplements during pregnancy may improve fetal brain development (20, 42, 43).
However, there are only a few studies on this in humans.
One observational study of 1,210 pregnant women found that choline intake had no links to mental performance in their children at 3 years of age (44).
Nevertheless, the same study determined that a higher intake during the second trimester was associated with better visual memory scores in the same children at age 7 (45).
In another study, 99 pregnant women took 750 mg of choline per day from 18 weeks of pregnancy to three months after pregnancy. They experienced no benefits for brain function or memory (46).
Some evidence suggests choline may play a role in the development and treatment of certain mental health disorders.
One large observational study linked lower blood levels to a higher risk of anxiety ' but not depression (47).
These levels are also used as an indicator for certain mood disorders, and choline supplements are sometimes used to treat bipolar disorder (48).
One study found that choline therapy improved symptoms of mania in individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder (49).
However, there are currently not many studies available on this.
SummaryCholine may boost memory function, improve brain development and treat anxiety and other mental disorders. However, the evidence is mixed.
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