Spotlight on Supplements: Choline
Choline is an essential nutrient—it’s necessary to maintain optimal health. Our bodies depend on choline for many functions, including regulation of memory, mood, liver, and muscle control. It’s needed to support cell structure and fat metabolism. The liver makes small amounts, but most must come from diet or dietary supplement.
There is no Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for choline due to lack of evidence, but the Institutes of Medicine has set adequate intake (AI) values across age groups. The AI for adult men and women is 550 and 425 milligrams per day (mg/d), respectively, although research has shown that choline needs can vary among individuals. For pregnant and breastfeeding women, the AI is 930 mg/d and 550 mg/d, respectively.
A variety of foods contain choline, such as meats, eggs, cruciferous vegetables, some types of beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The richest sources include beef and beef liver, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs. Two large eggs contain 226 mg of choline, about half the daily choline recommended for an adult woman. Adding a serving of fish (71 mg), broccoli (31 mg), and potato (57 mg) to the day more than satisfies the recommended amount.
Though most people don’t reach the daily AI through diet or dietary supplement, choline deficiency is rare in healthy people, but it’s unhealthy. Adequate choline not only helps the body function properly, it may help reduce risk of some health conditions, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, muscle damage, and birth defects. Certain individuals and groups, such as pregnant women, vegans, and vegetarians may use choline supplements to make sure they’re getting enough. It’s important to note that many multivitamins and prenatal vitamins contain little, if any, choline, so a separate choline supplement may be necessary.
Choline dietary supplements are available as choline only, combined with B vitamins, and in some multivitamins. The forms of choline include choline bitartrate, phosphatidylcholine, and lecithin. There’s no research comparing the forms and each form’s absorption by the body. The amount of choline in supplements ranges from 10 mg to 250 mg.
The upper level of choline intake for adults is 3,500 mg/d. Reaching this level would not likely be from diet alone, but from high doses of supplements. Too much choline can cause side effects such as fishy body odor, vomiting, heavy sweating and salivation, and may lead to low blood pressure, and liver damage. It is also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Choline dietary supplements are not known to interact with other medications, but, as before taking any dietary supplement, consult with a medical professional.
© designer491 | Getty Images
Talk with your doctor before adding supplemental choline to your regimen.
The post Spotlight on Supplements: Choline appeared first on University Health News.
