Why You Should Add Choline to Your Diet

While most people know about the essential nutrients that their body needs like proteins, fiber, calcium, iron and other minerals and vitamins. But you may not have heard of Choline.

This essential nutrient – that is not a vitamin or mineral – was only characterized as required in 1998, according to Healthline. Although your body makes small amounts of choline, you must get the rest of what you need through food.

The best sources of choline are beef and chicken liver, salmon, and egg yolks. But it is also found in soybeans, mushrooms, peanuts, and cruciferous vegetables. People on plant-based diets will have to eat larger amounts of non-animal sources.

Choline helps many body functions, including a healthy brain, nervous system, liver function, metabolism, as well as your cellular structure. While deficiencies of this nutrient are rare, it is also very detrimental to your health. Here are the three main health reasons why you should add choline to your diet.

Could  Improve Mental Health
In today’s stressful world, there is much to feel anxious about. Now scientists from UC Davis Health are looking to see if essential nutrients play a role in your mental health.

A recent analysis of 25 studies was published in the Nature journal Molecular Psychiatry, found that the level of choline was 8 percent lower in people who suffered from anxiety disorders.

“This is the first meta-analysis to show a chemical pattern in the brain in anxiety disorders,” Jason Smucny, co-author and an assistant professor in the in UC Davis Health Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences said in a news release from UC Davis Health. “It suggests nutritional approaches — like appropriate choline supplementation — may help restore brain chemistry and improve outcomes for patients.”

Since anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the US, according to the news release, and affects around 30 percent of adults, this is an important finding.

Contributes to Brain Health
The role choline plays in the brain is absolutely crucial, reported the BBC. The essential nutrient produces acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood, memory, and intelligence. It is also necessary to synthesize DNA which is required for brain function and development.

Since choline can help protect your brain, it is often an ingredient in supplements taken called “nootropics” which is believed to enhance people’s memories and cognition. While this has not been proven, a choline deficiency has been connected to neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinsons.

Essential During Pregnancy
Choline plays an important role in fetal development in many ways. One study about choline intake during pregnancy and child cognition that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows that the supply of choline to the fetus correlates to its cognitive development and the benefits lasts for years. It is even possible that choline intake is linked to ADHD.

A choline deficiency during pregnancy, stressed Healthline could raise the risk of neural tube defects (serious birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord)  in fetuses. In fact, a higher intake of the nutrient around the time of conception was associated with a lower risk of these defects.

Choline deficiency could also raise the risk of other pregnancy complications including premature birth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia. This is important news for anyone who is pregnant or planning to get pregnant.