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“Choline facts”
Interesting facts about choline:
Choline is a water-soluble vitamin, which means that it is easily absorbed in the body (as most of the body is made of water and so are most of the foods eaten), but some of it may be lost in cooking.
Choline is a B-vitamin co-factor, which means it is not quite a vitamin, but works with all of the B-vitamins to help them perform their activities more effectively.
Choline is very important to the brain, as it is used to make one of the neurotransmitters called acetylcholine. This neurotransmitter helps relay nervous impulses to and from the brain.
Choline is also required to form the fatty membrane around brain cells (phospholipids), which is another one if its important responsibilities. This fatty membrane allows the brain cells to sit closely together without getting damaged, provides cushioning for the cells and it also ensures fluid does not leak in or out of the cells unexpectedly.
Animal studies have shown that rats who were given foods rich in choline very early in their life, showed a significant reduction in the severity of any types of memory problems when these rats aged. In this way, choline has a protective effect on brain cognitive functions.
Choline works closely with another B-vitamin co-factor (inositol), together with vitamin H (biotin) to help turn the food that is eaten, into energy for the body, through the process of digestion.
Choline also works closely with folic acid (folate) and vitamin B12 (cobalamin) to help them perform their tasks much more effectively.
Choline also ensures that the liver is kept fat free, by metabolising any fats that may end up on the liver, thus preventing a "fatty liver".
Research shows that people with the health condition Alzheimer's disease have much lower levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain than people without this condition. As choline is required to create acetylcholine, much of the research centres around how effective choline and phosphatidylcholine (choline gets converted into this form in the body before it is used to synthesise acetylcholine) could be in curing, managing or even preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Much research has shown that high levels of the amino acid by-product homocysteine in the body is a major risk factor for heart disease. Choline ensures that any homocysteine in the body is converted to methionine, an amino acid vital for good health, thus reducing risk of heart disease. In this way, choline is vital for maintaining good heart and cardiovascular system health.
Animal research with rats has shown that choline deficiency was associated with significant levels of spontaneous liver cancer (this is liver cancer that was not linked with any other nutritional deficiencies, intake of known carcinogens or toxins) and in fact this choline deficiency also increased the livers' sensitivity to carcinogenic chemicals. The research suggests that the higher levels of liver cancer associated with the choline deficiency may have been caused by the high homocysteine levels (due to low choline levels), low levels of methionine (which detoxifies the liver) and these both increase the damage to the liver cells DNA, which may predispose the liver to developing cancer.
in a study of rats, choline deficiency appeared to be associated with a higher degree of spontaneous liver cancer and increased sensitivity to carcinogenic chemicals. This could be most likely due to choline deficiency causing liver damage and increasing the likelihood of DNA damage through high homocysteine levels
Disclaimer: The advice on this site should be viewed as a general guideline only and it should not replace the advice of a medical professional. Always consult your medical or health care provider to get the advice and care for your particular and individual health, nutrition, diet and fitness circumstances.