What is choline? The nutrient you've probably never heard of

885. You need choline every day. Nobody can tell you exactly how much. There's no RDA for choline, because there isn't enough data to set one. What we have instead is an estimate — and it traces back largely to a single study that enrolled only men. The numbers for women were scaled down from there, mostly by body size.

Choline is an essential nutrient a lot of people have never heard of. Your liver makes some of it, but not enough, so the rest has to come from food. It's needed to build phosphatidylcholine and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and it plays an outsized role in brain development before birth and in early childhood.

Monica walks through what's known and what isn't:

Why choline gets grouped with the B vitamins even though it isn't oneWhat severe deficiency does to the liver, and what recent research links low intake to in older adultsWhy there's no RDA for choline, and what an Adequate Intake is actually based onHow estrogen changes the picture, and why premenopausal women may need less than men rather than moreWhy pregnancy may call for more than the current recommendation, and why most prenatal vitamins leave choline out or include very littleWhat ACOG advises for women who are pregnant or trying to conceiveWhere choline shows up in food, from egg yolks and liver to soybeans, mushrooms, and cruciferous vegetablesWhy falling short of the Adequate Intake isn't the same as being deficientThe prostate cancer findings, and why a nutrient that supports healthy cell division can behave differently in someone who already has cancerThe TMAO question, and why fish raises TMAO more than eggs or beef doWho might reasonably consider a supplement, and why more isn't better

Choline Content of Common Foods

Nutrition science you can trust, in plain English.

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