Getting Enough Choline?

An Essential Pregnancy Nutrient

By Teri Brown

Choline is a nutrient not many pregnant women have heard of, yet its potential influences on the unborn child are far reaching. Even mothers who consider themselves to be very knowledgeable on the subject of prenatal nutrition have heard very little about choline.

Alyson English from Baton Rouge, La., was one of those mothers. "I had a baby about a year ago, and I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable and up-to-date, and off the top of my head, I can't think of ever hearing anyone mention choline before in pregnancy," English says.

Dr. Greg Paul, the director the Solae Company's Global Health and Nutrition Research center, says choline is an essential nutrient found in every cell of our body.

According to Dr. Paul, choline was first discovered in 1862, but it wasn't until 1998 that the National Academy of Sciences designated choline as an essential nutrient and suggested daily intakes for various population groups. In 2002, The Solae Company successfully petitioned the FDA for use of a nutrient content claim to identify foods as "good" or "excellent" sources of choline.

"Choline exists primarily in nature as lecithin," Dr. Paul says. "Processed sources include choline salts like choline chloride and choline bitartrate. Choline salts are not as available to the body compared to choline from soy lecithin."

Basically, choline is an essential amino acid that humans need for a number of important functions in the body. It comes largely from dietary sources, but is also made in small quantities by the body in the liver.

Choline is important for the structural integrity of our cell membranes, the breakdown and utilization of fat for energy and cholesterol transport and elimination from the body, Dr. Paul says. Choline is significant for communicating information from nerve to nerve and also plays an important role in male and female fertility. Also crucial is how it affectsthe unborn child's brain.

"Animal studies show that choline is essential for development of the memory center in the brain," Dr. Paul says. "Choline helps increase the number of cells in the memory center during a critical period of brain development. Animals whose mothers were fed supplemental choline scored better on memory tasks throughout their entire lifetime compared to animals born to mothers who were choline deficient. Choline deficiency also increases the risk for neural tube defects, especially in women who do not consume enough folate."

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