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Nutrition & supplements

Choline

DECholin

Choline is a water-soluble nutrient officially recognised as essential by the US Institute of Medicine in 1998, which set Adequate Intakes of 425 mg/day for adult women and 550 mg/day for adult men; EFSA set a uniform Adequate Intake of 400 mg/day for adults in 2016. Choline is the backbone of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, a precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and a methyl-group donor via oxidation to betaine. The richest dietary sources are egg yolk, liver, soybeans and beef. In the colon, microbial enzymes convert excess choline and phosphatidylcholine to trimethylamine (TMA), which the liver oxidises to TMAO; elevated TMAO has been associated with cardiovascular risk in observational studies, though causality in humans remains debated.

Sources

  1. Institute of Medicine (US) Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. (1998). Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline (chapter on choline). *National Academies Press*doi:10.17226/6015
  2. Zeisel SH, da Costa KA. (2009). Choline: an essential nutrient for public health. *Nutrition Reviews*doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00246.x
  3. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). (2016). Dietary reference values for choline. *EFSA Journal*doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4484