From The Article In Wikipedia... Jan 22, 2009
Choline is an organic compound, classified as a water-soluble essential nutrient and usually grouped within the Vitamin B complex.
This natural amine is found in the lipids that make up cell membranes and in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Adequate intakes (AI) for this micronutrient of between 425 to 550 milligrams daily, for adults, have been established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
The foods richest in phosphatidylcholine — the major delivery form of choline — are egg yolks, soy and cooked beef, chicken;. veal and turkey livers.
Many foods contain trace amounts of free choline, even iceberg lettuce. To what extent these trace forms are usable by human digestion is still debated.
In 2004, the USDA released its first database of the choline content in common foods.
The most often available choline dietary supplement is lecithin, derived from soy or egg yolks, often used as a food additive.
Phosphatidylcholine is also available as a supplement, in pill or powder form.
Supplementary choline is also available as choline chloride, which comes as a liquid due to its hydrophilic properties.
Although the human body can make some choline it is generally recognized that it is important to get dietary choline as well.
Although most foods have at least a little choline, some people may have to pay more close attention to get enough in their diets, particularly if they do not eat many whole eggs.
It is well established that supplements of methyl group transfer vitamins B6, B12, folic acid reduce the blood titer of homocysteine and prevent heart disease.
Choline is a necessary source of methyl groups for methyl group transfer.
Supplements of lecithin/choline by Central Soya scientists reduced heart disease in laboratory studies.
Choline supplements are often taken as a form of 'smart drug' or nootropic, due to the role that the neurotransmitter acetylcholine plays in various cognition systems within the brain.
Choline is a chemical precursor or "building block" needed to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, andresearch suggests that memory, intelligence and mood are mediated at least in part by acetylcholine metabolism in the brain.
The compound's quaternary amine renders it lipid insoluble which might suggest it would be unable to cross the blood-brain barrier.
However, despite choline's lipid insolubility, a choline transporter exists that allows transport across the blood-brain barrier.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that infant formula not made from cow's milk be supplemented with choline.
Acetylcholine precursors such as choline work synergistically with Galantamine to help improve memory and the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease (AD).
For those of you who are actually interested in the pathway of Choline here it is...
Choline metabolism. (Choline is green box at left, second from the bottom.) *
* Read The Article in Wikipedia, Jan 22, 2009
** Read an article in Wikipedia with references and links Jan 11, 2012
Choline is one of the necessary B Vitamins that aids in: liver function; lecithin formation; fat and cholesterol metabolism; hormone production; brain and memory function; Parkinson's Disease; tardive dyskinesia; proper transmission of nerve impulses; and gallbladder regulation.
SOURCES: whole grain cereals, soybeans, legumes, meat, milk, egg yolks, lecithin.
Most common signs of choline deficiencies are fatty liver and hemorrhagic kidney necrosis. Dietary intake of a choline full diet can reduce the severity of the deficiency.
A study of this on animals has created some controversy due to the inconsistency in dietary modifying factors.
Choline deficiency in animals compromises renal function.
Choline low diets can also cause infertility, growth impairment, bone abnormalities, and hypertension.
The Vitamin B Complex
....and as you will find in any nutritional healing book as well as Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A Balch, the B Vitamins are necessary for the maintenance of certain physiological functions and systems including, the nerves, eyes, hair, skin, mouth, liver, proper brain function and healthy gastrointestinal muscle tone.
The entire complex of B vitamins is necessary for energy production. They are called coenzymes because they help the chemical reactions of enzymes with many other substances.
B-complex vitamins are necessary for the relief of anxiety and depression.
Elderly people need an adequate intake of the B vitamins as well as other vitamins because as we age we do not properly absorb nutrients.
There have been cases of elderly people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease whose symptoms were relieved with the proper intake of Vitamin B-12 plus the B-Complex to relieve their depletion of these vitamins.
The B vitamins work properly as a team but one can take more of some than others.
A deficiency in one B vitamin often indicates a deficiency in another.
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Although the B vitamins work in concert with each other, they will be discussed individually.
Choline deficiency is considered to both initiate and promote cancer activities.
Choline is used in the treatment of liver disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and bipolar disorder.
Choline has also been proven to have a positive effect on those suffering from alcoholism.
Sincerely, Mother
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Soy 
Legumes 
Milk 
Chicken 
Cooked Beef 
