Getting Enough Choline?

An Essential Pregnancy Nutrient

By Teri Brown

Dr. Randy Fink, a Miami, Fla., OB/GYN and Fellow with theAmerican Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, says that during pregnancy, choline stores can be depleted.

"Prenatal vitamins contain lecithin, which is a partially absorbable form of choline, but it may not represent an adequate enough daily amount," Dr. Fink says. "Recently, more attention has been paid to choline in pregnancy, and some see it as a miracle brain drug for unborn babies; some say it "supercharges the brain" of the unborn fetus. This arises from data in laboratory animals. Pregnant rats that were given extra doses of choline had offspring that learned more efficiently and had better memory function. Those that were deprived on choline had poorer memory capacity. The changes both for better and for worse seemed to be lifelong."

The recommended daily choline intake for pregnant women is 450 milligrams per day compared to 425 milligrams for non-pregnant women. During lactation, the daily choline requirement increases to 550 milligrams per day because human milk contains a substantial amount of choline.

Choline can be found in eggs, chicken liver, beef liver, pork loin, roasted chicken, ground beef, shrimp, soybeans and wheat germ. Choline can also be found in potatoes, lentils, cauliflower, oats, sesame seeds and flax seeds and, in lower amounts, in some leafy green vegetables.

Dr. Paul says it's important to understand that all choline sources are not equal. "Research shows that about 60 percent of choline salts (processed choline) are predominately broken down in the gut to substances that can give off a fishy odor," he says. "On the other hand, more than 80 percent of ingested choline from soy lecithin is available to the body, making it a more bioavailable source of choline."

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