| published in: Taste For Life March, 2002 | |
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Choline Is The "newest vitamin" By Marcia Zimmerman, M.Ed., C.N. |
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Discovered more than a century ago, choline has only recently been recognized as an essential vitamin, capturing the attention of anti-aging experts who find it may stall or even reverse age-related cognitive-decline. "There is no doubt that cells require choline," says Steven H. Zeisel, MD, PhD, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Medical School, since cells die without this micronutrient.
Still, it wasn't until the year 2000 that the National Academy of Sciences established choline as an essential B-vitamin and estimated adequate daily intakes of 550 mg for men and 425 mg for women. In September 2001 choline received the first nutrient content claim under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Modernization Act, which streamlines nutrient claims in 120 days. "Today, health and nutrition experts recognize that nutrients often do more than just prevent deficiency diseases," Dr. Zeisel adds. "Some nutrients also can reduce the risk of chronic disease and make us healthier." WHY THE FUSS OVER CHOLINE? The brain is extremely efficient at taking free choline from the blood - perhaps because this is such a critical micronutrient. For example, choline is so important to development of the infant brain that it's rapidly absorbed from the blood. Rat studies show two sensitive periods of development in which choline supplementation produces lifelong improvement in spatial memory, as well as significant changes in the hippocampus. "Are these findings in rats likely to be true in humans?" Dr. Zeisel asks, suggesting the the need for additional research. In the 1970's and'80's researchers at MIT discovered that choline accelerates the synthesis and release of acetylcholine, the major central nervous system neurotransmitter. "The brain depends upon choline and lecithin to develop memory centers normally," Dr. Zeisel explains. "Choline also is essential for making acetylcholine, a messenger chemical that's important in sending messages from one nerve cell to another." Acetylcholine-sensitive, or cholinergic, neurons are linked to memory functions including arousal, learning, motor activity, and REM sleep. Acetylcholine interacts with three other major neurotransmitters: serotonin (responsible for calming and sleep), dopamine (for learning and movement), and norepinephrine (attention and alertness). In addition to its conversion into acetylcholine, choline is necessary for making the fatty components of the membranes that encase cells. In the brain and nerves, these choline-containing fats (phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin) anchor the sending and receiving devices for neurotransmitters. An Antidote for Stress The so-called brain "glitches" that most of us experience can often be traced to stress. We are all familiar with heading off in a hurry to do something to arrive at our destination having forgotten what needs to be done. Most of us know the remedy: When we return to the spot where the decision to act was made and take a deep breath (allowing acetylcholine to flood our brain cells), we are likely to recall our task. Scientists believe that choline deficiency may change the way the brain and adrenal glands respond to stress. Animal studies show impaired hormonal response to stress when subjects' diets lacked choline. Choline supplementation increases acetylcholine synthesis and release in the brain, adrenal glands, muscles, and heart - all of which helps to counteract the many negative effects of stress on the body.
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Anti-aging Benefits As humans age, the uptake of choline becomes less efficient, causing diminished levels of acetylcholine. Some experts consider this cholinergic dysfunction a major factor in the reduced cognitive function that is often experienced in later years. Patients with Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline (exhibiting extreme forgetfulness and cantankerous behavior, among other symptoms) have been found to be markedly deficient in acetylcholine. Devastating conditions not only for those who suffer from them but also for their family members, Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, both senile (occurring in old age) and presenile (occurring before old age) affect approximately 5 percent of people over the age of 65. Scientists now believe that both conditions involve dysfunction of cholinergic receptors. Typically, this results in loss of short-term memory in the initial stages of the disease and then progresses to loss of long-term memory and changes in behavior. One strategy that scientists suggest for reducing the cognitive decline of dementia is choline supplementation. SOURCES OF CHOLINE Choline is processed in the liver, making this organ a major dietary source. Other foods that appear high in choline include egg yolks, steak, soy, and cauliflower. A standard ingredient in health drinks for many years, soy lecithin provides approximately 13 percent choline by weight, along with linoleic acid and inositol. Found in the protective sheaths around brain cells and in nerve cells, lecithin improves brain function and helps prevent cardiovascular disease. Particularly useful for older adults, lecithin granules can be sprinkled on cereal and added to bread or juice. Or take lecithin in capsule form before meals. More recently, the phosphatidylcholine (PC) fraction of lecithin has been concentrated in a supplement. Found to benefit depression, memory loss, and neurological disorder, this form of choline helps to break down fats, preventing hardening of the arteries from fatty plaques. However, the most exciting anti-aging and anti-stress form of choline may be glycerophosphocholine (GPC). A New Cognition Enhancer GPC has several advantages. This form of choline is rapidly absorbed from the intestines, freeing choline for transport to the brain. As a "quick supply" of choline, GPC passes the highly restrictive blood-brain barrier, is well tolerated in high doses, and offers fast action with longer lasting effects. Several studies have shown supplementation with GPC (1,200 mg per day) to be highly effective in enhancing cognitive function and growth hormone release in healthy people, which may make it one of the most useful anti-aging remedies available. Various disorders of the brain also respond well to supplementation with GPC. Healthy human subjects, given GPC and then given a drug that induces amnesia, did not have the memory impairment seen in those who were not pretreated with this form of choline. More than 2,000 people 45 years and older who had suffered either acute strokes (cerebral ischemic attacks) or mild strokes (transient ischemic attacks, or TIA's) participated in one study to see if GPC could alleviate the impaired cognitive function resulting from these attacks. Clinical assessments showed that GPC significantly affected cognitive recovery from acute stroke or TIA. Administered to more than 3,000 people in clinical studies, GPC has been associated with minor, transient side effects in only 1 percent of subjects. Side effects include diarrhea, headache, dizziness, nausea or heartburn, insomnia, restlessness, and skin rashes. As either a "standalone" or a "lead" ingredient, GPC is likely to be found in the latest brain-enhancing and anti-aging formulations.
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Copyright©, 2001 by The Zimmerman Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. |
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