http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050625/timeline.asp

A new vitamin that is essential for liver function and that may play
an important role in controlling diabetes was described at the meeting
of the American and Canadian Medical Associations by one of its
discoverers, Dr. C.H. Best of Toronto, codiscoverer of insulin, the
life-saving remedy for diabetes.
The new vitamin has a real name, choline, instead of a letter, as do
most other members of the vitamin family. It is found in many foods,
but the best sources are meat, egg yolk, and yeast.

Dr. M. Hershey and Miss M.E. Huntsman, of the University of Toronto,
were responsible for many of the fundamental observations that led up
to the discovery of the significance of choline, Dr. Best stated.

Lack of this vitamin causes the serious condition of fatty liver, Dr.
Best said. When the liver becomes fatty, it fails to make sugar or
handle bile or do many of the things it should do, he explained.

The vitamin was discovered in the course of insulin investigations.
Dogs that had no pancreas, the insulin-secreting organ, failed to live
for more than a few months, even when given insulin injections. When
they were fed minced pancreas, in addition to the insulin, they lived
for years.

However, chemical studies of the pancreas showed that in addition to
producing insulin and a digestive ferment, this organ contained
choline, and that it was the choline in the diet of minced pancreas
that kept the dogs alive after they had lost their own pancreases.

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<<snip>>
Lecithin may therefore be the method of choice for
accelerating acetylcholine synthesis
<<snip>>

Lancet. 1977 Jul 9;2(8028):68-9. Related Articles, Links

Lecithin consumption raises serum-free-choline levels.

Wurtman RJ, Hirsch MJ, Growdon JH.

Consumption of choline by rats sequentially increases serum-choline,
brain-choline, and brain-acetylcholine concentrations. In man
consumption of choline increases in levels in the serum and
cerebrospinal fluid; its administration is an effective way of
treating tardive dyskinesia.
We found that oral lecithin is considerably more
effective in raising human serum-choline levels than an equivalent
quantity of choline chloride. 30 minutes after ingestion of choline
chloride (2-3 g free base), serum-choline levels rose by 86% and
returned to normal values within 4 hours; 1 hour after lecithin
ingestion, these levels rose by 265% and remained significantly
raised for 12 hours.
Lecithin may therefore be the method of choice for
accelerating acetylcholine synthesis by increasing the availability
of choline, its precursor in the blood.

PMID: 69151 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=72010

New Study Indicates That People May Need More Dietary Choline Than
Previously Thought

Article Date: 30 May 2007 - 9:00 PDT

A new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition indicates that the current recommended Adequate
Intake (AI) for choline may, in fact, be inadequate for some people.1
Choline is an essential nutrient for normal functioning of all cells,
including those involved with liver metabolism, brain and nerve
function, memory, and the transportation of nutrients throughout the
body.

In this depletion-repletion study, 57 adult subjects (26 men, 16
premenopausal women and 15 postmenopausal women) were fed a diet
containing 550 mg of choline for 10 days, then fed less than 50 mg a
day of choline for up to 42 days.

* When deprived of the nutrient, 77 percent of men, 80 percent of
postmenopausal women and 44 percent of premenopausal women developed
fatty liver or muscle damage.

* Six men (23 percent) developed these signs while consuming the
initial 550 mg of daily choline, even though 550 mg is the current AI
for men.

* Nineteen percent of the subjects required as high as 825 mg of
daily
choline to prevent or reverse the organ dysfunction associated with
the low-choline diet, an amount significantly higher than the current
AI.

* For all participants, blood homocysteine levels increased during
choline depletion. Other studies have associated high homocysteine
levels with heart disease.

"These study results clearly indicate that some adults, notably men
and post-menopausal women, need more choline than is recommended by
the current AI," says study co-author Kerry-Ann da Costa, PhD, a
research assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. "We hope these findings will aid the Institute of
Medicine in refining the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) of this
nutrient."

This study is the most complete study of choline requirements to date
and is the first to include women. Its division of participants into
two groups - one receiving dietary supplementation of folic acid and
one not - also determined that susceptibility to choline deficiency
was not altered by folic acid supplementation.

Closing the Choline Gap

Additional research on the population demonstrated that choline
intake
is far below the current AI, a concern that intakes may be too low to
meet the needs of many individuals.

* Research conducted at Iowa State University found that only 10
percent or less of older children, men, women and pregnant women in
America get the AI of choline each day.2

* A separate study presented this month at the National Nutrient Data
Bank Conference found that choline intake decreases with age and that
adults ages 71 and older consume an average of about 264 milligrams
per day - roughly half of the AI for choline.3

Eggs, beef liver, chicken liver and wheat germ are considered
excellent sources of choline. Two eggs contain 280 milligrams of
choline, half the recommended daily supply.

"Eggs are a practical food that can help people get the choline they
need, along with several other nutrients, at just 75 calories an
egg,"
says registered dietitian Maye Musk. "Choline is actually found in
the
yolk of the egg, so people who consistently only eat egg whites may
be
missing out on a key nutrient opportunity."

Why Choline Matters

The importance of dietary choline has been well-established.

* A 2004 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology linked poor
dietary choline to adverse outcomes during pregnancy, including a
four-
fold increased risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect. 4 * A
research review published in the Annual Reviews of Nutrition suggests
that choline plays an important role in normal fetal development,
particularly during the stages that involve knowledge acquirement and
life-long memory function. 5

###

For more information, on the benefits of choline for pregnant women,
visit http://www.pregnancyfoodguide.org/ or http://www.enc-online.org/.

About the American Egg Board (AEB)

AEB is the U.S. egg producer's link to the consumer in communicating
the value of 'the incredible edible egg' and is funded from a
national
legislative checkoff on all egg production from companies with
greater
than 75,000 layers in the continental United States. The board
consists of 18 members and 18 alternates from all regions of the
country who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The AEB
staff carries out the programs under the board direction. AEB is
located in Park Ridge, Ill. Visit http://www.aeb.org/ for more
information.

About the Egg Nutrition Center (ENC)

ENC was established in 1979 for the purpose of providing commercial
egg producers and processors, health promotion agencies, and
consumers
with a resource for scientifically accurate information on egg
nutrition and the role of eggs in the health and nutrition of the
American diet. The center exists under a cooperative agreement
between
the American Egg Board (AEB) and United Egg Producers (UEP). ENC is
located in Washington, DC. Visit http://www.enc-online.org/ for more
information.

1 Fischer LM, et al. Sex and menopausal status influence human
dietary
requirements for the nutrient choline. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;
85:1275-85.

2 Jensen HH, et al. Choline in the diets of the US population:
NHANES,
2003-2004, Iowa State University (presented at Experimental Biology
2007, Washington DC)

3 Keast DR, Food sources of choline in the diets of US older adults:
NHANES, 1999-2004." (presented at the 31st National Nutrient Databank
Conference, Washington DC) Food sources of choline in the diets of US
older adults: NHANES, 1999-2004.

4Shaw GM, et al. Periconceptional dietary intake of choline and
betaine and neural tube defects in offspring. Am J Epid 2004; 160(2):
102-109.

5Zeisel SH. Choline:critical role during fetal development and
dietary
requirements in adults. Annu Rev Nutr, 2006; 26:229-50.

Contact: Egg Nutrition Media Hotline
Edelman Public Relations

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