A group of researchers at the University of Alberta hopes to draw attention to what has become a forgotten essential nutrient.
Choline,
a nutrient found in foods such as egg yolks, liver and soybeans, does
not appear to be high on anyone’s list of eating priorities, say
Jonathan Curtis, Catherine Field and René Jacobs, and this is something
they want to change.
“It’s
gone off the radar,” said Field, a researcher in nutrition and
metabolism in the Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional
Science. “It’s not being taught in schools as being an important
nutrient, so our dietitians and health professionals don’t think about
it.”
Part
of the reason choline has been overlooked, says Field, is because it is
produced naturally in the liver. But people can’t produce enough to
reap the positive benefits the nutrient offers.
Though
choline is not as heavily studied as other nutrients, the limited human
and animal research published suggests adequate choline intake is
important for fetal development, memory function and prevention of liver
and muscle damage.
“Choline
has many different biological functions related to healthy development
and it plays a role in preventing various diseases,” said Jacobs, a
biochemist who has studied choline metabolism for the past decade.
Despite
its apparent health benefits, few Albertans seem to be getting enough
choline in their diets, the researchers have found.
“Our
preliminary dietary studies clearly show an insufficient choline intake
compared to the recommended levels,” said Curtis, an analytical chemist
and project leader for ongoing choline research at the university.
According
to the Institute of Medicine, women should consume 425 milligrams of
choline per day—the equivalent of almost four whole eggs. This value is
higher for men and pregnant women.
In
an ongoing study looking at the nutrition of pregnant women in Edmonton
and Calgary, few study participants are meeting the adequate intake for
choline and only one of the first 600 women surveyed reported taking a
supplement that contained the nutrient.
This statistic is surprising, says Field, given that 97 per cent of women reported consuming at least one supplement.
“Nobody’s
taking it,” Field said. “If there was information out there on choline,
we’d see a lot more of it in this group we had.”
But
even if people are aware of choline’s health benefits, they will have a
hard time finding a supplement to help them meet the recommended
adequate intakes.
Field
says when she went searching for a supplement containing the type of
choline found in eggs for study purposes, she couldn’t find one in any
Canadian health food store or even on the Internet. She eventually had
to ask Curtis and his lab group to make one.
And
making choline supplements could be next on the agenda if research like
that which is happening at the U of A continues to point to the
importance of choline for health.
In
a continuing animal study, Field and her team are looking at the
effects of choline during lactation—a nutiritionally critical period,
but one not well studied.
“It’s
the most nutritionally stressful period for a woman,” Field said. “Her
nutritional needs are far greater than during pregnancy because she has
to produce milk, an important source of choline, for this growing
infant.”
New
mother rats were fed diets with varying amounts of choline. The amount
they consumed appeared to influence the health of their pups.
“The
pups that were fed from the moms who didn’t have the choline in the
diet survived didn’t grow as well,” Field said. “If there’s a decrease
in growth, or not a normal rate of growth, that has large implications
for later health.”
And
those implications are now under the microscope as researchers examine
the grown pups, looking at immune-system health and brain development.
Current
funding for choline research projects will end in the spring of 2012.
The research crew is applying for more grants this summer so they can
establish appropriate choline intake levels and work towards making a
choline supplement.