Benefits of Choline – Brain Function and Antiaging

Benefits of choline for healthy brain function is something I just became aware of through personal experience. Choline supplements together with food sources of choline will help protect your brain function and allow you to be at your best all through your years!

How I discovered Choline

I had been aware of this nutrient (which is a b-vitamin) for quite a while, but never really appreciated how important it is. Upon experimenting with choline supplements I discovered that I both felt and performed better in all aspects of my life.

I felt the benefits of choline in my workouts, being stronger and having better stamina, and even noticed the positive difference in my social life, being a lot friendlier and more engaging with family and friends.

Choline you see is an essential “precursor” (something that is needed to make another substance) for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which determines your brain processing speed.

Brain speed in turn determines brain age, and how well you function in many areas of intelligence and social interaction. Losing just 3/100 of a second in brain speed will render you unable to even carry on a simple conversation.

Choline supplements help provide the raw material for your brain to make that all important acetylcholine and thus the benefits of choline are something you will really be able to feel in all areas of your daily life.

Choline Deficiency

Choline deficiency will lead to poor brain function, impaired thinking and reasoning and ultimately to Alzheimer’s disease. Since food sources of choline include eggs, the fear of eggs and cholesterol has resulted in a choline deficiency in the average American diet.

The signs of choline deficiency will often show up as a craving for fatty foods, because your body in it’s intuitive wisdom craves the foods that have what it needs to function properly.

Food Sources of Choline

Here is a short list of foods with choline:

Almonds
Beef
Broccoli
Cabbage
Eggs
Fish
Liver
Turkey
Avocado
Pork
Shrimp
Chicken
Cheese

Choline Supplements

Supplemental forms of choline include the following:

Choline bitartrate
Phosphatidyl choline
CHD Choline (choline dehydrogenase)
GPC Choline ((L-alphaglycerylphosphorylcholine)

I have tried several forms but I notice the GPC choline really makes a difference that I can feel. My personal preference thus far is Jarrow Alpha GPC. I generally take one capsule a day, and too on my workout days.

I really don’t know why this form of choline seems to work better, but my guess would be that the fewer metabolic steps from acetylcholine a “precursor” is, the more effective it will be, because it more readily converts to acetylcholine in the body.

To Sum Up

Try and get at least several food sources of choline in your daily diet

Use quality choline supplements in any form listed above that works for you

Benefits of choline are immediate and very noticeable. Make it a point to ensure that your brain has enough of this important nutrient so that your brain function remains strong and healthy as you age.