By Jimmy Downs

Monday April 22, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Evidence from human and animal studies indicates that choline metabolic pathways may be activated in the development of diseases like cancer.   A new study in PLOs One suggests that both choline and betaine may help reduce the risk of lung cancer in ever-smokers.

The study shows that the highest intake of betaine was associated with 30 percent reduction in the risk of lung cancer among former smokers and 49 percent reduction among current smokers.

The case-control study of 2821 lung cancer cases and 2923 controls did not find such an association between intake of betaine and the risk of lung cancer among never-smokers.

A similar protective effect was also found with choline intake among current smokers and among subjects including both smokers and non-smokers.  But the association was less significant.

The researchers concluded "Our results suggest that choline and betaine intake, especially higher betaine intake, may be protective against lung cancer through mitigating the adverse effect of smoking."

Smoking is a major risk factor for lung cancer.

Reference

Ying J, Rahbar MH, Hallman DM, Hernandez LM, Spitz MR, et al. (2013) Associations between Dietary Intake of Choline and Betaine and Lung Cancer Risk. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54561. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054561