Thursday Oct 17, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study published in Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine suggests that taking choline supplements may help improve cognitive function.  

M.V. Guseva from M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and colleagues conducted the study and found that choline supplementation improves brain cognitive function in rats that suffered moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury.

The study optimized choline supplementation to render a best outcome for the animals with their brain injury.

Early studies by the researchers have already found that rats with traumatic brain injury eating choline supplemented (2%) diet before and after the brain injury had a better cognitive function than those that did not eat the choline supplemented diet.

Choline is found in foods including sunflower lecithin syrup, raw beef liver, soy lecithin, wheat germ, cod fish, cauliflower, milk, chicken, tofu, uncooked amaranth, brewer's yeast, quinoa, soybeans, egg, spinach, kidney beans, peanuts, almonds, and cooked brown rice.

Choline supplements can be used to treat liver disorders, hepatitis, glaucoma, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disorder and other brain disorders.

Adequate Intake (AI) for Choline for adult men is 550 mg per day and for adult women is 425 mg per day. (DL)