Importance of choline for pregnant and breast feeding women

by lisaguy on Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Hello everyone, today I want to tell you about a really important nutrient that all pregnant women should know about – Choline.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have recently found that choline plays a critical role in fetal brain development, especially with regions associated with memory. If a mother’s diet is deficient in choline, a baby’s brain will develop too few blood vessels, putting a child at risk of memory problems and learning difficulties.

Choline is an important nutrient related to the B vitamin family. Egg yolks are one of the richest sources of choline, each yolk containing 126mg of choline. Other good sources of choline include soy beans, peanuts, spirulina, broccoli, wheat germ, potatoes, milk and beef.

Choline is essential for healthy brain function as it is found in the myelin sheath that insulates nerve fibers throughout the brain and body, which facilitates rapid transmission of electrical impulses. Choline is also used to produce acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter involved in memory storage.

Pregnancy and lactation is a critical time for brain growth and development, and therefore the need for choline is increased. It is also important for pregnant women to have good choline levels as it helps prevent neural tube defects (together with folate). Maternal reserves of choline can easily become depleted during this time so it is recommended that pregnant and breast feeding mums regularly consume foods rich in this important nutrient.

The recommended dose of choline for pregnant women is around 450mg per day. Because choline is also necessary for milk production, the recommended daily intake for lactating women is 550 mg/day.

Wishing you all good health. Until next time, Lisa.

Tags: AUTHORS, Baby brain development, Breast feeding nutrition, Choline, My Goodness, Pregnancy nutrition