Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 We know that choline—the prime constituent of phosphatidylcholine—is essential for normal liver function, and phos choline is an excellent "delivery system" for choline. In one double-blind study in England, chronic active hepatitis C patients were treated with 3 g of phos choline each day; they had significantly reduced symptoms compared to the control subjects. Many researchers have postulated that phosphatidylcholine has an ability to repair the membranes of liver cells. |
Jack Challem
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 What else you should know: choline is a B vitamin that plays a major and usually underrecognized role in mood and brain function. It is a component of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is necessary to thinking and memory. Animal experiments have shown that prenatal choline supplements improve the brain function of offspring.
Choline is also part of phosphatidylcholine, a type of fat needed by brain cells. Lecithin, a supplement derived from soybeans, is about one-fourth phosphatidylcholine. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| We know that choline—the prime constituent of phosphatidylcholine—is essential for normal liver function, and phos choline is an excellent "delivery system" for choline. In one double-blind study in England, chronic active hepatitis C patients were treated with 3 g of phos choline each day; they had significantly reduced symptoms compared to the control subjects. Many researchers have postulated that phosphatidylcholine has an ability to repair the membranes of liver cells. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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 Lecithin is a good source of choline and contains 13 percent choline. Commercially available lecithin products may only contain 3-12 percent of choline because they often contain impure lecithin. The tolerable upper intake level for choline is 3.5 grams per day for adults. Very high levels of choline can disturb the neurotransmitter balance in the brain.
L-CARNITINE
L-carnitine is an essential nutrient that is also synthesized in well-nourished bodies. L-carnitine is a derivative of the essential amino acid lysine. |
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN
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 Eggs, milk and soy products are the leading dietary sources of choline, according to recent research conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Duke University.1921
LEC THAT'S MORE—PHOSPHATIDYL choline (PC)
Because many lecithin products sold in health food stores contain less than 30 percent choline, many health professionals prefer to use the more potent phosphatidylcholine (PC) or its even more powerful derivative drug glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC). |
Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
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 Of the enzymes important to acetylcholine production, attention has centered on choline acetyltransferase (which is also dramatically diminished in Alzheimer's disease), which is inhibited by aluminum. Also decreased is the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down acetylcholine.202 In severe cases, these enzymes can be reduced as much as 75-95 percent in selected parts of the brain.
While acetylcholine has gotten most of the attention in Alzheimer's dementia, studies have noted that several other neurotransmitters are also diminished, including dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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| Without choline to make lecithin, the liver cannot rid itself of fats and cholesterol. This can lead to a condition known as "fatty liver." choline is needed for liver health and liver damage results from deficiency.
Some choline is oxidized in the body to a metabolite known as betaine. Betaine supplies methyl groups for various methylation reactions. One of these methylation reactions results in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine.
No RDA has been set for choline, but the adequate daily intake (AI) has been set at 550 mg for men and 425 mg for women. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 The utilization of choline in the body depends on several other nutrients, principally vitamin B12, folic acid, and the amino acid L-carnitine.
Choline may be sold under the name of phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylinositol. Use whichever is easier for you to find. Take between 1000 and 3000 mg. daily.
L-Carnitine
The body uses L-carnitine to produce the enzyme acetyl-L-carnitine transferase, which boosts choline metabolism and releases acetylcholine in the brain. Good food sources of choline include eggs, soybeans, cabbage, peanuts, and cauliflower. Take up to 3 mg. of choline daily. |
James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 Phosphatidylcholine (PC)
Description: Phosphatidylcholine is an extract from lecithin that supplies a form of choline that is used as a building block for cell walls and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Lecithin contains anywhere from 10 to 20 percent phosphatidylcholine. PC is important for proper brain and neurological function and supports healthy liver detoxification.
Indications: Alzheimer's disease Bipolar disorder Hepatitis High cholesterol
Liver cirrhosis and detoxification
Precautions: Digestive upset, such as diarrhea or nausea, may occur with high dosages. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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| This can lead to a condition known as "fatty liver." choline is needed for liver health and liver damage results from deficiency.
Some choline is oxidized in the body to a metabolite known as betaine. Betaine supplies methyl groups for various methylation reactions. One of these methylation reactions results in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine.
No RDA has been set for choline, but the adequate daily intake (AI) has been set at 550 mg for men and 425 mg for women. Average dietary intake is thought to be adequate. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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 But it can reveal that he's into vitamin supplements and is taking a lot of choline, a type of B vitamin that helps metabolize fat. Or it might mean he has a liver disorder, which can prevent the breakdown of choline.
But fishy-smelling sweat could also signal a hereditary metabolic disorder aptly named fish odor syndrome (aka trimethylaminuria). People with this disorder can't metabolize trimethylamine, which is found in choline-rich foods such as eggs, liver, beef, and soy. Their urine and breath also emit a foul, fishy odor. (See Chapter 5 and Smelly Urine, above. |
Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
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 Pure phosphatidylcholine is thought to improve memory by increasing the availability of choline for the production of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. While acetylcholine has many functions in the brain as a neurotransmitter it does play a major role in various aspects of memory.
Several experiments have shown that even in normal individuals, phosphatidylcholine can improve memory.35 Experiments using this product to treat Alzheimer's patients has met with some minor success. The results are better when lecithin is combined with choline. |
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN
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| LEC THAT'S MORE—PHOSPHATIDYL choline (PC)
Because many lecithin products sold in health food stores contain less than 30 percent choline, many health professionals prefer to use the more potent phosphatidylcholine (PC) or its even more powerful derivative drug glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC). |
Marshall Editions
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 Take 500 mg of choline, sold as plain choline or phosphatidylcholine, three times a day. To treat chronic acid reflux, take this in combination with 1,000 mg of pantothenic acid twice a day and 500 mg of thiamine first think in the morning for one month to see if symptoms resolve. Digestive enzymes, such as lipases, proteases, and amylases, help to speed the digestive process, often helping eliminate acid reflux altogether. Take two to three capsules with every meal. You can also take papaya enzyme as a chewable capsule after each meal. |
Joerg Gruenwald, Ph.D.
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 In part the resynthesized phosphatidylcholine is processed in the liver to form fatty acids, choline, and glycerine-3-phosphate. In plasma, phosphatidylcholine and other phosphoglycerides are tightly bound to lipoproteins and/or albumin.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
¦ Raised levels of cholesterol
Soybean is used for less severe forms of hypercholesterolemia, improvement of subjective complaints, such as loss of appetite and feeling of pressure in the liver, in toxic/ nutritional liver disease and chronic hepatitis. |
Jack Challem
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| The B vitamin choline lies at the core of this neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine is formed in a chemical reaction with the B vitamin pantothenic acid. Eggs and lecithin are excellent sources of choline.
Dopamine
What it does. Dopamine helps people to focus their attention and enjoy pleasurable physical experiences. It is also involved with physical movement, and people with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disease, have low dopamine levels. In addition, low levels of dopamine are often found in people with sleep disorders, apathy, depression, and increased sensitivity to pain. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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| Commercially available lecithin products may only contain 3-12 percent of choline because they often contain impure lecithin. The tolerable upper intake level for choline is 3.5 grams per day for adults. Very high levels of choline can disturb the neurotransmitter balance in the brain.
L-CARNITINE
L-carnitine is an essential nutrient that is also synthesized in well-nourished bodies. L-carnitine is a derivative of the essential amino acid lysine. L-carnitine was named after meat (carnus) because it was first isolated from meat in 1905. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
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 After those first mice experiments, other scientists at Duke showed that they could supercharge the brains of mice simply by adding a touch of choline to a pregnant mouse's diet. The choline triggered a methylation pattern that turned off the gene that normally acted to limit cell division in the memory center of the brain. With the cell division governor turned off, these mice started producing memory cells in high gear—and sure enough, they developed mighty mouse memories. Their neurons fired more rapidly and could fire more often. |
Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman
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 According to Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw of the Life Extension Newsletter, arginine and ornithine both cause hGH release via the brain's cholinergic nervous system, "the system that uses acetylcholine—made in the brain from the nutrient choline with the help of the cofactor vitamin B5—to transmit information between nerve cells." Acetylcholine is a necessary ingredient for the hGH releasers to be effective. Therefore, Pearson and Shaw recommend taking choline and B5 supplements in conjunction with arginine and ornithine. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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| The tolerable upper intake level for choline is 3.5 grams per day for adults. Very high levels of choline can disturb the neurotransmitter balance in the brain.
L-CARNITINE
L-carnitine is an essential nutrient that is also synthesized in well-nourished bodies. L-carnitine is a derivative of the essential amino acid lysine. L-carnitine was named after meat (carnus) because it was first isolated from meat in 1905. Although it is not officially a vitamin, carnitine has been called vitamin By.
L-carnitine is important in energy metabolism. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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| Researchers suspect that choline supplements can help to retard the effects of normal aging on the brain from mid-life on. choline is utilized by the brain to make acetylcholine, which is involved in memory function, and it may also keep nerve cell membranes, including the synapses (the communication points between brain cells) intact, which enables brain cells to "talk" to each other and share information.
As we age, we begin to produce less acetylcholine, or the acetylcholine that we do produce is less efficient, which may be why many older people become forgetful. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 Choline is found in grains, legumes, and egg yolks and especially in lecithin. A superior form of lecithin made with high levels of phosphatidylcholine is used in Germany for many liver disorders, including chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis.
The brain uses acetylcholine for many processes. This neurotransmitter is very important for memory as well as movement, coordination, and stamina via action on the skeletal muscles and the heart.
"Cholinergic nerve synapses" are those that release and respond to the acetylcholine. |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
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 You add the lecithin so you don't have to give as much choline, because choline tends to lead to a very fishy smell in the body. It is presumed that this brings a balance back, or reestablishes the proper chemical balance in the brain to relieve the abnormal movements.
"If the chemical pathways in the brain were altered by the use of Haldol and other drugs, there may have been a disturbance of the intricate balance of neurochemicals necessary to coordinate smooth movements. |
Byron J. Richards
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 They contain the highest amount of choline of any commonly eaten food. choline acts like a fat solvent in the blood, helping to keep fat from sticking together and clogging vital organs. Furthermore, choline makes betaine in metabolism, which helps protect against cholesterol forming plaque in the arteries. Betaine helps clear homocysteine, a known risk factor for hardening of the arteries.
Milk also has a bad name. True enough, some people are allergic to milk or have lactose intolerance, or they just do not like milk. |
Carl C. Pfeiffer
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 Memory boosters
Other memory boosters include B vitamins, especially choline. This nutrient probably works by boosting the levels of acetylcholine, an important nerve transmitter substance. In studies at the Palo Alto Hospital in California, drugs which boost acetylcholine induced "supermemories." choline on its own is effective in improving short-term and long-term memory, but the doses have to be high (10 grams a day), and the effects are not long lasting. Pantothenic acid, B5, is also important in acetylcholine synthesis. |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
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| You add the lecithin so you don't have to give as much choline, because choline tends to lead to a very fishy smell in the body. It is presumed that this brings a balance back, or reestablishes the proper chemical balance in the brain to relieve the abnormal movements.
"If the chemical pathways in the brain were altered by the use of Haldol and other drugs, there may have been a disturbance of the intricate balance of neurochemicals necessary to coordinate smooth movements. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| In one double-blind study in England, chronic active hepatitis C patients were treated with 3 g of phos choline each day; they had significantly reduced symptoms compared to the control subjects. Many researchers have postulated that phosphatidylcholine has an ability to repair the membranes of liver cells.
You can die of old age with your hepatitis C (or even better, without it, if you're one of the lucky people who can clear it on your own). You don't have to die from it.
That's what I plan to do. I hope you do, too. |
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