Choline is a vital nutrient, but many people do not consume the recommended intake. Beef and chicken liver, salmon, and eggs are among the richest dietary sources of choline.

Choline was only acknowledged as a required nutrient by the Institute of Medicine in 1998. Although your body makes some choline naturally, you need to get it from your diet to avoid a deficiency.

Many peopleTrusted Source are not meeting the recommended intake for this nutrient.

This article provides everything you need to know about choline, including what it is and why you need it.

Choline is an essentialTrusted Source nutrient. This means it’s required for normal bodily function and human health. Though your liver can make small amounts, you must obtain the majority through your diet.

Choline is an organic, water-soluble compound. It is neither a vitamin nor a mineral.

However, it is often grouped with the vitamin B complex due to its similarities. In fact, this nutrient affects a number of vital bodily functions.

It impacts liver function, healthy brain development, muscle movement, your nervous system and metabolism.

Therefore, adequate amounts are needed for optimal health.

Choline plays an important part in many processes in your body, includingTrusted Source:

  • Cell structure: It is needed to make fats that support the structural integrity of cell membranes.
  • Cell messaging: It is involved in the production of compounds that act as cell messengers.
  • Fat transport and metabolism: It is essential for making a substance required for removing cholesterol from your liver. Inadequate choline may result in fat and cholesterol buildup in your liver.
  • DNA synthesis: Choline and other vitamins, such as B12 and folate, help with a process that’s important for DNA synthesis.
  • A healthy nervous system: This nutrient is required to make acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter. It’s involved in memory, muscle movement, regulating heartbeat and other basic functions.

Due to a lack of available evidence, a Reference Daily Allowance (RDA) for choline has not been determined.

However, the Institute of Medicine has set a valueTrusted Source for adequate intake (AI).

This value is intended to be sufficient for most healthy people, helping them avoid negative consequences of deficiency, such as liver damage.

Nevertheless, requirements differ according to age, gender, and genetic makeup.

In addition, determining choline intake is difficult because its presence in various foods is relatively unknown.

Here are the recommended AI values of choline for different age groups:

  • 0–6 months: 125 mg per day
  • 7–12 months: 150 mg per day
  • 1–3 years: 200 mg per day
  • 4–8 years: 250 mg per day
  • 9–13 years: 375 mg per day
  • 14–18 years: 400 mg per day for females and 550 mg per day for males
  • Adult females: 425 mg per day
  • Adult males: 550 mg per day
  • People breastfeeding: 550 mg per day
  • Pregnant people: 430 mg per day

Choline deficiency can cause harm, especially for your liver.

One small, older studyTrusted Source in 57 adults found that 77% of men, 80% of postmenopausal women and 44% of premenopausal women developed fatty liver and/or muscle damage after going on a choline-deficient diet.

Another older studyTrusted Source noted that when postmenopausal women consumed a diet deficient in choline, 73% developed liver or muscle dysfunction.

However, these symptoms disappeared once they began getting enough choline.

Choline is especially important during pregnancy, as a low intake may raise the riskTrusted Source of neural tube defects in unborn babies.

Another older studyTrusted Source determined that a higher dietary intake around the time of conception was associated with a lower risk of neural tube defects.

In addition, low choline intake may raise your risk of other pregnancy complications. These include preeclampsia, premature birth and low birth weight.

While most Americans do not consume adequate amounts in their diets, actual deficiency is rare.

Choline can be obtained from a variety of foods and supplements.

Food sources

Dietary sources are generally in the form of phosphatidylcholine from lecithin, a type of fat-like molecule found in lecithin.

The richest dietary sources of choline includeTrusted Source:

FoodPortionAmount of choline contained (mg)
Pan-fried beef liver1 slice (3 ounces or 85 grams)356
Hardboiled eggs1 large egg147
Lean braised beef top round3 ounces or 85 grams117
Roasted soybeansHalf a cup107
Roasted chicken breast3 ounces or 85 grams72
Cooked fresh cod3 ounces or 85 grams71
Baked red potatoes with skin1 large potato57
Canned kidney beansHalf a cup45

Additives and supplements

Soy lecithin is a widely used food additive that contains choline. Therefore, it is likely that extra choline is consumed through the diet via food additives.

Some additive and supplemental forms of chlorine include:

  • lecithin
  • phosphatidylcholine
  • choline chloride
  • CDP-choline
  • alpha-GPC
  • betaine

Some sources claim that choline in nutritional supplements may reduce body fat, but there is little to no evidence supporting these claims.

Elevated levels of homocysteine in your blood have been linkedTrusted Source to an increased risk of heart disease and strokes, as well as lower blood pressure. However, evidence is mixed, and more studies are neededTrusted Source to confirm any positive link.

Choline helps convert the amino acid homocysteine to methionine. Therefore, a deficiency of choline can result in an accumulation of homocysteine in your blood.

Choline is requiredTrusted Source to produce acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in regulating memory, mood and intelligence.

It’s also needed for the process that synthesizes DNA, which is important for brain function and development.

Therefore, choline intake is associated with improvements in brain function and cognitive performance.

Observational studies link higher choline intake to better brain functionTrusted Source and a lowerTrusted Source risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

However, further studies on this subject are needed to better understand whether choline supplementation would affect cognitive function.

Consuming too much choline has been associated with unpleasant and potentially harmful side effects.

These includeTrusted Source drops in blood pressure, sweating, fishy body odor, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

The daily upper limit for adults is 3,500 mg per day. This is the highest level of intake that is unlikely to cause harm.

It is very unlikely that someone could ingest this amount from food alone. It would be almost impossible to reach this level without taking supplements in large doses.

Choline is an essential nutrient that is required for optimal health.

It may play a key role in healthy brain function, heart health, liver function and pregnancy.

Although actual deficiency is rare, many people in Western countries are not meeting the recommended intake.

To up your intake, consider eating more choline-rich foods, such as salmon, eggs, broccoli and cauliflower.