Choline is an essential nutrient the body uses to build cell membranes and to make acetylcholine, a brain messenger involved in memory, mood and muscle control. The liver makes some, but not enough, so it also has to come from food; as a supplement it is taken to cover low intake, often in pregnancy, and for memory.
Also known as: choline bitartrate, phosphatidylcholine, lecithin.
There is no RDA. ODS lists an Adequate Intake of 550 mg a day for men and 425 mg for women (450 mg in pregnancy, 550 mg while breastfeeding). The Tolerable Upper Intake Level for adults is 3,500 mg a day from food and supplements. Supplements typically contain 10 to 250 mg, as choline bitartrate, phosphatidylcholine or lecithin.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. ODS says about 90% to 95% of pregnant women get less choline than the Adequate Intake, and prenatal supplements typically contain little if any.
On memory, ODS says some small trials found that choline supplements improved thinking in adults, but a 2015 review of 13 studies found no clear improvement in healthy adults, and a Cochrane review found no clear benefit of lecithin for Alzheimer's disease or dementia in Parkinson's disease. Studies of choline intake and heart disease are mixed.
Safety, per ODS: high intakes are linked to a fishy body odor, vomiting, heavy sweating and salivation, low blood pressure and liver toxicity. Choline also raises production of TMAO, a substance linked to higher heart disease risk, in a dose-dependent way. The upper limit is based on low blood pressure and fishy body odor. ODS says choline has no known clinically relevant interactions with medicines.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for choline that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. ODS says free choline is absorbed in the small intestine and stored in the liver, while some fat-soluble forms travel through the lymph system instead.
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