The Medical Advisor

What is choline?   Choline is is an essential nutrient . It is a component of cell membranes and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is essential for proper brain function, and it helps remove fat from the liver. The body naturally produces some choline and the rest can be obtained from the diet, but some people are not able to produce sufficient choline, particularly postmenopausal women and people with certain genetic traits, putting them at risk for choline deficiency. In addition, women need extra choline when pregnant or nursing. Although a small amount of choline is produced by your liver, the rest must be supplied through your diet. Unfortunately, an estimated 90 percent of the U.S. population are deficient in choline ( PMC 2009 ).   What does choline do?  Getting adequate choline from the diet helps prevent fatty liver (which can lead to reduced liver function) and muscle damage.  During pregnancy , choline taken by women may redu...

You don’t need supplements “when you eat healthy”? Unfortunately, that’s not true. Even if you eat healthy, it’s very difficult to consume 'sufficient levels' of important nutrients to achieve your optimal lifespan potential. Take magnesium for example. Even if you eat a healthy diet, it’s very difficult to get sufficient amounts of magnesium, which would ideally come down to around 400-500 mg per day. You would really have to eat A LOT of vegetables, nuts and legumes to reach that high amount of magnesium. The same for potassium, an important mineral of which you ideally need several grams per day. Or take iodine, which is found in very, very small quantities in most foods. Unless you eat seaweed regularly (seaweed contains lots of iodine). Yes, iodized salt also contains iodine, but most packaged foods don’t use iodized salt, and iodine begins evaporating from iodized salt after the package has been opened. If you use sea salt, it does not contain any iodine. Vitamin D is an...