B Vitamins Generally, and Choline in Particular

[Hortensia]

Ladies,

This is an interesting read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choline

especially if you scroll down to the section on choline in utero and in foetal development.

Choline is a B vitamin and it is not heard about as often as folic acid for prevention of neural tube defects, although it is also crucially important for fertility and for brain/nervous system development. Apparently, deficiency is fairly common in those eating a typical western diet.

If nothing else, this underlines the importance of taking a good B complex vitamin rather than folic acid on its own, as all the B vitamins interact and work in synergy.

Need for choline increases hugely during pregnancy and lactation - apparently amniotic fluid and the placenta have a large concentration of choline as it is so important for the baby's brain and nervous system development.

Good dietary sources include eggs, fish, chicken, milk, soybeans, cauliflower, spinach, wheatgerm, tofu, kidney beans and lecithin.

Not being a scientist, I found some of the scientific jargon in the above article a bit difficult, but it's definitely worth a read.

 

[moondust7]

Thanks for the info!! I definitely hadn't heard of that B-vitamin before. I like how the article points out that whole eggs are a source (as opposed to egg whites!). I have always been an advocate of eating the whole egg including the yolk. The yolk also has lutein which is good for our eyes (and I think it makes the egg taste a lot better). Thanx again.

 

[Hortensia]

Thanks for the info!! I definitely hadn't heard of that B-vitamin before. I like how the article points out that whole eggs are a source (as opposed to egg whites!). I have always been an advocate of eating the whole egg including the yolk. The yolk also has lutein which is good for our eyes (and I think it makes the egg taste a lot better). Thanx again.

Thanks moondust - yes I never understood the point of an egg-white omelette?!?

I think it's a hangover from the cholesterol scare with eggs - it turns out that the body can't use the cholesterol in eggs anyway so it has no effect. Egg yolk is really rich in choline so definitely worth eating if you're ttc. Apparently, as we get older our ability to make choline decreases and deficiency is more common. As it's implicated in sub-fertility as well as the process of gestation and post-natal brain development I'm amazed women of childbearing age aren't given more info about choline by their health care providers/ government guidelines.

I checked my B complex and it turns out it contains no choline So I think I'll either be looking for a better brand, or eating lots of eggs and cauliflower

 

[Gingersnaps]

I never heard of this - thanks!

 

[alison29]

my complex lacks b1 another to keep ane eye on.

 

[2have4kids]

oh this is something I've seen my friends struggle with while preggers...(sorry for the blethering here but it's been painful to watch these gals)
My pregnant colleague was told by her doc to start eating beef, she's really on a tight diet to keep her figure and "be healthy" and cutting out red meat (and a bunch of other things, was a part of her ideal diet. She was low in iron and B vits, beef is high in all of those things and choline too. I'm not saying to eat beef all the time but once/week probably woulnd't cause one to get fat or be unhealthy.
It was frustrating to watch she refused to change her diet to treat the deficiency (more greens would have helped too) instead she took another pill. What her doc didn't explain is that we don't absorb iron easily from pills much better to get it through diet.
The worst thing from seeing all of my pregnant friends is to be super rigid. The other gf was sick all the time and lost weight the first 4 months of her pregnancy. She refused to take the anti-nausia pills referred to severe morning sickness ladies thinking they might harm her baby. So the fetus, through it's development for 4 months was starved of nutrition. From the World Health Organization there are direct links to malnutrition & low iron to learning disabilities and developmental abnormalities. I think I'd rather take my doc's advice then set my kid up to take an intellectual nose dive from day 1 and a rough first 20 years in school-what a mistake to make! Fear based decisions and inflexibility are usually yield terrible decisions.