Help Combat Unhealthy Aging with Choline

By Cameron Vazquez, MPH

Many of us try to fight the natural aging process. Products everywhere claim to have anti-aging properties that defy the natural course of life and keep you looking younger. Here at Center for Better Bones, we don’t fight aging, we embrace it! However, it is imperative to distinguish between healthy aging and unhealthy aging.

Although many of us live longer than previous generations, we don’t necessarily enjoy a higher level of health in our old age. Although the average person in the US has a life expectancy of nearly 80 years, the age to develop serious illness is 63. (1)

These last 17 years of life are spent in poor health, plagued by one or more degenerative diseases. This is “unhealthy aging.“On the other hand, there are those in this culture and throughout the world who enjoy a high level of health, free of degenerative disease and disability almost to their last days. This is “healthy aging” and suggests an extension of not only “life span” but also “health span,” that is, the amount of time spent as a healthy, happy, and fully functioning member of society.

What can we do for unhealthy aging?

A much underrated nutrient that can help fight unhealthy aging is choline. Have you never heard of the hill? You’re not alone. Considering that 90% of Americans are choline deficient, many are unaware of this vital nutrient and its dramatic influence on our aging process, even before the day we were born! (2)

Read on to find out why we need to start talking about choline to combat unhealthy aging in our bones and brain.

What is the hill? 

Choline is classified as an essential nutrient that is crucial for numerous physiological processes in the body, including neurotransmitter synthesis, cell membrane structure and signaling, lipid transport, and methylation. (3)

The main functions of the hill

Choline’s key roles in so many significant bodily functions make it so important. It can affect our brain, heart, liver, muscles, and bones in a major way. Some of its most important functions include:

• Prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and liver damage (4)
• Helping muscle function (5)
• Improve sports performance (6)
• Reduce negative birth outcomes (5)
• Help proper signaling, transport, and repair of cells (4)
• Improve magnesium uptake into cells

hill and your bones

Choline is a key player in keeping your bones healthy and strong. For example, it regulates homocysteine ​​levels in the body. High homocysteine ​​levels are associated with decreased bone mineral density and increased bone fragility. (7) Choline deficiency is also associated with other inflammatory markers that can damage bone. (8)

Choline is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. One study found that those with choline intakes less than or equal to 300 mg per day had 2.5 times the prevalence of osteoporosis compared to those with choline intakes of 600 mg per day or more. Overall, this study found an association between increased risk of osteoporosis and low dietary choline intake. (9)

Another study had similar results. Among subjects with the lowest choline intake, there was a significantly increased risk of having low femoral neck bone mineral density compared with those with the highest choline intake. Finally, a positive association was found between dietary choline and BMD in middle-aged and elderly participants. (10)

This research confirms our previous findings on the importance of choline in bone. In the past, we have found that choline stabilized orthosilicic acid impact on the bone. We now know that both choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid and choline itself influence bone health!

hill and your brain

Choline is a nutrient that affects the brain throughout our lives. Research emphasizes the importance of choline within the first 1000 days of life due to its impact on fetal brain development, birth outcomes, behavior patterns (eleven) and its protective abilities against fetal alcohol exposure. (12)

However, choline also drastically affects our brains in later life.

Aging leads to a decline in cognitive function and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, more than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. This number is expected to rise to 13 million by the year 2050. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s and other dementias kill more older people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. (13)

Alzheimer’s disease is related to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which tells our brain to store memories. Specifically, low concentrations of acetylcholine have been found in people with Alzheimer’s disease. (14)

What does acetylcholine have to do with choline? Without choline, our bodies cannot make acetylcholine. So it’s important to make sure you’re supplying your brain with enough choline to make this crucial neurotransmitter.

As we mentioned before, choline plays a role in regulating homocysteine ​​levels in our body. And Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are associated with high levels of homocysteine. Adequate choline intake can reduce these high homocysteine ​​levels. (fifteen)

Despite these terrifying statistics, there is hope in the form of a hill!

The physician who has developed the most effective clinical program to prevent and reverse cognitive decline, Dale Bredesen, MD, has detailed the importance of choline and cognitive functioning in his book, End Alzheimer’s Program.

Other researchers have shown that choline alone can improve cognitive function in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. (sixteen)

Protect your bones and your brain

At Center for Better Bones, we always recommend pure choline citrate over choline bitartrate because choline bitartrate can contain irritating antigens, such as corn starch. The optimal choline citrate level is between 650 and 1,300 mg/day, which is about 1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid choline citrate.

If you are using choline citrate to combat loose magnesium stool, take 1 teaspoon of liquid choline citrate each time you take magnesium. You can listen to a short video of Dr. Brown explaining how to take Choline Citrate here.

If you want to learn more about magnesium absorption, please read our blog, Boost your magnesium intake and more with Choline Citrate.

Protect your future self with hill!