By Michael Roizen, M.D. on
You know I advocate taking a daily multivitamin/mineral, half in the morning and half at night; 1,000 IU of vitamin D3; and 1,100 mg of DHA/EPA in algal or fish oil. Folks are beginning to get the message: Around a quarter of you age 20 to 39 and 40% of those over 60 take a multivitamin/mineral.
But there's one nutrient that you may never have heard of -- and probably don't get enough of -- that I'd recommend, not as a supplement, but from my favorite foods: salmon and cruciferous veggies. It's choline. The adequate intake for men and women ages 19-plus is 550 milligram and 425 milligrams daily, respectively -- in the U.S. men average 402 milligrams daily, women 278 milligrams. Most multivitamin/minerals don't contain it.
What is choline? Neither vitamin nor mineral, it's an essential nutrient produced in small amounts in the liver (not enough). It helps keep cell membranes intact, helps produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (that impacts memory, mood, muscle control, etc.), affects gene expression, lipid transport, metabolism, and promotes early brain development.
Now a study on mice in Aging Cell says that a lack of choline also promotes amyloid plaques and tau tangles, brain changes associated with Alzheimer's, and causes dysregulation of proteins in an area of the brain that aids learning and memory. Will that be true for humans? Stay tuned for more data, but in the meantime, it's smart to add salmon and cruciferous veggies to your diet. And if they don't appeal, get your choline from pistachios, cashews, beans, poultry, shitake mushrooms and sunflower seeds.
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Health pioneer Michael Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic and author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. His next book is "The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow." Do you have a topic Dr. Mike should cover in a future column? If so, please email questions@GreatAgeReboot.com.
(c)2023 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2023 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
