Essential nutrients are needed by your body in order for it to survive. Essential nutrients are those vital nutritional components that your body can not create on its own so they must be obtained by the foods and vegetables you consume. For example, cholesterol is used by your body to help with cell formation. It keeps your cells flexible and strong and must be present in your system to ensure proper health. Cholesterol, while found in foods, is not considered an essential nutrient because it is also created by your liver. This means that cholesterol can be obtained both by eating foods that have it and by creating it within your body. Unlike cholesterol, choline bitartrate is an essential nutrient.
Choline bitartrate is grouped inside of the B vitamin complex—a group of vitamins that assist in cell metabolism—and is water soluble which means that it can be dissolved within water, so it doesn’t need any special nutrient or compound to dissolve it. Although choline bitartrate was discovered way back in 1864, it was not actually named an essential nutrient by the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board until 1998. So, what exactly makes choline bitartrate such an important part of your every day diet?
Physical Impact of Choline Bitartrate
The first thing that choline bitartrate helps with is the structure of your cell walls. Cell walls must be strong but malleable. They must be able to permit the entrance of oxygen, minerals and other nutrients. This requires that your cell walls be semi permeable, an astounding feat that choline bitartrate helps with. Choline bitartrate also helps your cells communicate. When you are hurt and your tissue is damaged, cells must collectively visit your areas of damage and attempt to heal you. Choline bitartrate helps communicate the message of damage throughout your body and gets your cells working toward your recovery.
Choline bitartrate also helps your body produce amino acids. Amino acids are important because they help your body metabolize calories. There are some studies that show choline bitartrate being effective in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease as well. It is also thought that choline bitartrate, as a member of the B vitamin family, can reduce the amount of homocysteine in the blood which allows for reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Psychological Impact of Choline Bitartrate
While unsubstantiated by clinical trials, there is some talk of the potential cognitive and psychological benefits of choline bitartrate. Choline is one of the important bases of the creation of certain neurotransmitters that have been found to boost memory, increase intelligence and elevate mood. Many nutritional supplements and diet supplements that carry choline bitartrate make the claim that the supplement will increase mood and overall mental functioning. It is unknown if these claims are true and, if they are, how much choline bitartrate is necessary to beef up neurotransmitter production enough to make a measurable difference.
Finding Choline Bitartrate
In addition to finding choline bitartrate in many over the counter supplements, you can also find it in foods that you eat every day. For vegans, peanuts, legumes and wheat germ are your best sources of choline bitartrate. Vegetarians can add egg yolks to their list of sources and carnivores who enjoy organ meats will find increased levels of choline bitartrate present in their meals.
If you decide to take a supplement in order to fulfill your choline bitartrate needs, be sure to check with your primary care physician first. Supplements—even those that are herbal in nature and ingredients—can have an affect on medications that you take regularly and could interfere with their proper functioning.
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