VitaCholine® Enhances Maternal DHA Status (Cornell Study)

Partnering with Cornell University

A paper published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) highlighted the unique role choline plays in enhancing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status during pregnancy.¹ Balchem played a role in the randomized controlled trials conducted by choline experts at Cornell University that sought to determine the impact of choline supplementation on DHA status during pregnancy.

Randomized Controlled Trials: Key findings

• Pregnant women who combine their supplemental DHA with VitaCholine® significantly improve their DHA status better than supplementing with DHA alone.
• The results of this study are two-fold: we know that VitaCholine® is bioavailable in pregnant women, and VitaCholine® enhances DHA status in mothers. This allows for a greater supply of both nutrients to be available for the developing baby
• Just 4% of pregnant women in the United States get enough choline in their diet so this newly established benefit of choline supplementation improving DHA status provides mothers with yet another reason to consider adding a VitaCholine® supplement to their diet.²

Initial Study: Maternal Choline Supplementation

Pregnant women in the third trimester participated in a controlled feeding study at Cornell University which randomized the moms into two groups who received choline daily through diet and supplemental intake:

• Control group participants had a total intake of 480 mg of choline daily with diet and supplementation (VitaCholine®)
• An intervention group receiving a total of 930 mg of choline daily with diet and choline supplementation (VitaCholine®)

The dietary intakes of the moms were carefully planned to provide a consistent amount of other nutrients which plays a significant role during pregnancy, like folate.

Once the women gave birth, the infants were tested to measure saccade eye reaction times; essentially how quickly an image (such as a red triangle) is imprinted on the brain before the eyes move to new stimuli. 

The results of this phase of the study, which were published in The FASEB Journal, demonstrated that the babies born to the moms in the high choline (930 mg) group had significantly faster information processing speeds than the moms in the control (480 mg) group.

Follow-On Study: Sustained Attention Test (SAT)

Cornell researchers brought the same children back to the university at the age of seven to evaluate their performance on sustained attention tests (SAT). Earlier animal models showed that choline plays a significant role in brain development which can result in lifelong improvements in visuospatial memory, the kind of memory that allows us to keep an image of something (say where we parked our car) in our ‘mind’s eye’ so that we can retrieve it when needed. Visuospatial working memory is important for learning, with studies linking it to improved abilities in reading comprehension and mathematics.

The children went through a lengthy series of tests designed to measure how well they could focus and maintain attention over time. They were asked to focus on a computer screen, look for a visual signal (a gray box which would briefly flash up on the screen), and then respond by saying whether they saw the visual cue. The signal appeared on the screen for either 17 milliseconds, 29 milliseconds or 50 milliseconds.

Did the Babies Continue Their Improved Abilities? The Study Says, Yes!

Researchers compiled the children’s scores into an overall SAT score and what they found was remarkable:

• Children in the 930 mg/d group showed superior performance (vs. 480 mg/d group) on the primary endpoint (SAT score, p = .02)
• They also showed a superior ability to maintain correct signal detections (hits) across the 12-min session (p = .02), indicative of improved sustained attention
• For the shortest signal duration (17 ms), the 480 mg/d group showed a 22.9% decline in hits across the session compared to a 1.5% increase in hits for the 930 mg/d group (p = .04)

The researchers conclude that a higher maternal 3rd-trimester consumption during pregnancy (930 mg vs. 480 mg) results in children with a significantly improved ability to sustain attention at school age.  When you consider that over 9 out of 10 pregnant moms don’t even get an adequate intake (450 mg) of choline during pregnancy, supplementing with choline during pregnancy could help improve a kid’s brain power later in life.

VitaCholine®: Improving Childhood Cognition

Higher maternal choline intake with VitaCholine® improves childhood cognition. While there is an immense body of animal research demonstrating that higher levels of choline lead to improved cognitive function throughout life, well-designed human research models are more difficult to conduct and take much longer, making the Cornell research a landmark in understanding the importance of supplementation on childhood cognition.³

VitaCholine® helps build the foundation of a better brain—for life.

Over 90% of moms currently aren’t getting enough choline in their diet.⁴ When mom gets much higher levels of VitaCholine® during pregnancy:

• Her baby’s brain processing speed improves significantly
• Her child is better able to pay attention and stay on task at the age of seven

VitaCholine® is the Better Choice

VitaCholine® is the premier source of choline, made to the highest standards to deliver relevant and compelling health benefits to your consumers.

• VitaCholine® was the brand used in the research study, so by using our choline you can rest assured that your formulation is using the brand clinically shown to improve cognitive function.
• VitaCholine® is the #1 leading choline brand globally and is the gold standard in infant nutrition. It is used in most leading infant formulas.
• VitaCholine® is produced in accordance with the most current FCC and USP reference standards, two leading quality assurance organizations for the food and dietary supplement industry.
• Balchem continues to fund important research studies and is on the leading edge of science.

Contact Us Today

Balchem offers business solutions that could bring tangible weight to your products! Our Marketing and Sales team members would be delighted to discuss future possibilities related to this exciting news! Partner with us to learn how we can work together to develop great prenatal solutions for your consumers!

References

1. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – Search Results
2. Bahnfleth, CL, Strupp, BJ, Caudill, MA, Canfield, RL. (2021), Prenatal choline supplementation improves child sustained attention: A 7-year follow-up of a randomized controlled feeding trial. FASEB J. 2022; 36:e22054. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202101217R
3. Caudill, M.A., Strupp, B.J., Muscalu, L., Nevins, J.E.H. and Canfield, R.L. (2018), Maternal choline supplementation during the third trimester of pregnancy improves infant information processing speed: a randomized, double-blind, controlled feeding study. The FASEB Journal, 32: 2172-2180. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201700692RR
4. Klatt KC, et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2022 May 16; nqac147. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac147. Online ahead of print. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqac147/6586336?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
5. Wallace, T. C., & Fulgoni, V. L. (2017). Usual Choline Intakes Are Associated with Egg and Protein Food Consumption in the United States. Nutrients, 9(8), 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080839

Disclaimers

These statements have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.