Cornell University and Balchem: New Follow-On Study

VitaCholine is the Better Choice

• 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 the first and only source of choline vetted by the US Pharmacopeia.
  • USP is an independent, scientific nonprofit organization focused on building trust in the supply of safe, quality raw materials for dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals. Their rigorous verification process includes GMP facility auditing, ingredient quality control and manufacturing documentation review, and ingredient testing. Participation is voluntary and ingredients that meet USP’s stringent requirements are awarded the distinctive USP Verified Dietary Ingredient designation.
• Balchem continues to fund important research studies and is on the leading edge of science.

Higher Prenatal Choline Intakes Lead to Faster Processing

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 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 play 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.

 

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

Cornell researchers brought the same children back to the university at the age of seven to evaluate their performance on sustained attention tests. 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. Researchers compiled the children’s scores into an overall sustained attention test (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 the adequate intake (450 mg) of choline during pregnancy, supplementing with choline during pregnancy could help improve kid’s brain power later in life.