The essential nutrient choline is a major part of krill oil. Learn why choline from krill oil is a safe, effective and well tolerated way to boost your necessary intake levels of choline.
Choline is sometimes referred to as ‘the forgotten nutrient’. It may not be on your radar, but it definitely should be.
Choline is an essential nutrient, meaning the body doesn’t produce enough of it on its own – you need to obtain this nutrient from your diet.
As discussed in our article: What is choline and what is it good for? – making sure your diet contains adequate amounts of choline is critical in maintaining healthy and balanced body functioning, from conception through old age. Choline is crucial for normal cellular function and is particularly important for liver health, heart health and development.
A growing body of evidence indicates that choline helps prevent fatty liver disease, which is becoming more and more prevalent in our society, largely due to unhealthy diets and lifestyles.
You can take steps to supplement your diet
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, only 1 in 10 of us get enough choline. One explanation is that we are changing our lifestyles and the foods we consume which may lead to us to exclude choline-rich foods from our diets.
More and more people are reducing consumption of meat and dairy products and adopting "flexitarian" lifestyles, causing them to get less choline in their everyday foods.
Luckily, choline levels can be easily raised with high-quality supplementation.
Krill oil is an excellent option, as it’s a great way to get choline and also other nutrients, like omega-3 EPA & DHA.
Study proves that krill oil helps boost choline levels in the body
Krill oil is famous for being one of the best omega-3 supplements on the market – but there’s much more to it than that, new research shows. Krill oil is also a great source of choline, which we now know is just as important as omega-3s for human health.
A recent study has been published, measuring the uptake of choline in the body after supplementation with krill oil. This study, which was performed as a randomized, placebo-controlled, monocentric, two-way cross-over pharmacokinetic study, shows that krill oil significantly increases plasma choline levels in the body.
However, unlike other choline supplements, krill oil does not raise levels of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide). High levels of TMAO can lead to a number of health issues, when combined with other many dietary/lifestyle factors.
What’s more, choline occurs naturally in krill oil, in the form of phosphatidylcholine (PC), which has been demonstrated to be more effective in raising choline levels in the blood than choline salts.
Other choline supplements such as choline salts, do not occur naturally and are created in a lab.
Conclusion: Krill oil is a great choline source
Krill oil is more than just an omega-3 supplement – it offers lots of choline in its natural form.
Choline is an underrated nutrient with a myriad of important functions.
In krill oil, omega-3 and choline in the form phospholipids work together to promote and secure your health, for every stage in your life.
Although more research is needed to fully understand how genetics, gender, life stage and lifestyle factors influence our choline requirements, krill oil remains a good option to help us get adequate amounts of choline.
