This supplement is definitely a boost for baby.
Although prenatal vitamins are not a substitute for a balanced diet for pregnant women, they can fill potential nutritional deficiencies and provide additional benefits.
A nutritional supplement found in a common food could support fetal brain development, improve children’s social behavior and cognitive performance, and even score higher on IQ tests, a new study suggests.
Found in everyday foods like chicken, eggs, beef and fish, choline plays a role in memory, mood, inflammation and cellular health.
A new clinical trial from the University of Colorado found that children of mothers given phosphatidylcholine supplements — a form of choline — had fewer problems with language development and social skills.
Children whose mothers took the choline supplement had fewer socially withdrawn behaviors, including some often seen in autism spectrum disorder.
Four-year-olds whose mothers took high doses scored about 8 points higher on an IQ test than those who took a placebo, with many also testing in a range used for placement in a gifted program.
In the largest ever randomized clinical trial of prenatal choline supplementation, researchers examined more than 200 pregnant women who took 9,000 milligrams of phosphatidylcholine.
The rest of the participants took a placebo and both groups took their supplements from 16 weeks of pregnancy until delivery.
Neither the women nor the researchers knew who received which until the study was completed.
The children’s behavior was then assessed from 18 months and up to 4 years of age, with cognitive performance measured at 3 and 4 years of age.
By the time the children were four years old, only 4% of the group receiving the supplement had multiple or lasting problems with social withdrawal, compared to 24% of children whose mothers took the placebo.
Social withdrawal behaviors included limited interest in others, withdrawal from social activities, and reduced eye contact.
The researchers also noted significantly fewer children in the supplemented group exhibiting behavioral profiles and language difficulties often associated with autism.
However, attention problems showed no noticeable improvement. Meanwhile, about a third of participants dropped out before the final assessments.
Still, the study authors write that the results show “safe and effective support for fetal brain development” through choline supplementation.
The findings could impact how doctors discuss prenatal supplements with pregnant patients who might be curious about over-the-counter options.
“This study provides additional evidence that choline supplements during pregnancy may have lasting effects on children’s brain development,” lead study author Robert Freedman said in a press release.
Choline works for brain development by activating a receptor made by the CHRNA7 gene in developing nerve cells, which helps them create the machinery needed to receive signals from other nerve cells before birth.
However, many mothers “do not get enough choline in their diet to fully give the baby everything he needs to complete the activation of his neurons,” according to Freedman.
It is also almost impossible to get enough choline in a normal diet to fully activate the CHRNA7 receptor, making supplementation necessary.
The researchers also believe the dose used in the study was a bit higher than necessary, instead recommending 7,200 mg of phosphatidylcholine or 900 mg of choline itself.
Gn Health
