Eating Right While Pregnant

Choline is an especially important nutrient for pregnant and breastfeeding women – it has been shown to influence brain and spinal cord structure and lifelong memory function. But research shows that almost three out of every four moms are not at all familiar with the nutrient and its benefits.

Choline has been shown to play an important role in fetal and infant brain development, affecting the areas of the brain responsible for memory and life-long learning ability.

In addition, research shows that choline can help prevent certain birth defects. Women with diets low in choline have a four times greater risk of having babies with neural tube defects such as spina bifida. This increased risk has even been observed in women consuming other nutrients that protect against birth defects, such as folic acid.

The importance of choline goes beyond the time when women are pregnant as breast milk is rich in choline and maternal choline need is even higher during breastfeeding than it is during pregnancy.

Incorporating Choline Into Your Diet

The recommended daily intake of choline is higher for pregnant and breastfeeding women than it is for the general population because there is a high rate of transfer of choline from the mother to the fetus during pregnancy, and the mother to the infant during breastfeeding.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant and breast feeding women consume the following amount of dietary choline each day:

Regularly incorporating choline-rich foods into the diet is the best and easiest way to get the choline you need. Food sources of choline include beef and chicken liver, egg yolk, wheat germ, cauliflower, soybeans, beef, milk and peanuts. Two egg yolks contain roughly 250 milligrams of choline. Visit the Food & Recipes section to learn more about incorporating choline into your diet.