Erin O'Hara: Naturopath and wellness expert explains the benefits of choline

Choline is an essential nutrient that is required for optimal health, and it plays a key role in healthy brain function, heart health, and liver function.

Research indicates that over 90 percent of New Zealanders and Australians fail to meet the recommended daily intake for choline. 

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explained the benefits of choline, and how we can add more of it to our diets. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b It.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Has time to do a wellness now and I'm joined
by erin Ohara. Good morning, Good morning. Today we're going
to talk about something called coaling and I have no
idea what this is. I don't think I've actually ever
heard of it, but it is a very central nutrient
that we all need.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah, it's interesting that this one's coming through. A lot
of the supplement industry is starting to bring them out.
It's you'll hear more about it over especially the next
couple of years. In the last couple of years it's
been kind of building more and more momentum. But it's
interesting that the research indicates that over ninety percent of
New Zealanders and Australia's fail to recommend to meet their

(00:50):
recommended daily intake of coaling through their diet. It is
a big problem. So coaling is not a vitamin or mineral.
It's actually an organic compound that's vital for healthy functioning
human nervous system. So really important for brain health as
it's a neurotransmitter, as it's the essential nutrient to then

(01:11):
create an acetal coalin, which is a neurotransmitter, really important
part for brain health, So it has lots of important
functions in the body, and we need to be getting
it in through our diet so our body can't make it.
So whenever it's an essential nutrient, it's something we need
to get in through our food, and most people can
do it through their diet. It's interesting whenever I look

(01:31):
at the research, I'm like, most of us should be
working on our diet and not trying to just supplement
it in. You should be able to do it through
your diet by trying to work on getting it in.
And if you are a person who eats eggs, it's
actually very easy to get enough coaling and through your diet. Now,
if you're a person who makes egg white omelets, you're
going to miss a lot of your coaling because the

(01:52):
coaling is actually in the yolk and not in the white.
So we really need to make sure we're getting it
in through the whole egg and not just the egg white. Also,
other foods that are high in coalin are things like
beef liver. I'm not sure if you're a big fan
of beef liver, I'm definitely not not so much really
high in coaling. Also getting brown lean beef, also soybeans, cod, codfish, chaitaki, mushrooms.

(02:22):
So just trying to get it in through your diet
and if you google food time coaline and then try
and meet your daily intake, which for men should be
five hundred and fifty milligrams a day and for women
four hundred and twenty five milligrams a day, and if
you are pregnant or lactating, you should be getting a
higher requirement because really important part for babies brain developments.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
So why do we need it? What are the huge
benefits of it?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
So mainly for brain health. So when you look at
the clinical research, people who have a higher intake of
coalin in their diet, they have lower levels of anxiety
and depression. Also there's evidence around the if people who
have more coaline actually lower risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
So they've really good at research on any neurological diseases,

(03:06):
any brain health function. It's really important for your brain health,
so making sure you're getting it in through your diet
to support the brain nerve cells and that will be
important for things like memory, thinking, and learning. So whatever
age you are, whether you're a baby or whether you're
an elderly aging person, you actually really need to get coline.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
And if there are people out there like me who go, gosh,
I've never really heard of this or thought about it,
I'll increase. You know, the amount of colon I'm get
in my diet. Can you have too much? Is that harmful?

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yes? Okay, actually is interesting. You'd have to be supplementing
it at unless you're a person who eats a huge
amount of beef liver. The chances of your being or
o coline is very uncommon through diet. It's more coming
in through supplements. Now. Some of the symptoms you get
if you are overdosing yourself would be a fishy body, odor,

(03:59):
excessive sweating, low blood pressure, liver toxicity, and potential higher
cardiovascular rest so not good. However, most people aren't even
meeting their requirements. The chances of you meeting toxicity levels,
which is at three thousand, five hundred milligrams today, is.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Pretty much and Possible's not worry about that, Aaron, fascinating.
Thank you so much

Speaker 1 (04:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin listen
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