Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Insights and discussion from the cutting edge with reference to journal articles and other research papers.
circular
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 5565
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 10:43 am

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by circular »

Tincup wrote:
circular wrote:...PEMT plus two other SNPs affecting choline that aren't included in his calculator.
PEMT was on my output.

Is this the thread you are thinking of: https://www.apoe4.info/forums/viewtopic ... ine#p55866

or this: https://www.apoe4.info/forums/viewtopic ... ine#p16455
Thanks, it’s the first. I linked above to my post in that thread the pits the three SNPs in one place.

I don’t know that it would be a problem to eat so many eggs, and I know a lot of people do, but from an evolutionary perspective (limited though the general concept is), I doubt we ate nearly so many eggs, and probably went long periods without them, instead getting more choline from animal meat and organs.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
xactly
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:37 am

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by xactly »

CMJ's Choline Calculator says I need 6 eggs per day, so I started eating 3 per day, supplementing with 250 mg of choline (to make up 2 of them), and getting the remaining 1-egg-yolk-equivalent from other dietary sources. However, I'm homozygous for the FADS1 polymorphism. The advice for that polymorphism from my Strategene Report is to limit foods high in omega-6 PUFAs, especially arachidonic acid. The FADS1 polymorphism is supposed to drive upregulated elongation of these fatty acids into pro-inflammatory compounds.

Chicken (which I don't eat) and eggs (which I do eat) seem to be the highest sources, by far, of dietary arachidonic acid.

I searched CMJ's site for arachidonic acid, and found a Lite episode on inflammation. In the episode, CMJ says you need high (enough) levels of AA and DHA to drive the resolution of inflammation. Now I'm confused. Strategene's advice is to reduce dietary sources of AA, but CMJ's advice is to eat plenty of eggs and make sure AA levels are high enough to resolve inflammation.

I guess I can ping Ben Lynch and CMJ for their thoughts on this apparent contradiction. I did a NutrEval test at the end of 2017, before I started eating a significant quantity of eggs, and it showed my AA and DHA levels were low. My FM practitioner said I had high levels of inflammation.

If anyone has insight on this, I would appreciate any thoughts you can provide.
User avatar
MarcR
Mod
Mod
Posts: 2017
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:28 pm
Location: Sammamish, Washington, US

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by MarcR »

CMJ's advice seems internally consistent to me and aligns well with your experience of high inflammation with low AA. I feel great when I eat lots of eggs, and common sense tells me that any naturally occurring food containing all the nutrients required to form a baby chicken must be good food.
circular
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 5565
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 10:43 am

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by circular »

MarcR wrote:CMJ's advice seems internally consistent to me and aligns well with your experience of high inflammation with low AA. I feel great when I eat lots of eggs, and common sense tells me that any naturally occurring food containing all the nutrients required to form a baby chicken must be good food.
I often see it from this perspective too, but it seems just as much common sense that evolutionarily speaking eggs might have been occasional, or a feast of them during certain times of the year. I think I may be one of those for whom egg protein might be inflammatory. I haven't gotten to the bottom of that yet to see if I need to stick to yolks only. I eat 2-3 a day.

I supplement with BodyBio PC and I think it gives me an extra cognitive edge.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
BGTex
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 4:58 pm

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by BGTex »

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 101530.htm

Dietary choline associates with reduced risk of dementia
Date:
August 6, 2019
Source:
University of Eastern Finland
Summary:
A new study has shown that dietary intake of phosphatidylcholine is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Phosphatidylcholine was also linked to enhanced cognitive performance. The main dietary sources of phosphatidylcholine were eggs and meat.
Share:

FULL STORY
A new study by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland is the first to observe that dietary intake of phosphatidylcholine is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Phosphatidylcholine was also linked to enhanced cognitive performance. The main dietary sources of phosphatidylcholine were eggs and meat. The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Choline is an essential nutrient, usually occurring in food in various compounds. Choline is also necessary for the formation of acetylcholine, which is a neurotransmitter. Earlier studies have linked choline intake with cognitive processing, and adequate choline intake may play a role in the prevention of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. In fact, choline is nowadays used in a multinutrient medical drink intended for the treatment of early Alzheimer's.

The new study now shows that the risk of dementia was 28% lower in men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine, when compared to men with the lowest intake. Men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine also excelled in tests measuring their memory and linguistic abilities. These findings are significant, considering that more than 50 million people worldwide are suffering from a memory disorder that has led to dementia, and the number is expected to grow as the population ages. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, for which no cure currently exists. The new findings may, therefore, play a vital role in the prevention of dementia. Successful dementia prevention is a sum of many things and in this equation, even small individual factors can have a positive effect on the overall risk, possibly by preventing or delaying the disease onset.

"However, this is just one observational study, and we need further research before any definitive conclusions can be drawn," Maija Ylilauri, a PhD Student at the University of Eastern Finland points out.

The data for the study were derived from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, KIHD. At the onset of the study in 1984-1989, researchers analysed approximately 2,500 Finnish men aged between 42 and 60 for their dietary and lifestyle habits, and health in general. These data were combined with their hospital records, cause of death records and medication reimbursement records after an average follow-up period of 22 years. In addition, four years after the study onset, approximately 500 men completed tests measuring their memory and cognitive processing. During the follow-up, 337 men developed dementia.

The analyses extensively accounted for other lifestyle and nutrition related factors that could have explained the observed associations. In addition, the APOE4 gene, which predisposes to Alzheimer's disease and is common in the Finnish population, was accounted for, showing no significant impact on the findings. The key sources of phosphatidylcholine in the study population's diet were eggs (39%) and meat (37%).
xactly
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:37 am

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by xactly »

MarcR wrote:CMJ's advice seems internally consistent to me and aligns well with your experience of high inflammation with low AA. I feel great when I eat lots of eggs, and common sense tells me that any naturally occurring food containing all the nutrients required to form a baby chicken must be good food.
Thanks for the comment. I think I will try meeting CMJ's targets choline targets for the next few months through eating 3 eggs a day plus choline supplementation. I'll rerun the NutrEval and see what happens to my AA level. I'll also try to subjectively assess the impact on cognition and memory.
User avatar
MarcR
Mod
Mod
Posts: 2017
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:28 pm
Location: Sammamish, Washington, US

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by MarcR »

I look forward to hearing about your results.
SunnySideUp
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:31 pm

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by SunnySideUp »

This article recommends soft-boiled (sous vide) as the best method to retain nutrition in eggs. You have the water, shell and whites to protect the yoke from oxidation. If you are only going to eat the yoke, he claims raw is best.
https://dranthonygustin.com/7-ways-how-to-cook-eggs/
I was in high school before I learned that the yoke was not the unformed chick, it was the food for the chick to form. So it makes sense it's the healthiest part.
MagicBean
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:32 pm

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by MagicBean »

...
Last edited by MagicBean on Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BGTex
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 4:58 pm

Re: Higher phosphatidylcholine protects against dementia

Post by BGTex »

MagicBean wrote:I was disappointed to see in this Cochrane review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12917896 that supplementing with lecithin as a source of choline does not protect against dementia (in patients with dementia). I just bought some sunflower lecithin for the choline. :( Anyone know if it's better just to take a straight phosphatidylcholine supplement? I can't do eggs at the moment.
I don’t know. I just got some Alpha GPC to start taking.
Post Reply