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Benefits Of Soy - Soy Lecithin
Visit this page for information on the FDA-approved Choline Nutrient
Content Claim
Choline: “The Newest Vitamin.” Although nutrition scientists
have
known about choline for many years, only today are researchers
understanding the essentiality of this vitamin. Choline has been
called "the newest vitamin". The National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) recognized it as an essential nutrient in 1998.
The only dietary component
in
the vitamin category recognized as such. The NAS recommends
men get 550 milligrams per day and women get 425 mg per day. Choline
can positively affect brain development -- including memory throughout
life -- cardiovascular
health, liver function, and reproductive
development.
Brain Power. Can lecithin help you stop loosing your car keys? Scientific
research has found
that lecithin and choline may improve your memory, especially
mild memory loss associated with getting older. Lecithin and
other choline-containing
compounds enhance memory in normal adults, particularly in those
individuals having relatively poor memory function to start with.
Lecithin may help reduce those “senior moments” through
choline-charged foods.
Helps the Heart. With heart disease being the number one killer
of both men
and women, lecithin is another way nature helps us to keep our
hearts healthy. Lecithin plays a number of roles in heart health,
including
the lowering of total and LDL cholesterol levels. The choline delivered
by lecithin can help reduce high homocysteine
levels in the blood - which can be associated with artery damage.
Liver Health. Scientists have known for some time
that lecithin and choline is essential to liver function and health.
Even a few weeks on a choline-deficient
diet results in a fatty liver, which can lead to cirrhosis and/or
to cancer of the liver. Besides contributing choline, lecithin
also appears to directly protect the liver from cirrhosis due to
excessive alcohol consumption.
Fetal and Infant Development. Choline is widely regarded as important
in
brain and mental development of both the fetus and infant. Because
choline is so key to fetal development, it is favorably transported
across the placenta from the mother’s bloodstream to the
fetus by a 1:14 ratio. Similarly, the choline concentration in
mother’s milk is over 100 times the level in the maternal
blood stream. Pregnant or lactating women have a higher recommended
dietary intake level for these reasons.
Why is Choline Fortification Important? Nature packaged high levels
of choline in very few foods. Many of those foods are also high
in saturated fat and cholesterol - dietary elemnts health experts
recommend avoiding. Although the body can synthesize some choline,
research shows people cannot
produce
all the choline
they need. Therefore, it is essential that you get choline in
your diet. Health experts believe many people's diets currently
may not deliver enough choline. One reason may be that Americans
are consuming fewer of most naturally choline-rich foods as they
cut down on dietary fat and cholesterol. Fortifying foods such
as nutritional bars and beverages, breads, and yogurts with choline-rich
lecithins will help increase Americans’ overall intake
of choline, while still affording consumers the benefits of a
healthier diet.
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