© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
News
To contact us with news tips, story ideas or other related information, e-mail newsstaff@ideastream.org.

Clinic study links choline to heart disease

Here’s a reason to check the contents of your multivitamin: researchers at Cleveland Clinic found that choline can promote heart disease when taken in high doses.

HAZEN: “There’s just been an explosion in adding free choline into all kinds of vitamins and supplements.“

Stanley Hazen, study author and researcher with Cleveland Clinic:

HAZEN: “People can buy choline by the tub when they go to a healthcare store.”

Choline—a vitamin we need in small quantities — is naturally found in animal products such as egg yolks, meats, dairy, and seafood. It's rumored to protect against everything from liver damage to memory loss to cancer, but the Clinic study published this week in the journal Nature cautions against loading up on this nutrient.

This is because the microorganisms living in our intestines convert choline into a product that can clog arteries and lead to heart disease. Hazen says the discovery opens new doors for both prevention and treatment.

Hazen: “Because we can now go after and target the gut flora. We can block the enzyme in the gut flora as a way of treating heart disease, we believe.”

Many could benefit from this research, since even things like commercial baked goods contain a form of choline, called lecithin, which is often used in food processing.

anne.glausser@ideastream.org | 216-916-6129