Never is there a time when vitamins, minerals and supplements seem more important than during your pregnancy. Diet is the first thing that any responsible mother looks at when adjusting her wellness routine to the needs of her growing child. A recent discovery of a dietary supplement thought to enhance cognitive functioning and decrease the risk of schizophrenia is sure to be of interest to all expectant mothers.
Choline is an essential nutrient founding liver, muscle meats, fish, nuts and eggs. Similar to the group of B vitamins, it has much in common with their beneficial effects on cognitive wellbeing. A recent study at the University of Colorado finds that choline, when taken during the last two trimesters of pregnancy and early infancy shows a significantly lowered risk factor for schizophrenia.
The study utilised a common method for assessing an individual’s propensity for tendencies that could lead to the later development of schizophrenia. The individual is subjected to a succession of clicking sounds, in order to judge their responses. Healthy functioning should show a full response to the first click, and an inhibited response to the second, and succeeding clicks. This is exactly the operation of shock in the individual; after a surprising noise is processed by the brain, it will cease to be alarmed by a succession of the noises. Some individuals exhibit a failure to inhibit their response to the second ‘click’ in this process. This deficient inhibition is associated with poor sensory filtering, the only trait measurable in infancy that may indicate the adolescent or adult development of schizophrenia.
Half of the study’s participants were given phosphatidylcholine twice a day; 3,600 mg in the morning and 2,700mg in the evening. After birth, their babies continued the supplement routine with 100mg per day. At the age of 33 days, this group of participants underwent the ‘clicking’ test alongside the control group. Eighty-six per cent of infants were seen to pass this test, compared to only 43 per cent of the participants who had been on a placebo.
The difference in results is quite impressive, and speaks volumes for the benefits of choline as a dietary supplement. When you consider that the risk of schizophrenia is very general across the population and not strictly confined to any particular risk factor, boosting the cognitive health of your child is of utmost importance. Indeed, it is not just in regard to schizophrenia risk that choline is valuable, it is also undergoing trials measuring its benefits on liver disease and seizures as well as a range of mental health issues.
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