Dietary choline is vital for proper fetal development: Best dietary sources are liver and eggs

This post includes a summary of a paper published in the Annual Review of Nutrition 2006; 26: 229–250 and a recipe for liver and onions.

Study title and author:
Choline: Critical Role During Fetal Development and Dietary Requirements in Adults
Steven H. Zeisel
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; email: steven_zeisel@unc.edu

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441939/?tool=pubmed
 

Books:

Zeisel notes that choline is an essential nutrient needed for cell membranes, brain and muscle function.

Choline is critical during fetal development and helps lifelong memory function. It also gives protection from neural tube defects and protects the brain and spinal cord structure and function.

 
When deprived of dietary choline, most men and postmenopausal women developed signs of organ damage such as fatty liver or muscle damage, and 44% of premenopausal women developed such signs.
 
The richest dietary food sources of choline are (concentration mg/100 g): beef liver (418), chicken liver (290), eggs (251).

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Recipe of the day

Liver and Onions

serves 2

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Liver

1 lb (450g) liver

2 onions, sliced
¾ – 1 pt beef stock

Directions:
1.Prepare the liver. To do this you need to rinse the liver in cold water, pat it dry and then cut out any of the large or stringy tubes before cutting it into pieces. I prefer to cut it into inch-wide strips or inch square pieces, depending on the size and form of the pieces that I started with.

2.Heat some oil in frying pan until it is smoking.

3.Put the liver in the pan for about 2 minutes until it has mostly stopped bleeding. Keep it moving while it cooks to stop it from sticking.

4.Add the onions to the pan and continue to keep this moving in the pan with the liver for 1-2 minutes until the onions are starting to soften. If you don’t keep it moving about then the onions are at risk of burning or cooking unevenly.

5.Finally add the stock to the pan, mix in thoroughly with the liver and onions, and then leave simmering over a high heat until the stock reduces to a thick gravy, which should take about 3-5 minutes.

Liver and Onions