Nutrients
Choline and wild salmon are true supercharged fuels for brain and metabolism. Those consuming little choline have a 22-fold increased risk of fatty liver—but the right amount can reduce this risk by nearly 80%.
Line items
Everyone has their favorite foods and nutrients in different areas. When it comes to eating, mine (Chris's) are eggs and wild salmon. I can't live without both. Really can't. There must be something magical in them, something essential for my metabolism that I can't get anywhere else.
Of course, I won't tell you the secret: Phosphatidylcholine from eggs paired with iodine, selenium, taurine, and the long-chain omega fatty acids DHA/EPA and arachidonic acid from salmon are supercharged brain fuel—real brain doping, so to speak. The cells in my brain do the Macarena with these nutrients. No joke—a scientific heavyweight named Wurtman impressively confirmed this through experiment.
But who cares about the brain? Attentive edubily readers know, of course, that choline is essential for functioning mitochondria and fat metabolism, especially in the liver. In other words: for at least 50, more likely 70 or 80 years, we've known that choline deficiency causes fatty liver. Apparently secret knowledge that no one with an actual fatty liver seems to know. Choline flushes the fats out of your liver!
This was confirmed in a nice recent study. People who consumed low amounts of choline had a 22-fold increased risk of fatty liver! Similar patterns appeared for low betaine (a choline metabolite) and folate (important for choline synthesis). These are incredible numbers when you think about it.
Conversely—pay attention: A high dietary intake of choline plus betaine reduced the risk of developing fatty liver by nearly 80%. Topic essentially closed.
Okay, so what quantities are we talking about?
Keep in mind: since these values are based on average body weight, a 100 kg man could calculate the low end of choline intake here at roughly 600 mg and the high end at an incredible 1000 mg (= 10 mg per kg body weight).
We can fortunately assume that the values here were somewhat skewed upward, simply because the study design didn't allow otherwise. Realistically, we need approximately 500 mg of choline per day to stay healthy. This should also help prevent fatty liver.
Foods with high choline content (mg per 100g of food) include:
High betaine is found in the following foods (mg per 100g):
So much for that. Now let's say a few words about the other topic—wild salmon:
To be precise, I (Chris) love sockeye, also known as red salmon. A particularly valuable salmon, known for its very red color and wonderful flavor. Just scan the back of salmon packages in the supermarket; you'll usually find the scientific name of the fish. In the case of sockeye, it's Oncorhynchus nerka.
There's a very recent salmon analysis from 2020. And guess which variety performs best? Exactly, sockeye. The researchers analyzed the nutrient profiles of wild or farmed salmon, organic or non-organic salmon, certified or uncertified salmon. The sockeye and chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from wild catch proved to be the most nutrient-dense salmon varieties with the highest omega-3 content.
Why?
Plus, insiders know: Sockeye salmon (red salmon) also contains notable amounts of astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects that gives the salmon its vibrant red color. Reason enough to eat this superfood from time to time.
Oh yes: The good news is that farm-raised salmon (Salmo salar) is also worthwhile—and besides that, it has the lowest mercury values.
