Best Choline Supplements for Pregnancy
medically reviewed by margaret etudo, BPharm. written by the vitamins for woman team.
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Choline is a necessary nutrient that is frequently lacking in prenatal vitamins. These supplements help you make up for the deficiency.
Table of Contents
Choline is an essential nutrient needed in ensuring that your baby develops properly and that you are in good shape and health during your pregnancy.
This essential vitamin plays a critical role in the spinal cord and brain development of your growing baby. However, there’s a minor issue.
While choline is produced by the body, pregnancy makes it such that the amount produced by the body is not enough, hence the need for choline supplements. In today’s article, we will walk you through the best choline supplements for pregnancy.
Our Picks of the Best Choline Supplements
- Best Overall: Ritual Natal Choline
- Best Budget: GNC Choline
- Best Liquid: Perque Choline Citrate
- Best Subscription: Needed Prenatal Choline
- Best Low Dose: NOW Lecithin
TOTAL SCORE : 5.3 TOTAL RATING : 16- Good choice for those with low choline diet
- Third-party tested for purity and potency
- Free of common allergens
- Even when diluted in liquid, it still has a sour taste, making it uncomfortable for you if you're averse to strong smells or tastes
- Similar to Ritual Natal Choline, it is a higher dosage of choline that can exceed your daily requirement of choline if your prenatal already has choline
This is an amazing option if you don't want to swallow more tablets or capsules, but you want a higher dose of choline. It contains choline citrate and vegetable glycerin
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TOTAL SCORE : 5.3 TOTAL RATING : 16- Third-party tested
- Vegetable based making them suitable for vegans and vegetarians
- Contains a lower dose, which has to be spread over four times a day to meet adequate intake, which can be strenuous to keep track of.
This supplement provides 250mg of choline per capsule. Needed also provides a monthly subscription that significantly reduces the cost of these supplements.
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TOTAL SCORE : 5.0 TOTAL RATING : 15- Third-party tested for purity and potency
- Non-GMO
- It also contains inositol
- Not suitable for vegans and vegetarians because they are made from bovine gelatin.
- Contains soy
This supplement offers a lower dose of naturally occurring choline, ideal for those needing a small boost to reach the recommended 450 mg during pregnancy while supporting fetal brain development.
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TOTAL SCORE : 4.7 TOTAL RATING : 14- Transparent outsourcing
- Third-party testing
- Favourable dosage and dosage form
- Relatively higher dosage thus not advisable for pregnant mothers with diet already high in choline Since two capsules are recommended daily,
- it can increase the bulk of your daily supplement routine.
This prenatal supplement provides 550 mg of choline, essential for fetal brain development. Studies suggest choline intake during pregnancy enhances cognition later in life, making it an excellent choice for expecting mothers.
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TOTAL SCORE : 4.7 TOTAL RATING : 14- Third-party tested for purity and potency
- Heavy metal testing
- Provides 45% of the daily value of choline required daily, thus making it ideal if you are already on a diet rich in cholin
- Contains a longer list of additives
This brand of choline supplement is pocket friendly and also contains 250mg of choline bitartrate; a concentrated form used in choline supplements.
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Comparing the Best Choline Vitamins in the Market
| S/N | Choline supplement | Suitable For Vegans | Taste | Daily Dose |
| 1 | Ritual Natal choline | Yes | Strong, sour taste | Two capsule a day |
| 2 | GNC Choline | Yes | Unflavoured | One or two capsules a day |
| 3 | Perque Choline Citrate | Yes | Sour and Tart taste | One teaspoon a day |
| 4 | Needed. Prenatal Choline | No | Unflavoured | Four capsules a day |
| 5 | NOW Lecithin | Yes | Slight sweet taste | Three softgels a day |
Why You Should Trust Us
We take into account input from expectant moms to help us offer perspectives on every product, its efficacy, and potential drawbacks. You may be confident that our recommendations for the best prenatal vitamins will promote both your health and the growth of your unborn child.
Forms of Choline
Choline chloride: Choline chloride is the form of choline that is very effective in raising the choline levels. Some studies have shown that taking supplements that contain choline chloride can benefit fetal neural development.
Choline bitartrate: This is one of the most common forms, and it has a high concentration of choline, about 40%, which makes it an effective choice in increasing choline levels. It is also the least expensive.
Phosphatidylcholine: This is the kind of choline that is mostly present in food, specifically in lecithin. Although it is readily absorbed, its choline content is only approximately 14%, so you might need to take more of this supplement type in order to satisfy your needs.
Benefits of Choline During Pregnancy
Given that choline is essential for critical activities like brain development, lipoprotein synthesis, and neural tube formation, its demand rises dramatically during pregnancy.
It is also necessary for the metabolism of fats and liver function.
The benefits of choline during pregnancy include:
- preventing neural tube abnormalities (NTDs)
- improving the cognitive development of the fetus
- improving the general health of the mother
How to choose the best choline supplements
There are certain things you must consider when choosing your prenatal supplements like choosing the proper nutrients for a healthy preconception and prenatal period. Other things to note include:
Note your health preferences
Check and compare prices
Daily Dosage
Check for Added Herbs
Note your health preferences
Do you have any known allergies? What medical conditions or limitations do you have? Will you require extra vitamin pills to maximize your intake? Have you ever had anemia or undergone bariatric surgery? You need to take all of these things into account when selecting the best prenatal vitamin.
Check and compare prices
The ingredients, organic or vegan, and the amount of each bottle’s serving determine how much a bottle costs. When evaluating costs, it’s crucial to remember not to make a purchase decision just on the basis of cost. Before making a purchase, check the labels for further information.
Daily Dosage
Depending on the brand of the prenatal vitamin, this dosage may range from one to six capsules daily. Taking less than the recommended dosage may reduce the product’s effectiveness. Conversely, taking more than the recommended dosage is unsafe for you and your baby. It could lead to nutrient deficiencies in the baby’s development during your pregnancy.
Check for Added Herbs
Despite their naturalness, herbs are not healthy to use during pregnancy. This is because some may interfere with the prenatal supplements you may be taking. Always double check the ingredients with your doctor before taking any prenatal multivitamin. Find out specifically what suits your body and your infant by asking inquiries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Research has shown that taking choline supplements and eating foods rich in choline such as meats, soybeans, and eggs can promote the optimal development of your baby’s brain and thus reduce the risk of subsequent mental illness.
Women who took choline towards their last trimester were found to have babies whose ability to differentiate between certain sounds was significantly increased.
Typically, foods like milk, eggs, and meats contain choline. Not many prenatal vitamins contain choline because it is found naturally in meals and even breast milk, whereas synthetic choline is far more expensive.
Final Thoughts For You
Choline is an essential nutrient that can ensure you and your baby’s nutritional needs are met adequately. In this article, we have shown you or our favorite choline supplements to help you and your baby. Nevertheless, feel free to see a health care professional if you’re not sure which supplement to pick.
- Jaiswal A, Dewani D, Reddy LS, Patel A. Choline supplementation in pregnancy: current evidence and implications. Cureus. 15(11):e48538.
- Caudill MA, Strupp BJ, Muscalu L, Nevins JEH, Canfield RL. Maternal choline supplementation during the third trimester of pregnancy improves infant information processing speed: a randomized, double-blind, controlled feeding study. FASEB J. 2018;32(4):2172-2180.
- FREEDMAN R, ROSS RG. Prenatal choline and the development of schizophrenia. Shanghai Arch Psychiatry. 2015;27(2):90-102.
- Adams JB, Sorenson JC, Pollard EL, Kirby JK, Audhya T. Evidence-based recommendations for an optimal prenatal supplement for women in the u. S. , part two: minerals. Nutrients. 2021;13(6):1849.
- Kansakar U, Trimarco V, Mone P, Varzideh F, Lombardi A, Santulli G. Choline supplements: An update. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023;14:1148166.
- Bhandari J, Thada PK. Neural tube disorders. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2024.
medically reviewed by margaret etudo, BPharm. written by the vitamins for woman team.
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hey there, was wonderin does the article mention if these choline supplements are good for older folks too? trying to keep the brain sharp, ya know.
just started looking into supplements and choline sounds cool. this list is clutch for a newbie like me. thanks vitamins for woman.
Interesting list but I’m quite curious about the research backing these picks. Some brands have varied bioavailability which could influence their effectiveness.
thats a good point SallyQ92. bioavailability is key with any supps. not all choline is created equal.
i love seeing articles that bring attention to supplements. Especially with choline, not a lot of people know about its benefits. Great job!
While the guide is comprehensive, I did notice a lack of discussion on the specific types of choline like Alpha GPC or CDP Choline which have distinct cognitive benefits.
I’m always dubious about these supplement lists. How many actually do what they say versus how many are just placebo? Need more than just an article to convince me.
if choline was a super hero, what powers would it have? brain boost or more? just a funny thought haha.
this section on benefits of choline during pregnancy caught my eye. important info for moms to be. but always checking with a doc first.
great rundown on choline supplements. been into biohacking lately and this adds to my toolkit. supplements can be a game changer, if you know what you’re doing.
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Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
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Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?