If you’re someone who likes to read the ingredients on food labels, lecithin may be familiar to you. Usually derived from soy or eggs, it’s a fatty substance that’s commonly used as an emulsifying agent for mayonnaise, chocolate, and a variety of other foods. Lecithin also contains high levels of phosphatidylcholine, a source of choline for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is involved in muscle contraction, memory, and other essential central nervous system functions. Now, a new study is linking diets higher in lecithin to a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment.
A team of Chinese public health researchers recruited close to 2,000 adults over the age of 60 and asked them what they ate to estimate total lecithin intake. They also gave the participants a rigorous cognitive assessment, and determined over half of the cohort met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment. While this kind of impairment isn’t dramatic, it is a kind of stepping stone to more serious decline, like dementia.
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After controlling for multiple factors (age, gender, education, and disease history), the team found that participants who reported consuming more lecithin-rich foods showed a significantly reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment. Blood samples from 15 of those with mild cognitive impairment and 15 of those who were cognitively healthy showed the impaired group had lower levels of phosphatidylcholine in their red blood cell membranes.
“This study provides important epidemiological evidence that ensuring adequate lecithin intake through a balanced diet could be a feasible approach to support cognitive health in the elderly,” the research team said in a statement.
There are, of course, some caveats. For starters, this is a cross-sectional study so it’s impossible to infer causation. Secondly, lecithin was only estimated from a self-reported questionnaire, which isn’t the most accurate method. Finally, while they did find lower levels of phosphatidylcholine in the participants’ blood cells, the sample size was much smaller (30 people total). In other words, the findings are promising but preliminary.
Still, the study offers at least some support to the idea that choline- and lecithin-rich foods (eggs, legumes, lean meats) may protect against mild cognitive impairment. And hey, if you were looking for a reason to eat more chocolate, this is as good an excuse as any.
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