Page 84 - Special Issue: Healthy Baby

FIGURE 7. FOLATE- AND CHOLINE-RICH MEALS AND SNACKS
Any combination of three meals and one snack and most combinations of three meals will exceed the pregnancy
RDA for both nutrients. Folate from raw milk is accompanied by a protein that doubles its absorption. Absorption of folate
from food in general is dependent on zinc status. High-quality grass-fed milk may be three to five times richer in choline.

FOOD FOLATE CHOLINE FOOD GLUTEN-FREE CASEIN-FREE (GFCF)
mcg (% RDA) mg (% RDA) FOLATE CHOLINE
3 eggs 71 378 mcg (%RDA) mg (% RDA)
2 pieces ww toast 43 24 3 eggs (omelet) 71 378
8 ounces milk 12 35 1/2 cup onion 15 5
TOTAL 126 (21%) 437 (97%) 1/2 cup tomato 14 6
1/2 cup broccoli 84 31
1/4 cup dry lentils 80 23 4 ounces bacon ~ 47
1/2 cup chop onion 15 5 1 potato 14 23
1 medium carrot 12 5 TOTAL 198 (33%) 490 (109%)
1/2 cup broccoli 84 31
Stock ~ ~ 100 g chicken liver 560 327
8 ounces milk 12 35 1/2 cup cooked brown rice 4 9
TOTAL 203 (34%) 99 (22%) 1 cup cooked spinach 263 36
TOTAL 827 (138%) 372 (83%)
100 g salmon 29 66
1 cup asparagus 268 47 SNACKS
1 potato 14 23 1/2 cup crispy almonds 23 (4%) 36 (8%)
8 ounces milk 12 35 1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds 159 (27%) 77 (17%)
TOTAL 323 (54%) 171 (38%)
SMOOTHIE
100 g beef liver 253 426 3 egg yolks 75 348
3 ounces bacon ~ 35 1 banana 24 12
1 cup onion 30 10 8 ounces milk 12 35
1 potato 14 23 TOTAL 111 (19%) 395 (88%)
8 ounces milk 12 35
TOTAL 309 (52%) 529 (117%)

CHOLINE spring with remarkably resilient nervous systems. These offspring have
Choline is related to folate because the body a lifelong 30 percent increase in visuospatial and auditory memory; they
can turn it into a compound called betaine that grow old without developing any age-related senility; they are protected
can be substituted for folate in certain chemical against the assaults of neurotoxins; they have an enhanced ability to focus
reactions. Perhaps for this reason, a low intake on several things at once; and they have a much lower rate of interference
is associated with a four-fold increased risk of memory. Interference memory is when a past memory interferes with an
neural tube defects. 53 immediate memory—for example, when a memory of where you parked
Choline has a much more direct role, how- your car in the past interferes with your ability to find it when you exit the
ever, in the development of the brain. It is espe- store today. 53
cially important for the formation of cholinergic The RDA for non-pregnant women is 425 milligrams (mg) per day.
neurons (neurons that use the neurotransmitter The RDA for pregnant women is 450 mg per day, only 25 mg more. The
acetylcholine), which takes place from day 56 increase is based on the typical transfer of choline to and accumulation
of pregnancy through three months postpartum; in the fetus. Rat studies, however, suggest that an amount two to three
54
and for the formation of the connections between times this may provide the offspring with lasting benefits. Choline can be
these neurons, called synapses, which occurs at obtained from liver, egg yolks, and high-quality grass-fed dairy; it can be
a high rate through the fourth year of life. 53 obtained to a lesser extent from meats, crucifers, nuts, and legumes (see
Rats fed three times the normal choline Figure 6 and Figure 7).
requirement during pregnancy give birth to off-

82 Wise Traditions