UNC study finds blood markers tied to choline intake

Researchers at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute say two blood compounds, choline and betaine, tracked dietary choline intake in healthy adults. The findings could eventually help clinicians measure whether people are getting enough of the essential nutrient without relying only on food logs.

Why it matters: - Choline supports the brain, nervous system, cell membranes, liver and muscle health. - Many people in the United States do not meet the recommended intake from food. - A blood-based measure could make choline status easier to assess than diet recalls and questionnaires. - The work could support more personalized nutrition decisions if the markers hold up in everyday eating.

What happened: - Researchers at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute studied whether blood levels of choline-related compounds could reflect how much choline healthy adults ate. - Isis Trujillo-Gonzalez, an assistant professor of Nutrition at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, led the work. - The study used a double-blind randomized crossover controlled feeding design. - Healthy adults completed three diet periods: 100% of choline Adequate Intake, 50%, and 25%. - The paper was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on July 6, 2026.

The details: - Researchers controlled participants’ food intake, which let the team know exactly how much choline each person consumed. - Adequate Intake is about 550 mg per day for men and 425 mg per day for women. - A large egg provides roughly 130 mg of choline. - A 3-ounce serving of salmon provides about 190 mg of choline. - A 3-ounce serving of beef or chicken provides about 55 to 70 mg of choline. - The study found that plasma choline and betaine changed in ways that reflected dietary choline intake. - Measuring choline and betaine together improved the ability to distinguish adequate intake from low intake. - Betaine is produced from choline and helps with methylation, a process involved in regulating genes and chemical pathways. - Some participants responded more strongly than others even when they ate the same controlled diet. - The findings suggest a future blood test could estimate choline intake more objectively than self-reported diet records. - The published paper is available here.

Between the lines: - The study fills a gap because no standard blood test currently exists for choline status. - The results point to precision nutrition, where the same diet can affect different people in different ways. - The controlled feeding design is a strength, but it is still not the same as daily life. - Trujillo-Gonzalez said the next step is to test whether the markers work in people’s everyday eating outside a controlled study.

What's next: - Researchers will need to validate the blood markers in free-living adults. - If the markers hold up, clinicians may gain a practical tool to assess whether patients are getting enough choline. - The longer-term goal is more accurate, evidence-based nutrition guidance grounded in biology, not just food estimates.

The bottom line: - Choline may soon join the short list of nutrients that can be measured more directly in blood, which could change how scientists and clinicians assess diet quality.