Not enough of this nutrient plus vitamin B12 triples cognitive decline
Choline, Eggs, and my recipe for Oven-Scrambled Eggs
👉This week, we’re talking about: the link between choline and cognitive health, eggs as an awesome source of choline, the best eggs and parts of the eggs for nutrition, ditching black-and-white thinking when it comes to foods, and I’m sharing my favorite Oven-Scrambled Eggs recipe.1
Key Takeaways
✅Choline is important for cognition in all phases of life, and can make a huge difference as we age.
✅Eggs are an underrated source of B vitamins, including choline! Most of the nutrition content in eggs is found in the yolk.
✅Diet plus lifestyle only account for 40% to 50% of health outcomes. This is important to know to set realistic goals.
✅For premium subscribers, your downloads this week are: Top 10 Choline Foods Fridge List and Oven-Scrambled Eggs
Choline for Cognitive Health
🧬One study found that elderly adults with high (versus low) plasma choline concentrations had significantly better cognitive performance, as measured through several different cognitive tests. When low choline levels occurred along with low vitamin B12 levels, poor test performance nearly tripled!
Choline is a water-soluble, vitamin-like compound that’s similar to B vitamins (it’s sometimes included in the B complex). Through its role in acetylcholine production and DNA synthesis, choline may have protective effects for neurological health—including cognitive function!
Along with benefits for cognitively healthy adults, choline may be protective against neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For example, one study found that each 50 mg increase in daily choline intake was associated with 4% lower risk of dementia and a 17% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Want to know the top 25 best food sources of choline? Learn them here.
Get 53% DV Choline with Eggs
🥚Eggs are one of the best food sources of choline with 53% DV per serving (2 large eggs), eggs are an excellent source of protein, selenium, biotin, omega-3 fats, protein, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, and vitamin B12 and more.
Eggs also contain good amounts of iron, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin D, and vitamin E. Like most of the vitamins and minerals in eggs, the choline is concentrated in the yolk.
In addition to chicken eggs, duck, goose, guinea fowl, gull, ostrich, pelican, pheasant, quail, and turkey eggs are also enjoyed around the world. Even though eggs were harvested and consumed dating back to the prehistoric era, the chicken was only formally domesticated for consumption and egg production in Southeast Asia and India before 7500 BCE.
Did you know, the color of the eggshell is not a reflection of its nutritional value or taste but varies according to species and breed – chickens with white ear lobes lay white eggs and those with red ear lobes lay brown eggs.
Eggs are the 315th most nutrient-dense food! Learn the Top 500 Nutrivore Foods here.
Oven-Scrambled Eggs Recipe
🥗 Oven-scrambled eggs are a time-saver that you will love. My grandfather, a biochemist who loved to apply his field in his kitchen, maintained that the fluffiest scrambled eggs come from adding water, and not milk or cream, to the eggs. Then blending in the melted butter creates fluffy scrambled eggs with fantastic flavor!
Add this recipe to your meal plan this week with Real Plans, the official Nutrivore meal planning app!
Nutrivore Mindset Corner
🧠Food has no moral value. Yet diet culture teaches us that foods are either “good” or “bad, and that we are, by extension, either “good” or “bad” when we eat those foods. This dichotomous thinking—we’re either disciplined or indulgent, successful or failing—disconnects us from our bodies, erodes joy, and fuels guilt. And studies show that viewing foods in black-and-white terms makes us less likely to be able to sustain a healthy diet and reach our health goals.
Nutrivore offers a different perspective: food is nourishment, pleasure, culture, emotion, and connection. Some foods nourish you with nutrients; others nourish your heart, your memories, or your sense of celebration. You deserve all of it.
When you stop moralizing food, you create space for balance, flexibility, and genuine well‑being. That’s where healing happens—where nourishment becomes an act of care, not judgment. And if this feels like a big shift from where you’re at currently, come join the Nutrivore90 challenge starting January 5th. We’ll work on improving diet quality while quitting diet mentality with a new habit focus to layer on each week of this 3-month FREE challenge.
Learn everything you need to know about the Nutrivore philosophy in my book, Nutrivore: Eat Any Food, Get Every Nutrient, and Transform Your Health!
Helpful Tip of the Week
💡The Nutrivore Score of chicken eggs varies based on the portion of the egg being consumed, as does the taste! Eggs can be eaten whole, or separated such that the yolk is removed from the egg white. It’s important to note that the vast majority of an egg’s nutrition is found in the yolk.
Below are the Nutrivore Scores of eggs, egg whites and egg yolks:
Chicken egg, white, raw - 272
Chicken egg, whole, raw - 355
Chicken egg, yolk, raw - 342
In addition to the uber-popular chicken egg, eggs from other types of poultry are also edible (even if harder to find). Not only do they vary in color, size, shape, and taste, they also vary in nutrient profile (and Nutrivore Score!).
Chicken egg, whole, raw - 355
Duck egg, whole, raw - 396
Goose egg, whole, raw - 398
Quail egg, whole, raw - 341
Turkey egg, whole, raw - 235
Watch & Learn
🎥Check out my YouTube videos on how much our everyday choices actually impacts health (spoiler: 40 to 50%) and 12 different ways to hit the daily value of choline! And don’t forget to subscribe and hit bell notifications, so you never miss a new video!
This Week’s Downloads
📥For paid subscribers, your downloads this week are:
Top 10 Choline Foods Fridge List - This 1-pager PDF guide lists the top 10 common food sources of choline, how much choline you get per serving (and how much a serving is!), while highlighting a few other valuable nutrients each food provides.
Oven-Scrambled Eggs Recipe - A beautifully-designed PDF version of this week’s recipe that you can save or print out, to build your own personalized Nutrivore Cookbook week by week.
You can find buttons to download at the bottom of this Substack. Thank you so much for supporting my work and Nutrivore!
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD
Founder of Nutrivore
Medical Disclaimer: The information provided in this Substack is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or dietary changes.
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