Cereal foods are the major source of betaine in the Western diet

Betaine and its precursor choline are important components of one-carbon metabolism, remethylating homocysteine into methionine and providing methyl groups for DNA methylation. Cereals are the main source of betaine in the diet, though there is little literature available on the content of betaine in cereal products, nor on betaine intake from cereals. Betaine and free-choline concentrations were measured by liquid-chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in a wide range of commercially available cereal foods and cereal fractions. Whole grain wheat and related fractions were the best overall common source of betaine, while the pseudocereal quinoa had the highest amount of betaine measured (3900mug/g). Based on estimates of dietary intake data cereal foods provide approximately 60-67% of betaine in Western diets, and 20-40% of betaine in South-East Asian diets. Average intake of betaine was 131mg/d, well below those used in intervention studies using betaine to lower blood homocysteine.

Ross, A.B., A. Zangger, and S.P. Guiraud, Cereal foods are the major source of betaine in the Western diet - Analysis of betaine and free choline in cereal foods and updated assessments of betaine intake. Food Chem, 2014. 145C: p. 859-865

Plant-based foods as a source of lipotropes for human nutrition: a survey of in vivo studies

Increased consumption of plant products is associated with lower chronic disease prevalence. This is attributed to the great diversity of healthy phytochemicals present in these foods. The most investigated physiological effects have been their antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, hypolipidemic, and hypoglycemic properties. Although less studied in humans, some compounds were very early on shown to be lipotropic in animals, i.e., the capacity to hasten the removal of fat from liver and/or reduce hepatic lipid synthesis or deposits by mainly increasing phospholipid synthesis via the transmethylation pathway for triglyceride-rich lipoprotein exportation from the liver and enhanced fatty acid beta-oxidation and/or down- and up-regulation of genes involved in lipogenic and fatty acid oxidation enzyme synthesis, respectively. The main plant lipotropes are choline, betaine, myo-inositol, methionine, and carnitine. Magnesium, niacin, pantothenate, and folates also indirectly support the overall lipotropic effect. The exhaustive review of rat studies investigating phytochemical effect on hepatic lipid metabolism suggests that some fatty acids, acetic acid, melatonin, phytic acid, some fiber compounds, oligofructose, resistant starch, some phenolic acids, flavonoids, lignans, stilbenes, curcumin, saponins, coumarin, some plant extracts, and some solid foods may be lipotropic. However, this remains to be confirmed in humans, for whom intervention studies are practically non-existent.

Fardet, A. and J.M. Chardigny, Plant-based foods as a source of lipotropes for human nutrition: a survey of in vivo studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2013. 53(6): p. 535-90

Dietary Choline and Betaine Intakes Vary in an Adult Multiethnic Population

Choline and betaine are important nutrients for human health, but reference food composition databases for these nutrients became available only recently. We tested the feasibility of using these databases to estimate dietary choline and betaine intakes among ethnically diverse adults who participated in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study. Of the food items (n = 965) used to quantify intakes for the MEC FFQ, 189 items were exactly matched with items in the USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods for total choline, choline-containing compounds, and betaine, and 547 items were matched to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference for total choline (n = 547) and 148 for betaine. When a match was not found, choline and betaine values were imputed based on the same food with a different form (124 food items for choline, 300 for choline compounds, 236 for betaine), a similar food (n = 98, 284, and 227, respectively) or the closest item in the same food category (n = 6, 191, and 157, respectively), or the values were assumed to be zero (n = 1, 1, and 8, respectively). The resulting mean intake estimates for choline and betaine among 188,147 MEC participants (aged 45-75) varied by sex (372 and 154 mg/d in men, 304 and 128 mg/d in women, respectively; P-heterogeneity < 0.0001) and by race/ethnicity among Caucasians, African Americans, Japanese Americans, Latinos, and Native Hawaiians (P-heterogeneity < 0.0001), largely due to the variation in energy intake. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of assessing choline and betaine intake and characterize the variation in intake that exists in a multiethnic population.

Yonemori, K.M., et al., Dietary Choline and Betaine Intakes Vary in an Adult Multiethnic Population. J Nutr, 2013

Estimation of usual intake and food sources of choline and betaine in New Zealand reproductive age women

Recently, choline has been associated with neurodevelopment, cognitive function and neural tube defect incidence. However, data on usual intakes are limited, and estimates of dietary intakes of choline and its metabolite betaine, are not available for New Zealanders. The objective of the present study was to determine usual intake and food sources of choline and betaine in a group of New Zealand reproductive age women. Dietary intake data were collected from a sample of 125 women, aged 18-40 years, by means of a 3-day weighed food record, and usual choline and betaine intake distributions were determined. The mean (SD) daily intakes of choline and betaine were 316 (66) mg and 178 (66) mg, respectively. The total choline intake relative to energy intake and body weight was 0.18 mg/kcal and 5.1 mg/kg, respectively. Only 16% of participants met or exceeded the Adeuate Intake (AI) for adult women of 425 mg of choline. The top five major food contributors of choline were eggs, red meat, milk, bread and chicken; and of betaine were bread, breakfast cereal, pasta, grains and root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes). Our findings contribute towards the recent emergence of published reports on the range of dietary choline and betaine intakes consumed by free-living populations. In our sample of New Zealand women, few participants were meeting or exceeding the AI level. Given recent epidemiological evidence suggesting health benefits of increased choline and betaine intakes, recommendations should be made to encourage the consumption of choline and betaine-rich foods.

Mygind, V.L., et al., Estimation of usual intake and food sources of choline and betaine in New Zealand reproductive age women. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2013. 22(2): p. 319-24

Lower seasonal maternal dietary betaine intake and resultant lower blood levels correlates with previously reported reduced DNA methylation in offspring

BACKGROUND: Animal models show that periconceptional supplementation with folic acid, vitamin B-12, choline, and betaine can induce differences in offspring phenotype mediated by epigenetic changes in DNA. In humans, altered DNA methylation patterns have been observed in offspring whose mothers were exposed to famine or who conceived in the Gambian rainy season.

OBJECTIVE:The objective was to understand the seasonality of DNA methylation patterns in rural Gambian women. We studied natural variations in dietary intake of nutrients involved in methyl-donor pathways and their effect on the respective metabolic biomarkers.

DESIGN:In 30 women of reproductive age (18-45 y), we monitored diets monthly for 1 y by using 48-h weighed records to measure intakes of choline, betaine, folate, methionine, riboflavin, and vitamins B-6 and B-12. Blood biomarkers of these nutrients, S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), homocysteine, cysteine, and dimethylglycine were also assessed monthly.

RESULTS:Dietary intakes of riboflavin, folate, choline, and betaine varied significantly by season; the most dramatic variation was seen for betaine. All metabolic biomarkers showed significant seasonality, and vitamin B-6 and folate had the highest fluctuations. Correlations between dietary intakes and blood biomarkers were found for riboflavin, vitamin B-6, active vitamin B-12 (holotranscobalamin), and betaine. We observed a seasonal switch between the betaine and folate pathways and a probable limiting role of riboflavin in these processes and a higher SAM/SAH ratio during the rainy season.

CONCLUSIONS:Naturally occurring seasonal variations in food-consumption patterns have a profound effect on methyl-donor biomarker status. The direction of these changes was consistent with previously reported differences in methylation of metastable epialleles. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01811641.

Dominguez-Salas, P., et al., DNA methylation potential: dietary intake and blood concentrations of one-carbon metabolites and cofactors in rural African women. Am J Clin Nutr, 2013

Thermal and refining processes, not fermentation, tend to reduce lipotropic capacity of plant-based foods

Plant-based foods (PBF) are relevant and diversified sources of lipotropes, which are compounds preventing excess hepatic fat deposits. In a first study, we defined the lipotropic capacity (LC, %) of raw PBF as the means of 8 lipotrope densities (LD, mg/100 kcal), each expressed relative to that of a reference food ranking the highest considering its mean 8 LD ranks (LCraw asparagus = 100%) (A. Fardet, J.-F. Martin and J. M. Chardigny, J. Food Comp. Anal., 2011, DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2011.1003.1013). We showed that vegetables appeared as the best source of lipotropes on a 100 kcal-basis compared to legumes, cereals, fruits and nuts. The main objective of this second study was to quantify the effect of processing on LD and LC of raw PBF based on lipotrope contents collected in a USDA (United State Department of Agriculture) database and the literature, i.e. betaine, choline, myo-inositol, methionine, magnesium, niacin, pantothenic acid and folate contents. Choline and betaine densities were not significantly affected by processing while methionine and lipotropic micronutrient densities were significantly decreased, especially for magnesium, pantothenate and folates. Myo-inositol density decreases were insignificant due to lower product number resulting from limited literature data. Lipotropic micronutrient densities were more affected by processing than other densities. Fermentations increased betaine (median change of +32%) and choline (+34%) densities. Canning and boiling vegetables increased choline densities (+26%). Globally, processing significantly reduced LC by 20%, fermentations being less drastic (median change of −5%) than refining (−33%) and thermal treatments (−16%). More specifically, canning increased LC of beetroot (536 vs 390%) and common bean (40 vs 36%) as fermentation towards LC grape (14 vs 7% for wine). Results were then mainly discussed based on percentages of lipotrope content changes on a dry-weight basis. Results of this study also showed that the LC is quite a relevant index to estimate effect of processing on lipotropic potential of PBF.

Fardet, A., J.F. Martin, and J.M. Chardigny, Thermal and refining processes, not fermentation, tend to reduce lipotropic capacity of plant-based foods. Food Funct, 2011. 2(8): p. 483-504.

Choline and betaine food sources and intakes in Taiwanese

Choline and betaine are involved in several similar health-relevant metabolic pathways, but the foods sources are different. We have assessed their intakes (individual, sums and ratios) from a dominantly Chinese food cultural point of view. A representative free-living Taiwanese population aged 13-64 years was drawn from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) 1993-1996. Food intake was derived from interviews as 24-hour recalls. The USDA database, with adaptations for Taiwan, provided choline and betaine food compositions. Major food contributors of these nutrients were identified and compared with data from the US Framingham offspring study. Mean and variance reduced median nutrient intakes were calculated. Top ten major food contributors of choline in Taiwan were eggs, pork, chicken, fish, soybean and its products, dark leafy vegetables, dairy, fruit, wheat products and light leafy vegetables in sequence. For betaine, the top ten were dark leafy vegetables, wheat products, fish, pork, bread, chicken, cake/cookies, grain-based alcoholic beverages, rice and its products and sauces. The main contributors of choline in Taiwan and the USA were, respectively, eggs and red meat; and for betaine, greens were similarly best contributor. The rankings of the main food contributors of choline and betaine differed substantially between Taiwan and the USA. The total daily intakes (mean+/-SE, mg) in Taiwan for choline were 372+/-19 (median=348) in men and 265+/-9 (median 261) for women; for betaine, values were 101+/-3 (median 93) in men and 78+/-8 (median 76) for women. These allow for health outcome considerations.
Chu, D.M., et al., Choline and betaine food sources and intakes in Taiwanese. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2012. 21(4): p. 547-57

Betaine content of soy sauce

Soy sauce consists of many metabolites that are produced during fermentation or aging and that have various health benefits. However, their comprehensive assessment has been limited. This paper presents a metabolic characterization of soy sauce, especially that aged up to 12 years using 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate pattern recognition techniques.

Elevated amino acids and organic acids and the consumption of carbohydrate were associated with continuous involvement of microflora in aging for 12 years. In particular, continuous increases in the levels of betaine were found during aging for up to 12 years, demonstrating that microbial- or enzyme-related metabolites were also coupled with osmotolerant or halophilic bacteria present during aging.

Ko et al (2009). "Metabolomic Insight into Soy Sauce through (1)H NMR Spectroscopy." J Agric Food Chem. Epub Jul 10