How Much Choline Should You Take When Pregnant? | Daily Intake

Pregnancy changes what your body pulls from food. Some nutrients get a lot of airtime, while others stay quiet until you see them on a lab panel, a prenatal label, or a food tracker.

Choline sits in that second group. It’s tied to cell membranes and acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter). During pregnancy, your baby draws on your intake, so “whatever happens to be in my meals” can turn into “I should check this.”

This article gives you a clear daily target, shows what that looks like on a plate, and helps you decide when a supplement makes sense.

How Much Choline Should You Take When Pregnant? Daily Targets That Fit Real Meals

In the U.S., the common daily target for pregnancy is an Adequate Intake (AI) of 450 mg of choline per day. The AI is used when scientists don’t have enough data to set an RDA, yet still need a practical intake level for healthy people.

The 450 mg/day pregnancy AI comes from the National Academies’ Dietary Reference Intakes work on choline. You can see that intake level explained in their choline chapter. National Academies choline DRI chapter.

After pregnancy, the AI often listed for lactation is higher (many references list 550 mg/day). If you’re pregnant now, stick to the pregnancy target unless your clinician has told you a different plan.

AI Vs RDA, In Plain Terms

An RDA is set when there’s enough evidence to estimate a level that meets the needs of most healthy people. Choline doesn’t have that depth of evidence across groups, so experts set an AI instead.

That does not make choline “optional.” It means the number is a best-available target, built from the evidence we have.

What If You Miss The Target Some Days?

Daily targets are meant to guide patterns, not punish you for a random Tuesday. Think in averages over a week.

If you’re getting close most days, you’re in a solid place. If you’re far off often, it’s worth adjusting meals or choosing a prenatal that includes choline.

What Choline Does During Pregnancy

Choline helps your body build phospholipids that form cell membranes. It also plays a role in methyl-group metabolism and makes acetylcholine, which nerves use for signaling.

During pregnancy, choline moves across the placenta. That transfer is one reason intake targets rise compared with non-pregnant adults.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements summarizes choline’s roles, intake levels, and upper limits in one place. NIH ODS choline fact sheet.

Why Many Prenatals Still Miss Choline

Lots of prenatals focus on folate, iron, iodine, and vitamin D. Choline is sometimes absent, or present in small amounts. That pushes the job back onto food.

Food-first works well here, since several common foods carry a meaningful amount of choline per serving.

Food-First Choline: What 450 Mg Looks Like On A Plate

Before you buy anything, it helps to see how quickly choline can add up when a few higher-choline foods show up in the week.

Eggs are a standout. Meat, fish, poultry, and dairy can also contribute a lot. Plant foods can help too, yet they usually bring smaller amounts per serving.

For food numbers, the USDA has published choline values for common foods. USDA choline content database (PDF).

Here’s a broad cheat sheet you can use to plan days that land near the 450 mg target. Values vary by brand, cut, and cooking method, so treat these as planning numbers, not lab-grade precision.

TABLE 1 (after ~40% of article)

Food	Common Serving	Choline (mg)
Egg, whole	1 large	~147
Egg yolk	1 oz	~190
Beef liver	3 oz cooked	~350+
Salmon	3 oz cooked	~180+
Chicken or turkey	3 oz cooked	~70–100
Milk	1 cup	~35–45
Greek yogurt	1 cup	~35–40
Soybeans (edamame)	1 cup cooked	~80–100
Broccoli	1 cup cooked	~60
Potatoes	1 large baked	~50–60

If you look at that table and think, “Okay, this is doable,” you’re right. Two eggs at breakfast can get you close to a third of the daily target on their own. Add a fish or poultry serving later, and the math gets friendly.

Three Meal Patterns That Often Land Near 450 Mg

Use these as templates. Swap foods to match what you can tolerate and what fits your budget.

• Egg-forward day: 2 eggs at breakfast, yogurt as a snack, chicken at dinner, broccoli on the side.
• Fish day: 1 egg or dairy at breakfast, salmon at lunch or dinner, extra veggies like broccoli or potatoes.
• Lower-meat day: edamame plus dairy, then use eggs a few times during the week to keep your average up.

If You Can’t Do Eggs Right Now

Nausea, smell sensitivity, or a sudden food aversion can wipe eggs off the menu fast. If that’s you, lean on what you can handle:

• Fish or poultry in smaller portions across the day
• Dairy you tolerate (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese)
• Cooked vegetables like broccoli and potatoes
• Soy foods like edamame or tofu when they sit well

When food is shaky for weeks, that’s a good moment to look at your prenatal label and see whether it includes choline in a meaningful amount.

Choline Supplements In Pregnancy: When They Make Sense

A supplement can help if your diet pattern rarely includes higher-choline foods, or if you’re dealing with persistent aversions that make it hard to build a steady weekly average.

Start by reading your prenatal label. If it lists choline, check the form and amount per serving. Some products include a small dose. Others include none at all.

The NIH fact sheet is useful here because it lists both intake targets and safety limits, plus notes on supplement forms. NIH ODS choline fact sheet (forms, intakes, UL).

How Much Supplemental Choline Is Typical?

There’s no single “right” pill dose for everyone. A practical approach is to estimate how much choline you get from your usual meals, then fill a smaller gap.

Many people do not need 450 mg from pills. They need a nudge that makes the food plan easier to hit on average.

Upper Limit: Don’t Stack High Doses

Choline has a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for adults of 3,500 mg per day from food and supplements combined. Side effects reported at high intakes can include sweating, a fishy body odor, stomach upset, and low blood pressure.

The Linus Pauling Institute summarizes the adult UL and high-intake side effects in a clear way. Linus Pauling Institute choline overview.

Most prenatals do not come close to the UL. The UL becomes relevant when someone stacks multiple products: a prenatal, a separate choline pill, and a “brain” supplement that also contains choline.

How To Estimate Your Daily Choline Without Obsessing

You don’t need perfect tracking to make progress. A simple estimate works.

1. Pick your anchor foods. Choose 2–4 foods you can eat most weeks (eggs, yogurt, salmon, chicken, edamame).
2. Count them in servings, not grams. “Two eggs” beats “113 grams of egg.”
3. Use a trusted database when you want a number. When you need a lookup, use USDA FoodData Central for a specific item and serving size. USDA FoodData Central.
4. Check your weekly pattern. If you hit higher-choline foods 5–7 days a week, you’re usually close to target on average.

This keeps the work light while still moving your intake toward the level used in pregnancy guidance.

TABLE 2 (after ~60% of article)

Choline Planning By Trimester: Practical Focus Points

Pregnancy symptoms shift through the trimesters, and food tolerance can change with them. The daily AI remains 450 mg/day through pregnancy, yet your strategy can change based on what you can eat.

Stage	Common Eating Barrier	Choline Strategy
First trimester	Nausea, smell sensitivity	Small portions of dairy, eggs when tolerated, add a prenatal with choline if gaps persist
Second trimester	Busy days, appetite returns	Build a repeatable pattern: eggs or yogurt most mornings, fish or poultry a few times weekly
Third trimester	Heartburn, early fullness	Split choline foods into smaller meals: eggs at breakfast, yogurt midday, protein plus veg at dinner
Any stage	No eggs or little animal food	Use soy foods, dairy if used, and a prenatal that lists choline in a meaningful dose

Special Cases That Deserve A Clinician Chat

Most people can use the 450 mg/day target with food plus a prenatal check. Still, some situations call for extra care:

• Pre-existing liver disease or a history of unusual reactions to supplements
• Use of multiple supplements that may overlap on choline
• Restricted diets where a lot of high-choline foods are off the table for long stretches

If any of those fit you, bring your supplement labels to your next prenatal visit and ask your OB or midwife to sanity-check the total daily dose.

Choosing A Prenatal With Choline: Label Checks That Matter

Prenatal labels can be confusing because choline can appear under different names. Common forms include choline bitartrate and phosphatidylcholine. The label lists a milligram amount, and that number is what you use for your daily total.

Two quick checks make this easier:

• Find the milligrams of choline per serving. If the label has zero, food has to do the full job.
• Look for stacks. If you already take a prenatal plus another product with choline, add the totals so you don’t drift toward high-dose territory.

If you want a single, steady source of truth for intake levels and safety caps, keep the NIH fact sheet bookmarked. NIH ODS choline fact sheet.

A Simple One-Week Choline Check

This is a low-effort way to see where you stand without tracking every bite.

1. Pick three higher-choline foods you can eat this week (eggs, salmon, chicken, milk, yogurt, edamame).
2. Schedule them across the week like appointments: “eggs Mon/Wed/Fri,” “salmon Tue,” “yogurt daily,” “chicken Thu/Sat.”
3. At the end of the week, ask one question: Did I include a higher-choline food most days? If yes, you’re likely close to the pregnancy target on average.

If the answer is no, adjust one lever at a time: add eggs twice a week, swap one dinner protein, or switch to a prenatal that includes choline.

Takeaways You Can Act On Today

For pregnancy, the common daily target is 450 mg of choline. That level is reachable with a food pattern that includes eggs, fish, poultry, dairy, and some plant foods, with a prenatal top-up when diet gaps stick around.

Keep your approach steady, not perfect. Build a weekly pattern you can repeat. If you add supplements, avoid stacking multiple products that overlap on choline, and keep an eye on total dose.