{
  "dataset": "choline-cost-by-brand",
  "title": "Choline Supplements Compared — cost per elemental choline mg, not bitartrate salt weight",
  "sourcePage": "https://verifiedsupplementdata.com/choline/best-overall/",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "Verified Supplement Data (2026), Choline Cost Comparison",
  "dateModified": "2026-07-19",
  "methodology": "Choline bitartrate is a salt; only part of its weight is elemental (actual) choline. Choline MW 104.17 / choline bitartrate MW 253.25 = 41.1% elemental — chemistry, not a study finding. \"650mg choline bitartrate\" is NOT 650mg of choline. Products are ranked by costPer100mgElemental = (price / servings) / (disclosed elemental choline mg / 100) — computed ONLY where a product discloses elemental choline mg. Some labels disclose the elemental figure directly (Solgar: \"Choline (as choline bitartrate) 350mg\"), one discloses BOTH the salt weight and the elemental figure (NOW: \"Choline (from 630mg Choline Bitartrate) 250mg\" — also a combo product with 250mg added inositol, not a choline source), and phosphatidylcholine products disclose NEITHER (phosphatidylcholine is roughly 13% choline by weight, but purity varies by batch with no fixed conversion the way bitartrate's 41% is, so Double Wood's elemental choline content is UNKNOWABLE from the label — costPer100mgElemental is null, not merely omitted). DOSE SPINE (NIH ODS Choline Fact Sheet for Health Professionals, a government reference, cited separately from PMIDs): Adequate Intake 425mg/day nonpregnant women, 550mg/day men, 450mg/day pregnant women; Tolerable Upper Intake Level 3500mg/day adults (hypotension and fishy-body-odor thresholds). EVIDENCE CONTEXT: Wallace & Fulgoni 2016 (PMID 26886842, NHANES 2009-2012) found only 10.8% of Americans meet the AI (~90% fall short). Fischer 2007 (PMID 17490963) and da Costa 2004 (PMID 15213044) are controlled human depletion trials directly demonstrating a choline-deficiency syndrome (fatty liver, elevated CPK muscle damage) — not a marketing claim. Caudill 2018 (PMID 29217669) is an RCT of 480mg vs 930mg/day maternal choline in the third trimester, finding faster infant information-processing speed — note 930mg is roughly double the 450mg pregnancy AI, not itself the AI. Poly 2011 (PMID 22071706) is an OBSERVATIONAL association between dietary choline and general-population cognition, a weaker evidentiary tier than the deficiency/pregnancy trials. Tang 2013 (PMID 23614584) and Wang 2011 (PMID 21475195) document gut-bacterial conversion of choline to TMAO, associated with cardiovascular risk in OBSERVATIONAL cardiac-risk cohorts — not an RCT showing AI-range choline intake causes cardiovascular harm in healthy people. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA; these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.",
  "headline": {
    "productsCompared": 4,
    "disclosed": 3,
    "undisclosed": 1,
    "bitartrateElementalPct": 41.1,
    "aiWomenMg": 425,
    "aiMenMg": 550,
    "aiPregnancyMg": 450,
    "ulMg": 3500,
    "cheapestPer100mgElemental": 0.03,
    "cheapestPer100mgElementalBrand": "Nutricost",
    "elementalOnlyLabelBrand": "Solgar",
    "dualDisclosureBrand": "NOW Foods",
    "note": "Ranked by disclosed elemental choline mg FIRST, then cost per 100mg elemental — never by bitartrate/phosphatidylcholine salt weight or commissions. One of four tracked products (phosphatidylcholine) does not disclose elemental choline mg at all."
  },
  "columns": [
    "brand",
    "product",
    "slug",
    "form",
    "labelMgPerServing",
    "elementalCholineMgPerServing",
    "servings",
    "price",
    "costPerServing",
    "costPer100mgElemental",
    "verdict",
    "combo",
    "thirdParty"
  ],
  "units": {
    "labelMgPerServing": "mg choline bitartrate or phosphatidylcholine (as labeled)",
    "elementalCholineMgPerServing": "mg elemental choline (disclosed)",
    "price": "USD",
    "costPerServing": "USD/serving",
    "costPer100mgElemental": "USD per 100mg of elemental choline"
  },
  "citations": [
    {
      "claim": "NHANES 2009-2012 analysis, n=varies by age group: only 10.8% of Americans 2+ met the Adequate Intake for choline (15.6% males, 6.1% females); 89.2% fell short overall.",
      "source": "Wallace TC, Fulgoni VL. 2016, J Am Coll Nutr",
      "pmid": "26886842"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Controlled depletion trial, n=57 adults: on a very-low-choline diet, 77% of men and 80% of postmenopausal women developed fatty liver and/or elevated CPK (muscle damage), vs 44% of premenopausal women; some men developed dysfunction even at the then-current 550mg/day AI.",
      "source": "Fischer LM, et al. 2007, Am J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "17490963"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Human depletion + cell-culture study: 3 of 4 choline-deficient subjects showed serum CPK elevations up to 66-fold, reversible on repletion; deprived muscle cells leaked 3.5x more CPK.",
      "source": "da Costa KA, et al. 2004, Am J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "15213044"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Randomized controlled-feeding trial: pregnant women given 930mg/day vs 480mg/day choline in the third trimester; infants of higher-choline mothers had significantly faster reaction time/information-processing speed at 4, 7, 10, and 13 months.",
      "source": "Caudill MA, et al. 2018, FASEB J",
      "pmid": "29217669"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Framingham Offspring Cohort, n=1,391: higher dietary choline intake associated with better verbal/visual memory; OBSERVATIONAL, not a causal or supplementation claim.",
      "source": "Poly C, et al. 2011, Am J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "22071706"
    },
    {
      "claim": "n=4,007 cohort + oral challenge: fasting plasma TMAO in the highest quartile carried HR 2.54 (95% CI 1.96-3.28) for major cardiovascular events, in a cardiac-catheterization-referred (elevated-baseline-risk) cohort — an observational association, not an RCT showing AI-range choline supplementation causes cardiovascular harm.",
      "source": "Tang WHW, et al. 2013, N Engl J Med",
      "pmid": "23614584"
    }
  ],
  "products": [
    {
      "brand": "Nutricost",
      "product": "Choline Bitartrate 650mg",
      "slug": "nutricost-choline-bitartrate-650mg",
      "form": "Capsule",
      "labelMgPerServing": 650,
      "elementalCholineMgPerServing": 260,
      "servings": 240,
      "price": 16.95,
      "costPerServing": 0.07,
      "costPer100mgElemental": 0.03,
      "verdict": "elemental-disclosed",
      "combo": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Solgar",
      "product": "Choline 350mg",
      "slug": "solgar-choline-350mg",
      "form": "Capsule",
      "labelMgPerServing": 350,
      "elementalCholineMgPerServing": 350,
      "servings": 100,
      "price": 12.74,
      "costPerServing": 0.13,
      "costPer100mgElemental": 0.04,
      "verdict": "elemental-disclosed",
      "combo": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "NOW Foods",
      "product": "Choline & Inositol 500mg",
      "slug": "now-foods-choline-and-inositol-250mg",
      "form": "Capsule",
      "labelMgPerServing": 630,
      "elementalCholineMgPerServing": 250,
      "servings": 100,
      "price": 9.79,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPer100mgElemental": 0.04,
      "verdict": "elemental-disclosed",
      "combo": true,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Double Wood",
      "product": "Phosphatidylcholine 1200mg",
      "slug": "double-wood-phosphatidylcholine-1200mg",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "labelMgPerServing": 1200,
      "elementalCholineMgPerServing": null,
      "servings": 210,
      "price": 19.95,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPer100mgElemental": null,
      "verdict": "undisclosed",
      "combo": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    }
  ]
}