Hello everyone. Today’s guest post comes from Monique Muro who promotes AllDaySlim – a natural dietary supplement which can also improve energy levels and support proper sleep patterns.
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Doctors and scientists have waffled about the benefits of lecithin for years. While some scientists agree the lipid material can improve memory, metabolism, liver and cognitive function, cholesterol levels, fat transport, and protect cell membranes, others tout that lecithin studies have ultimately been inconclusive.
Benefits of Lecithin
At its core, lecithin is a multi-functional lipid material composed of choline, inositol, phosphoric acid, and linoleic acid. It can be extracted chemically from soy bean oil and its unique molecular structure allows for it to be used as an emulsifying agent, meaning it acts as a stabilizer in certain foods like margarine and chocolate. It can be consumed naturally through a diet rich in egg yolk, soy beans, peanuts, cauliflower, cabbage, corn, lentils, green beans, and is essential to every living cell in the body.
So how does lecithin work in the body, and why is it so important? Because lecithin disperses fat when mixed with water, it promotes a healthy processing of fat and cholesterol in the blood stream. This in turn, is how lecithin promotes healthy cholesterol levels, as well as cardiovascular health. It ensures that fat stays solvent in the water and doesn’t attach to artery walls causing unhealthy fat build-up.
Additionally, lecithin acts as a soft sheath covering cell membranes throughout the body, including the brain and spinal cord. The most important component of lecithin responsible for this is choline, which was declared an “essential nutrient” in 1998 by the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Without it, cell membranes would solidify, making it difficult to absorb the proper nutrients. Choline also assists the production of acetylcholine in the body, a substance essential to memory function in the way it relays chemical messages to parts of the nervous system. This is the reason many leading scientists feel lecithin can improve cognitive function and memory.
Lecithin Supplements
Widely available in powder, granular, and capsule form, lecithin is one hundred percent non-toxic. In powder and granular form, lecithin can be sprinkled onto ice cream, or blended into power smoothies. Further, it has become a supplement a lot of people, including Tara Gidus of the American Dietetic Association, have added to their daily assortment of vitamins. Gidus, who often sprinkled it into cereal while she was pregnant, stated:
“I wouldn’t make a blanket statement that all pregnant women should take it. It hasn’t been studied all that well, but it is a natural part of the soy bean, and you can take it now and then, especially if you’re not a big egg eater.”
Lecithin is available in supplement form in products like Country Life Lecithin, whose core ingredient is lecithin, as well as a weight loss supplement called AllDaySlim, in which lecithin is a key component.
Lecithin Side Effects
As with anything, lecithin doses should be used in moderation, and in the amount recommended on the bottle. Excessive amounts of lecithin have been known to cause vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, headaches, weight gain or loss of appetite, rashes, and/or unpleasant body odor. Additionally, it is recommended that people allergic to soy do not consume lecithin on account of minute traces of soy protein present in the extracted soy bean oil.
Overall, supplementing lecithin in a healthy diet regimen has its prospects. As with all supplements, however, it’s best to take stock of any allergies and/or health risks, before ascertaining whether or not lecithin is a necessary course of action.