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Chemical Structure of PhosphatidylCholine (PC) |
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PhosphatidylCholine (PC) used to be called lecithin, perhaps because it is the most abundant lecithin constituent. As the most abundant phospholipid also in the human body, PC has many important functions. Clinically it is best validated for its support of liver recovery following toxic chemical or viral damage. Nine double-blind trials prove PC has lifesaving potential against pharmaceutical and death cap mushroom poisoning, alcoholic liver damage, and hepatitis viruses. The liver is the body’s workhorse organ, and its cells depend heavily on their membranes to process newly absorbed nutrients, assemble circulating lipoproteins such as LDL and HDL, and detoxify thousands of potentially toxic incoming chemicals. But membranes are delicate structures and so their turnover is high as a result of their becoming damaged during detoxicative activity. PC is the most abundant phospholipid of cell membranes, therefore the most important building block to furnish replacement membrane mass. Through its choline headgroup, PC supplies another key ingredient for liver regeneration: methyl groups, which support many key metabolic pathways that are necessary for the gene duplication that precedes cell division. Altogether, PC has unparalleled importance in liver cell activation, proliferation, maturation and regeneration following damage. PC also has excellent emulsifying properties which are drawn upon by the liver to produce the bile fluid. PC also has excellent surfactant properties, on which the lung and intestinal lining cells rely for their gas and fluid exchange functions. PC also protects the human intestinal lining against toxic attack, as from aspirin. PC even has been used to manage life-threatening intestinal lining breakdown in preterm babies. PC is safe to take and very well tolerated, and is affordable for manufacture into functionalized foods as well as dietary supplements. PC is an essential building block of cell membranes. |
