Citicoline vs Choline: Bitartrate, Phosphatidylcholine and Acetylcholine

Citicoline and choline are related but not the same. Choline is an essential nutrient found in eggs, meat and fish, while citicoline (also called CDP-choline) is a compound your body makes from choline on the way to building brain cell membranes, and as a supplement it supplies both choline and uridine. Plain choline forms such as choline bitartrate mainly help fill the daily choline gap, while citicoline is the form used in human studies of memory and brain energy markers.

Key Takeaways

• Choline is an essential nutrient: adult men need 550 mg a day and adult women 425 mg, and most people in the United States get less than that (NIH ODS).
• Citicoline is about 20 percent choline by weight, choline bitartrate about 40 percent and phosphatidylcholine roughly 13 percent, so the form you pick changes how much choline each capsule gives.
• Citicoline raised both blood choline and blood uridine in 12 adults, so it supplies two building blocks at once (Wurtman et al., 2000).
• In 100 healthy adults aged 50 to 85 with age-associated memory impairment, 500 mg of citicoline a day for 12 weeks improved episodic memory scores compared with placebo (Nakazaki et al., 2021).
• Acetylcholine is a messenger nerve cells make from choline; citicoline and choline both supply its raw material.
• Keep total choline from food and supplements under the adult upper limit of 3,500 mg a day.

What Is the Difference Between Citicoline and Choline?

Choline is a nutrient your body uses to make phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, two fats that form a large part of every cell membrane, and to make acetylcholine, a messenger involved in memory, mood and muscle control. Your liver makes some, but not enough, so you need it from food; one hard-boiled egg gives about 147 mg (NIH ODS).

Citicoline is one step further along. Your cells join choline to a molecule called cytidine to make CDP-choline, and then use CDP-choline to build phosphatidylcholine. CDP-choline and citicoline are two names for the same compound. When you swallow citicoline, it is split during digestion, and in people the parts that reach the blood are choline and uridine; uridine can enter the brain and be used to rebuild the cytidine part (Wurtman et al., 2000). So citicoline brings two of the raw materials for cell membranes, not just one.

For a full profile of the ingredient, see our citicoline ingredient page, and for every choline form side by side, our choline supplement guide.

Citicoline vs Choline Bitartrate vs Phosphatidylcholine at a Glance

Form	Choline by weight	What else it supplies	What human studies have measured
Citicoline (CDP-choline)	About 20 percent	Uridine, a second building block for cell membranes	Memory scores over 12 weeks; frontal lobe energy markers over 6 weeks
Choline bitartrate	About 40 percent	Tartaric acid, the salt it is bound to	Blood choline and TMAO levels; used to fill the daily choline gap
Phosphatidylcholine (and lecithin)	Roughly 13 percent; lecithin less, since it is a mix	Fatty acids, as it is a whole membrane fat	Blood choline after a dose; no TMAO rise over 4 weeks in one trial

The percentages come from each compound's molecular weight, so read them as close estimates. They explain why 500 mg of citicoline gives about 100 mg of choline, while the same weight of choline bitartrate gives about 200 mg.

What Research Shows for Citicoline

Citicoline has its own human research:

• Memory. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 100 healthy adults aged 50 to 85 with age-associated memory impairment took 500 mg of citicoline or placebo every day for 12 weeks. The citicoline group improved more on episodic memory, the kind you use to remember events and details, and on an overall memory score (Nakazaki et al., 2021).
• Brain energy markers. In 16 healthy adults with an average age of 47, 500 mg or 2,000 mg of citicoline a day for 6 weeks raised phosphocreatine by about 7 percent and ATP, the molecule cells use to carry energy, by about 14 percent in a frontal brain region, measured with brain scans. Membrane building blocks changed too, which tended to be larger at 500 mg. The study had no placebo group (Silveri et al., 2008).

Our guide to citicoline benefits goes deeper into these studies, and citicoline vs alpha GPC compares it with the other brain-focused choline form. If you are weighing it against your morning coffee, our guide to citicoline vs caffeine compares a non-stimulant with a stimulant.

Citicoline vs Choline Bitartrate

Choline bitartrate is choline bound to tartaric acid, a common form in multivitamins. It carries about twice as much choline per milligram as citicoline, so if you eat few eggs or little meat, it reaches your daily choline intake with fewer milligrams.

Citicoline is chosen for a different reason: it also brings uridine, and it is the form given in the memory and brain energy studies above. Since 500 mg of citicoline gives about 100 mg of choline, food still provides most of your daily choline.

One difference concerns TMAO, a compound made by gut bacteria from choline that research has linked with heart and blood vessel health. In a 4-week randomized trial in 82 healthy adults, fasting TMAO rose in every group that took choline bitartrate, but not in the groups that ate whole eggs or took phosphatidylcholine (Wilcox et al., 2021). That trial did not include citicoline.

Citicoline vs Phosphatidylcholine

Phosphatidylcholine is the finished membrane fat that citicoline helps your body build. It is found in eggs and soy, and lecithin is a mix that contains it. Only about an eighth of its weight is choline, so you need more milligrams for the same choline.

The fat-bound form appears to be absorbed well. In a randomized crossover test in 18 healthy adults given one drink with 3 g of choline, the rise in blood choline over 6 hours was about four times larger when the choline came from egg yolk phospholipids, mainly phosphatidylcholine, than from choline bitartrate (Smolders et al., 2019). That was one very large test dose, near the daily upper limit, not an amount to copy.

Citicoline vs Acetylcholine

These two are often confused. Acetylcholine is a messenger that nerve cells make from choline and release to pass signals, including signals involved in memory and attention (NIH ODS). Your body makes it where it is needed and breaks it down quickly, so it is not something you take as a pill.

Citicoline and choline supplements supply the choline that acetylcholine is built from. A different approach is to help the acetylcholine you already make last longer: huperzine A slows acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme that breaks acetylcholine down. Read more in our acetylcholine for memory guide and our guide to huperzine A.

Choosing Between Them

• To fill a choline gap from your diet: choline bitartrate or more choline-rich foods such as eggs give the most choline per milligram.
• For choline with membrane fats: phosphatidylcholine or lecithin.
• For focus, memory and brain energy support: citicoline, at the 500 mg a day used in the 12-week memory trial.
• Count everything. Add up choline from a multivitamin, a choline supplement and citicoline, and keep the total under 3,500 mg a day.
• Take it daily and give it time. The citicoline studies above ran for 6 to 12 weeks of daily use.

For the wider picture of focus, memory and daily habits, see our guide to mental clarity and cognitive health.

Safety and How Much Choline Is Too Much

The adult upper limit for choline is 3,500 mg a day from all sources. Very high intakes are linked with a fishy body odor, vomiting, heavy sweating and low blood pressure (NIH ODS). Normal supplement amounts sit far below that limit: 500 mg of citicoline gives about 100 mg of choline.

The 12-week memory trial tracked adverse events, blood pressure and blood tests, and its authors concluded that regular citicoline use at 500 mg a day may be safe (Nakazaki et al., 2021). If you take prescription medicine, are being treated for a medical condition, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before starting citicoline or a choline supplement.

Where Our Brain Formulas Fit

Our Brain Energy Capsules are coming soon. The planned formula gives citicoline 500 mg, PQQ 20 mg (as PQQ disodium salt) and L-ergothioneine 25 mg per serving, with no caffeine or other stimulants. Directions are one serving a day with water, as directed on the label, and the final ingredient list and Supplement Facts will be shared at launch.

If you want daily focus support you can order today, our Clarity Capsules take the acetylcholine route described above. Each two-capsule serving gives lion's mane 8:1 fruiting body extract 250 mg, epimedium extract 200 mg, maca root extract 200 mg, bacopa monnieri extract 200 mg, rhodiola rosea extract 150 mg and huperzine A 200 mcg, in vegan capsules. Take 2 capsules daily, preferably in the morning on an empty stomach. It is made with third-party tested ingredients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is citicoline better than choline?

It depends on your goal. Choline bitartrate gives more choline per milligram, which suits a diet low in choline. Citicoline gives less choline but adds uridine, and it is the form used in a 12-week trial where 500 mg a day improved episodic memory scores in healthy adults aged 50 to 85.

What is the difference between citicoline and choline bitartrate?

Choline bitartrate is choline bound to tartaric acid and is about 40 percent choline by weight. Citicoline is about 20 percent choline and also supplies uridine, a second building block for cell membranes. Choline bitartrate is mainly used to reach your daily choline intake, while citicoline is used for brain support.

Is CDP choline the same as citicoline?

Yes. CDP-choline, short for cytidine diphosphate-choline, and citicoline are two names for the same compound. Your body makes it as the step between choline and phosphatidylcholine. As a supplement, it is split during digestion into choline and, in people, uridine, which both circulate in the blood.

Citicoline vs phosphatidylcholine: which should I take?

Phosphatidylcholine, found in eggs, soy and lecithin, adds choline along with membrane fats, but only about an eighth of its weight is choline. Citicoline provides choline plus uridine in a smaller daily amount and has its own human research on memory and brain energy markers, so it is the more targeted choice for brain support.

Does citicoline turn into acetylcholine?

Not directly. Citicoline supplies choline, and nerve cells use choline to make acetylcholine, the messenger involved in memory and attention. Acetylcholine is made on site and broken down quickly, so it is not taken as a supplement. The uridine in citicoline helps the body build phosphatidylcholine for nerve cell membranes.

Can you take citicoline and choline together?

Yes, many people take citicoline alongside a multivitamin that contains choline. Add up the choline from every source: 500 mg of citicoline gives about 100 mg of choline, which is small next to the adult upper limit of 3,500 mg a day. If you take prescription medicine, check with your doctor first.

Is citicoline safe to take every day?

Daily use is how the studies gave it. A 12-week trial in healthy adults aged 50 to 85 tracked adverse events and blood tests, and its authors concluded that 500 mg a day may be safe. Talk to your doctor first if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or take prescription medicine.

Sources

• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Choline: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health, updated 2022. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Choline-HealthProfessional/
• Nakazaki E, Mah E, Sanoshy K, Citrolo D, Watanabe F. Citicoline and Memory Function in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Journal of Nutrition, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33978188/
• Silveri MM, Dikan J, Ross AJ, et al. Citicoline enhances frontal lobe bioenergetics as measured by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy. NMR in Biomedicine, 2008. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18816480/
• Wurtman RJ, et al. Effect of oral CDP-choline on plasma choline and uridine levels in humans. Biochemical Pharmacology, 2000. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10974208/
• Wilcox J, Skye SM, Graham B, et al. Dietary Choline Supplements, but Not Eggs, Raise Fasting TMAO Levels in Participants with Normal Renal Function: A Randomized Clinical Trial. American Journal of Medicine, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33872583/
• Smolders L, de Wit NJW, Balvers MGJ, et al. Natural Choline from Egg Yolk Phospholipids Is More Efficiently Absorbed Compared with Choline Bitartrate; Outcomes of A Randomized Trial in Healthy Adults. Nutrients, 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31766273/

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is for education and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication.