I remember the lunch ladies telling me to “Drink your milk.” They had a way with words. I hated milk, but I wasn’t leaving the lunchroom until I drank my milk. So, I forced it down, ran from the cafeteria, and found a water fountain. Swish and spit. Still, I drank my milk…until I found a friend to give it to before the lunch lady came around. A review completed by University of California—Davis Health has me quietly, and begrudgingly, offering thanks to those lunch ladies. By telling me I had to drink my milk, they helped me get the appropriate levels of choline in my system. Who cares? Why does that matter?

This review looked at 25 studies that measured the chemicals involved in brain metabolism. Together, these 25 studies included 370 people with anxiety disorders and 342 people without anxiety disorders. They found that people with anxiety had 8% lower levels of choline in their brains compared to the controls. Choline supports memory, mood regulation, and muscle control. And most of our choline comes from food. This review doesn’t prove that choline helps prevent anxiety, but it can’t hurt to make sure I have enough choline…and it might just decrease anxiety.

Where else can a person find choline for their body? Well, in gratitude to the lunch ladies mentioned above, in milk. But don’t despair if you’re like me and hate milk. You can also find choline in beef liver (maybe not much better than milk for some), or eggs, beef, chicken, and fish (now we’re talking). It’s also found in soybeans and some forms of omega-3 fatty acids, like that found in Salmon.

As I said previously, this review doesn’t prove that choline prevents anxiety. More studies need to be completed. However, the study did find 8% less choline in the brains of those who exhibit the symptoms of an anxiety disorder. So might as well eat more chicken, eggs, beef, and fish. Get the choline we need. It might just decrease the anxiety in your house.