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Anxiety Disorders: More Common Than Most People Realize
Before getting into what this research means for daily life, it helps to understand just how widespread anxiety disorders actually are. According to Richard Maddock, senior author of the study and a research professor at UC Davis Health, anxiety disorders affect approximately 30% of U.S. adults — making them the most common category of mental illness in the country.
“Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting about 30% of adults. They can be debilitating for people, and many people do not receive adequate treatment,” Maddock said.
Anxiety disorders are not simply “worrying too much” — a common misconception that leads many people to dismiss their symptoms or delay seeking help. These are medical conditions involving brain systems that detect danger, respond to stress, and regulate threat perception. When those systems malfunction, everyday concerns can begin to feel urgent, overwhelming, or impossible to control — not because of a character flaw, but because of measurable changes in brain chemistry.
Persistent, excessive worry about everyday things — work, health, family — that is difficult to control and interferes with daily functioning.
Recurrent unexpected panic attacks — sudden surges of intense fear with physical symptoms like racing heart, shortness of breath, and dizziness — and persistent worry about future attacks.
Intense fear of social situations, particularly ones involving potential scrutiny or judgment by others. Can make work, school, and relationships extremely difficult.
Intense, irrational fear of specific objects or situations — heights, flying, certain animals — that is disproportionate to the actual threat and difficult to control.
Anxiety in America: Who Is Most Affected?
Anxiety disorders affect people across all demographics, but rates vary significantly by age group, gender, and life stage. Women are diagnosed with anxiety disorders at roughly twice the rate of men, and young adults currently show the highest prevalence of any age group — a trend that has accelerated significantly since 2020.
What This Means — And What It Doesn’t
The researchers are careful to draw a clear line between what this study shows and what it does not. This is important — health headlines can sometimes overstate findings, and the scientists behind this study are deliberately measured in their conclusions.
• People with anxiety disorders have measurably lower brain choline levels on average
• The difference is consistent across multiple anxiety disorders
• The prefrontal cortex shows the most pronounced reduction
• This is the first meta-analysis to identify this specific chemical pattern
• Nutritional approaches may be worth investigating as a supplement to existing treatment
• That low choline causes anxiety — the relationship may go both ways
• That taking choline supplements will reduce or treat anxiety
• That dietary changes can replace therapy, medication, or professional care
• That everyone with anxiety is choline deficient
• That self-supplementing with high choline doses is safe or recommended
“We don’t know yet if increasing choline in the diet will help reduce anxiety. More research will be needed,” Maddock said explicitly. He also cautioned that people should not attempt to treat anxiety by taking large doses of choline supplements on their own — too much supplementation carries its own risks, and anxiety disorders require proper medical evaluation and care.
What Should You Actually Do With This Information?
The most actionable takeaway from this research is also the most straightforward: check whether you’re getting enough choline in your diet. Given that most Americans fall short of the recommended daily intake, and given what this study suggests about choline’s role in brain chemistry, making sure you hit that target seems like a reasonable, low-risk step — regardless of whether you experience anxiety.
Maddock himself offered this specific guidance: “Someone with an anxiety disorder might want to look at their diet and see whether they are getting the recommended daily amount of choline. Previous research has shown that most people in the U.S., including children, don’t get the recommended daily amount. Some forms of omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in salmon, may be especially good sources for supplying choline to the brain.”
A single large egg contains approximately 147mg of choline — roughly a quarter to a third of the daily recommended intake depending on your sex. Two eggs at breakfast plus a serving of salmon or chicken at dinner could put many people at or near their daily target through food alone, without any supplementation.
• Eat the whole egg — the choline is almost entirely in the yolk, not the white
• Add salmon to your weekly routine — it also delivers omega-3s that may help choline reach the brain
• Don’t skip meat entirely — beef, chicken, and liver are among the richest choline sources
• Include soybeans or edamame — one of the best plant-based choline sources
• Talk to your doctor before supplementing — choline supplements exist, but dosage matters and excess carries risks including a fishy body odor and, in large amounts, potential cardiovascular effects
• Check your multivitamin — many do not contain choline, even though it’s classified as an essential nutrient
Why This Research Matters Beyond the Headlines
The significance of this study extends beyond choline specifically. What it represents is a growing body of evidence that mental health conditions have measurable, biological underpinnings — and that some of those underpinnings may be influenced by factors as accessible as diet and nutrition.
For decades, the dominant treatment model for anxiety disorders has centered on therapy (particularly cognitive behavioral therapy) and medication (particularly SSRIs and benzodiazepines). Both are genuinely effective for many people — but neither works for everyone, and access to qualified mental health care remains a significant barrier for millions of Americans.
If future research confirms that nutritional interventions can meaningfully support brain chemistry in people with anxiety, it could open an accessible, low-cost complementary approach that works alongside — not instead of — existing treatments. That’s a possibility worth taking seriously, even if it requires more clinical trials before becoming a formal recommendation.
For now, the message is measured but meaningful: your brain depends on nutrients to function, choline is one of the most important and most overlooked of those nutrients, and there may be a real connection between getting enough of it and how your brain handles anxiety. That’s not a cure — but it is a clue worth paying attention to.
