Some nutrients, like vitamin D, always seem to be making headlines — while others, you just never hear about.

Take choline, for example.

When was the last time you heard about that one? Possibly never — but you might want to add it to your vocabulary, because this B vitamin found in egg yolks, liver, and chicken may have the power to protect your brain and keep dementia at bay.

Researchers looked at data on some 1,400 adults between the ages of 36 and 83 who were tracked for nearly a decade and given MRI exams along with tests to check both memory and cognitive ability.

You might want to stock up on eggs: The patients with the highest dietary choline intake did much better on those memory tests than those with the lowest. What’s more, the MRIs revealed fewer signs of “white matter hyperintensity” in the brain.

That’s a blood vessel problem that may be linked to both stroke and dementia.

Sounds great, right? But there’s just one catch: The choline levels were calculated based on food surveys, and food surveys simply aren’t good science. They rely too much on guesses, estimates, and memory.

That last one’s a little ironic given that memory tests were part of the study. Can those who did the worst on those tests really be relied on to give an accurate accounting of their food intake?

On the other hand, this study doesn’t come out of the blue, either — because choline is needed by the brain to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in everything from muscles to memory.

Some studies have shown that Alzheimer’s patients lose the ability to turn choline into acetylcholine, and some promising experimental research has looked into finding ways to correct that — although if the problem is in the conversion, then choline supplements on their own won’t stop the disease.

But if they can prevent it, we’re on the right track — and earlier studies have shown that rats given choline in the womb go on to develop more powerful brains later.

Since choline is also essential for everything from your heart to your liver, you might want to add this to your supplement list. After all, it’s unlikely you’re getting enough from diet alone — unless you’re eating plenty of egg yolks.

By the way, choline isn’t the only B vitamin that can play a key role in stopping and even reversing cognitive decline: Seniors given a blend of B6, B12, and thiamine did significantly better on memory tests and had fewer signs of the brain shrinkage linked to dementia.

Learn more here.

Inflammation has gone from a condition you should worry about to a marketing buzzword used to sell everything from drugs to juice to cereal.

Well, at least they got it half right: You should worry about inflammation, and do what you can to bring your own levels down.

But forget the drugs, juice and cereal — because none of those things will ever beat the anti-inflammatory powers of plain old fish oil, and the latest research proves it again.

A new look at data on 702 patients who took part in one of 11 clinical trials finds that people who take fish oil supplements have lower blood levels of homocysteine, an inflammation marker linked to everything from heart risk to dementia to bone breaks, according to the study in Nutrition.

Other studies have also found that fish oil can put the hurtin’ on homocysteine.

One published in 2009 found that omega-3 supplements reduced levels of the inflammation marker by 22 percent in diabetics — versus just one percent among those who took a placebo.

And that’s really only the beginning of the benefits.

Studies have found that healthy omega-3 fatty acids can help protect your heart, eyes, and gums while raising levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lowering levels of deadly triglycerides.

Fish oil can also help boost the mood and beat depression — especially among seniors.

The best sources of these omega-3s are fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, trout and herring — and the highest concentrations are often in the one part of the fish you’re probably not eating: the liver.

Researchers looked at a dozen fish commonly eaten in Spain and found all had livers rich in the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids you need for good health.

And if you like anchovies, good news: The livers of these famously oily little fish had some of the highest omega-3 levels of all.

But why stick to the liver when you can eat anchovies whole?

OK, I know that’s not for everyone — but if you don’t like anchovies, fish livers or even fish itself, there’s a simple solution: a high-quality fish oil supplement from a company you trust.

Some can leave a fishy aftertaste or, even worse, a case of the “fish burps,” but don’t give up — refrigerate your capsules instead.

And if that doesn’t work, try a different brand until you find one that leaves you with all the benefits… but none of the burps.

If you had any doubt at all about what’s making everyone so fat, scientists are now claiming the answer is our DNA.

Sort of.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley say they’ve isolated the gene responsible for turning carbohydrates into fat in your liver. They call it DNA-PK, according to research published in the journal Cell.

To test their theory, they created some Frankenstein mice born with that DNA-PK gene disabled. And when these mice were allowed to shovel down the carbs, they didn’t get fat. The mice also had lower levels of blood cholesterol.

Now, some folks will tell you this new discovery means there’s now a solution for obesity in sight, perhaps some form of gene therapy.

Now, you can wait for that cure till the cows come home, but hidden in this study is an answer you can take with you right now.

All those carbs – the ones you’re told to eat on that low-fat, high-carb diet I call the Torture Chamber Diet – are turned into fat after you eat them. Not only that, they boost your cholesterol levels and put you at risk for heart disease. It’s just how our bodies work – it’s encoded in our DNA.

The answer, then, is to escape the "torture chamber" and start enjoying the kind of diet that’s better for your body. Forget the low-fat hype. Just ease off on the carbs (and especially avoid all those processed foods) and start enjoying balanced meals with healthy proteins, good fats and extra vegetables.

You’ll lose weight and lower your risk for diabetes and heart disease. You’ll look great, feel great and you can do it on your own, by managing your own diet and lifestyle.

And you won’t have to wait for some science-fiction treatment to come along and fix you up.