Do You Eat According to the RDA Nutrient Guidelines? You can do SO much better!

It's really confusing out there as far as nutrition guidelines.  In fact, it's enough to completely baffle anyone to follow every line item micro-nutrient.  However, it's still important to understand the reason we have nutrition guidelines and what they take into account as far as your health.

Here's a Little History Lesson on Dietary Nutrient Guidelines:

RDA guidelines  (good)

Since way back in 1941, The United States Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, (now the National Academy of Health and Medicine), has issued guidelines about nutrition intake. The first RDA guidelines (Recommended Daily Allowances) were set back when our soldiers were going off to war, but weren't as healthy as the government had hoped.  At the time, the RDA levels were set  at a point to ascertain what the minimum necessary level of  each nutrient was. For example, the guideline for vitamin C was set at the level to avoid scurvy.

Most of the RDA's are considered to be way too low for most people.  This is especially true in modern times because of the Standard American Diet and the stressful and hectic culture (which are both nutrient-depleting).

RDA was set just to prevent disease, and the levels were not something to aspire to.  They were something to absolutely never fall below.  
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​DRI guidelines (better)

Thankfully, in 1994, the US guidelines were approved upon and the DRI (Dietary Reference Intakes) were established.  The DRI is an umbrella term that includes the four values: 

• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98 percent) healthy individuals in a group.
• Adequate Intake (AI): a value based on observed or experimentally determined approximations of nutrient intake by a group (or groups) of healthy people—used when an RDA cannot be determined.
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): the highest level of daily nutrient intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population. As intake increases above the UL, the risk of adverse effects increases.
• Estimated Average Requirement (EAR): a nutrient intake value that is estimated to meet the requirement of half the healthy individuals in a group.

The DRI's improve upon the RDA's because they strive to include levels of nutrients that can help prevent certain cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, and other diet-related diseases.

Click HERE for the DRI charts for: 

• MICRO-nutrients (vitamins & Minerals), 
• MACRO-nutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates), 
• water and electrolytes.

So, are the DRI's something to aspire to in your daily food intake? 
Yes, BUT...  The DRI's are intended to apply to the general population and to healthy people.  Unfortunately, the person eating the Standard American Diet may not be ideally healthy.  The DRI levels do not apply to individuals deficient in a particular nutrient, to people with diseases associated with the need for increased nutritional requirements, nor for people whose genetic make-up gives them a higher need for certain vitamins or minerals. 
(Source: Michael Murray, ND)

The DRI levels may not be adequate for many lifestyle-related reasons.  
There is no variability for high nutrient demands. 

Other things to take into consideration may be:

• How much stress are you under? 
• Are you exercising at a high level or large amount?
• Do you eat a restrictive diet?
• Do you eat a nutrient poor diet?
• What is your toxic exposure? People that live in the city have a much higher toxic exposure than most people that live in rural areas. 
• Do you smoke, drink alcohol, or work where you are exposed to environmental toxins?
• Are you facing or experiencing any kind of an illness, injury or surgery? It is very helpful in surgery situations to supplement for at least 2-4 weeks before surgery, to help build their nutrient needs and nutrient baseline, to help sustain through such a stressful time. Then, for a period of time after surgery (or an illness), you will have increased needs for supplementation as you are healing.
• Where are you in your life cycle. Is there a pregnancy? Is it puberty or is it menopause? 

But, you can do even better!

SONA guidelines (best)

It is much better to aspire to the level of optimal dietary allowances.  Emanuel Cheraskin, MD, DMD and William M. Ringsdorf DMD, at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, completed a 15 year study to determine optimal nutritional intake levels.  After collecting their data, the doctors correlated the intake of specific nutrients with health status.  

They reported that the healthiest people were those who had eaten a diet dense in micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) relative to their total caloric intake.

They tried to find a truly ideal level of intake for each nutrient. They call these the SONA's (Suggested Optimum Nutrient Allowances).  

To see the SONA recommendations for men and women, scroll through them below. Compare how much higher the SONA's are than the DRI's.  (This document may not appear on an mobile device.)

PRINT/See the SONA's

As I blog on Au Naturale Nutrition, I repeat over & over that a nutrient dense diet is achieved by eating a variety of whole foods.  These whole foods often do not come packaged with nutrition labels.  I encourage you remind yourself of the difference between nutrient-rich and depleting foods.  

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