RDA & DRI

I am concerned about women getting brittle bones from not enough calcium. I don't like to drink milk except with cereal. How do you get your daily requirement of calcium? You can meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance of 1,000 milligrams (women or men 19 to 50 years of age) to 1,200 milligrams (women or...

If you eat a lot of fruit before your menstrual cycle, do you retain as much water because the potassium does something to the salt? Maybe I should eat more fruit. A lot of fruit added to your diet by itself will not reduce premenstrual fluid retention. A lower salt intake will help reduce that...

Thank you for your common sense approach to calcium supplements. We have been trying to force these lead-containing products off of the shelves or at least to force the manufacturers to disclose the contents to unsuspecting consumers of these products. I am interested in any information that you may have on this topic. Bone meal...

I take a multivitamin to supplement my diet. I have read, on a couple of occasions (don't ask me where), that men should use a multivitamin which does not contain iron. The reason, if I remember correctly, was that men could get their RDA of iron from their normal diet. Is this true? Men who...

While looking at my weight, age and the certainty of increasing medical problems, I've been working on a database that I can use for myself that will allow me to track things like track high blood pressure, blood sugars, medications, exercise, meals and the specific foods. While looking at the food section of the database,...

I am an American dietitian revising a United Kingdom nutrition book for the U.S. public. I was wondering what would be the correct way of discussing nutrient intakes for the general population (the book is designed for the general public). Should I talk about RDAs, USRDAs /RDI, or DRVs? What would be most appropriate? The...

I am familiar with the Recommended Dietary Allowance, but I don't really know if I am getting enough from what I eat. Is there any way to find out if I am actually taking in the RDA? One way to know if you are getting the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for all the nutrients you...

Under our federal guidelines for WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), we can only give out iron-fortified formula until 12 months of age. Every so often we hear from parents that a doctor told them that they don't need iron-fortified formula because they will pick up iron from the rural well water they use. Most...

How important is it to have a balanced nutrient intake in your diet? Is it okay to have more of a certain nutrient? The goal of eating a balanced amount of nutrients is to eat a wide variety of foods from all food groups (meat, starch, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and healthy fats) that will give...

I am taking a nutrition course this semester and my professor mentioned that the RDA is doubled what is actually required for a few reasons, one being to ensure there are no deficiencies and the other because some vitamin supplement manufacturers lobbied to keep it high, so we will purchase their product. Her second reason...