RDAs and other acronyms

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/22/02 2:02:22 AM,

writes:

>The Recommended Dietary Allowances are the levels of

>

>intake of essential nutrients considered, in the judgement of the Food

>and

>

>Nutrition Board on the basis of available scientific knowledge, to be

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>adequate to meet the known nutritional needs of practically all healthy

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>persons. "

The basic definition hasn't changed much -- however the 'experts' have added

more acronyms -- during my second nutrition class I had to memorize a

veritable alphabet soup of these acronyms. Instead of RDAs they now have an

umbrella term called the Dietary Reference Intakes which encompasses 4 levels

of intake values. There's the Estimated Average Requirement (EARs): It's the

nutrient intake value that is estimated to meet the requirement defined by a

specified indicator of adequacy (e.g., balance studies) in 50% of the

individuals in a life stage and gender group. It's expressed as a median, not

an average. So at this level 50% of the people of a particular age or gender

would have needs met, other 50% wouldn't. Apparently based not just on

avoidance of deficiency diseases, but also 'contemporary' standards of

reduction of disease risk. Supposed to be adjusted for bioavailability of the

nutrient in question. The EAR is used to set the RDA. The RDA (recommended

dietary allowance) is the daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to

meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97 - 98%) individuals in a

particular life stage or gender group. The RDAs applies to individuals, not

to group. If the EAR for a nutrient is known then the RDA us set at two

standard deviations above the EAR. Otherwise they have a way of making an

estimated RDA. RDA is used to set goal for individuals and not to be used for

assessing nutrient status of groups. Then there's the Adequate Intake (AI -

no not artificial intelligence) --it's the value for a nutrient used when

there is insufficient evidence to calculate an EAR. It is based on observed

or experimentally determined approximation of the average intake of a defined

population that appears to sustain a defined nutritional state such as normal

circulating nutrient values or growth. AIs rather than RDAs or EARs are being

proposed for all sorts of nutrients. Next under DRIs are the Tolerable Upper

Limit (UL) -- these are values that define the maximal level of nutrient

intake that is unlikely to pose risks of adverse health effects to almost all

individuals in the target group.

Is there any wonder that I decided I didn't want to be an RD (registered

dietitian)?? The one thing that should be obvious is that the terms and their

definitions are the result of committee consensus -- in other words, a lot of

politics. BTW, these are the same people who recommend a low fat diet for

everyone age 2 and up. I talked to a fellow who just got out of the Marines

-- he said that at least at the camp he was at, they foisted a low fat diet

on the men. The eggs they ate were the cholesterol sanitized stuff that comes

in a carton. They were limited in the amount of meat they were allowed. He

had to leave early because his knees gave out -- cartilage gone -- he's 21

years old!!!

>

>

Namaste, Liz

<A HREF= " http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html " >

http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>

[Guest guest]

>>>>>>>The basic definition hasn't changed much -- however the 'experts'

have added

more acronyms -- during my second nutrition class I had to memorize a

veritable alphabet soup of these acronyms.

------------->Liz, thanks so much for explaining the RDAs, EARs and so on

It's a wonder WAP's primitives survived, much less thrived without these

painstakingly delineated gov't guidelines on what to eat

sad about the 21 year old marine with bad knees. i must not get out much as

i work in my livingroom/office in a small town, but i keep hearing anecdotes

of how unhealthy young people seem to be today and how common chronic and

degenerative diseases are among my age group (late 30s). my best friend has

one friend with MS, another with lupus and another h.s. pal who had breast

cancer that metastasized to her lungs and elsewhere. i think i'm her

healthiest friend. i wonder if there are some statistics on this

somewhere....

Suze Fisher

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