1. Standards and Guidelines

2.  Nutrition recommendations are sets of yardsticks used as standards for measuring healthy people’s energy and nutrient intakes ◦ Nutrition experts use the recommendations to assess intakes and to offer advice on amounts to consume

3.  Standards in the U.S. and Canada are the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) ◦ A set of four lists of values for measuring the intakes of healthy people  Estimated Average Requirements (EAR)  Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)  Adequate Intakes (AI)  Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL)

4.  The DRI committee has set values for ◦ Vitamins ◦ Minerals ◦ Carbohydrates ◦ Fiber ◦ Lipids ◦ Protein ◦ Water ◦ Energy

5.  Goal #1. Setting Recommended Intake Values - RDA and AI ◦ RDA are based on solid experimental evidence and reliable observation ◦ AI are also as scientifically based as possible, but setting them requires some educated guesses  Is established whenever scientific evidence is insufficient to generate an RDA

6.  Goal #2. Facilitating Nutrition Research and Policy - EAR ◦ Nutrient requirements for given life stages and gender groups that researchers and nutrition policymakers use in their work ◦ Public health officials may also use them to assess nutrient intakes of populations and make recommendations ◦ EAR values form the scientific basis upon which the RDA values are set

7.  Goal #3. Establishing Safety Guidelines - UL ◦ Identify potentially hazardous levels of nutrient intake ◦ Indispensable to consumers who take supplements or consume foods or beverages to which vitamins or minerals have been added ◦ Public health officials rely on UL values to set safe upper limits for nutrients added to our food and water supply

9.  Goal #3. Establishing Safety Guidelines - UL ◦ People’s tolerances for high doses vary  Caution is in order when nutrient intakes approach UL values ◦ Some nutrients do not have UL values  This does not imply that is is safe to consume it in any amount  It only means that insufficient data exists to establish a value

10.  Goal #4. Preventing Chronic Diseases ◦ The DRI committee takes into account chronic disease prevention, wherever appropriate  For example, the committee set lifelong intake goals for calcium at levels believed to lessen the likelihood of osteoporosis-related fractures in the later years

11. ◦ The DRI committee set healthy ranges of intake for carbohydrate, fat, and protein  Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR)  45%-65 from carbohydrate  20%-35% from fat  10%-35% from protein ◦ The DRI committee has made separate recommendations for specific sets of people  Men  Women  Pregnant women  Lactating women  Infants  Children  Specific age ranges

12.  For almost all healthy people, a diet that consistently provides the RDA or AI amount for a nutrient is very likely to be adequate in that nutrient ◦ On average, you should try to get 100% of the DRI recommended intake for every nutrient to ensure an adequate intake over time

13.  The values are based on the concepts of probability and risk ◦ The DRI recommended intakes are associated with a low probability of deficiency for people of a life stage and gender group ◦ They pose almost no risk of toxicity for that group  The values are recommendations for optimal intakes, not minimum requirements ◦ They include a generous margin of safety and meet the needs of virtually all healthy people in a specific age and gender group

14.  The recommendations apply to healthy persons only  The DRI are designed for health maintenance and disease prevention in healthy people ◦ Not for the restoration of health or repletion of nutrients in those with deficiencies

15.  The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) makes these minimum suggestions to maintain a healthy body: ◦ Engage in physical activity every day ◦ Exercise at a comfortable level ◦ Exercise for a duration of at least 30 minutes total per day

16.  For weight control & other health benefits, the DRI committee recommends 60 minutes of moderate activity each day

17.  A different kind of planning tool is the exchange system ◦ A diet-planning tool that organizes foods with respect to their nutrient contents and caloric amounts ◦ Foods on any single exchange list can be used interchangeably

20.  By law, a Nutrition Facts panel must list ingredients and details about a food’s nutrient composition

21.  In addition to required information, labels may make optional statements about the food being delicious, or good for you in some way, or a great value ◦ Some of these comments are reliable ◦ Many others are based on less convincing evidence

22.  What Food Labels Must Include ◦ The common or usual name of the product ◦ The name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor ◦ The net contents in terms of weight, measure, or count ◦ The nutrient contents of the product  Nutrition Facts panel ◦ The ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight

23. © 2006 Thomson-Wadsworth

24.  Servings per container ◦ Number of servings per box, can, package, or other unit  Calories/calories from fat ◦ Total food energy per serving, and energy from fat per serving  Nutrient amounts and percentages of daily values ◦ Total fat. Grams of fat per serving with a breakdown showing grams of saturated fat and trans fat per serving ◦ Cholesterol. Milligrams of cholesterol per serving ◦ Sodium. Milligrams of sodium per serving

25.  Other nutrients present in significant amounts in the food may also be listed on the label ◦ The percentages of the daily Values are given in terms of a person requiring 2,000 calories each day  Daily values and calories-per-gram reminder ◦ Lists the daily Values for a person needing 2,000 or 2,500 calories a day ◦ Provides a calories-per-gram reminder as a handy reference for label readers

26.  Ingredients List ◦ The product’s ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance by weight

27.  Another set of nutrient standards is practical for the person striving to make wise choices among packaged foods ◦ Daily Values  Nutrient standards that are printed on food labels  Based on nutrient and energy recommendations for a general 2,000 calorie diet

28.  More about Percentages of Daily Values ◦ The calculations used to determine the “% Daily Value” figure for nutrient contributions from a serving of food are based on a 2,000-calorie diet  The Daily Values are of two types ◦ Some, such as those for fiber, protein, vitamins, and most minerals, are akin to other nutrient recommendations  They suggest an intake goal to strive to reach ◦ Other daily values, such as those for cholesterol, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium, constitute healthy daily maximums

33.  The trend in the U.S. has been toward consuming larger food portions ◦ Especially foods rich in fats and sugar  Body weights have been creeping upward ◦ Suggesting an increasing need to control portion sizes

37.  Exchange systems can be useful to careful diet planner, especially… ◦ those wishing to control calories ◦ those who must control carbohydrate intakes ◦ those who should control their intakes of fat and saturated fat

38.  An exchange system lists the estimated carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, and protein contents of food portions, as well as their caloric values ◦ With these estimates, exchange system users can make an educated approximation of the nutrients and calories in almost any food they might encounter

39.  The exchange system highlights a fact that the USDA Food Guide also points out: ◦ Most foods provide more than just one energy nutrient ◦ The focus on energy nutrients leads to some unexpected food grouping in the exchange lists  High-fat meats and many cheeses are listed together as “high-fat meats”  Fat constitutes the predominant form of energy in these foods, followed by protein

40.  Label reading  Values listed on the label  Vocabulary: ◦ % Daily Value