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Let's talk about DRIs

healthyworldnutrit

Updated: Feb 3



Greetings and salutations, dear reader!


Today’s subject is near and dear to my heart, and is why I don’t really pay much attention to DRIs when working with clients.  For everyone who doesn’t know, DRI is short for Daily Recommended Intake, which is the minimum amount of vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrates and protein that each person should have everyday to maintain health.  Simply put - DRIs are very general guidelines.  They are too general for most people, and almost never have any bearing on my clients’ nutritional needs.  Here’s why.


  1.  DRIs measure the levels of a nutrient needed to prevent disease in healthy individuals -  not what is needed to restore health or to support optimum health.

  2. DRI amounts are the same for all adults.  First established in the 1940s using data from healthy adult males, the numbers were then adjusted generally for age, sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding.  The amounts don’t take into account extra needs for medical conditions, or activity level.  It goes without saying that a body builder or a ballet dancer will have different needs than an office worker who sits at a desk most of the day!

  3. DRIs don’t take into account people’s eating habits and nutrient interactions.  Certain foods, such as coffee, black tea, and table sugar interfere and deplete nutrients. Also, many commonly taken medications deplete nutrients, for example, antacids are known to deplete vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and zinc. And let's not even start talking about the foods that come from big industrial farms. That's another subject for another blog!


    Yes, there are upper limits, but most people don't know about them, much less reach them or go over the upper limit unless they're taking an unhealthy amount of supplements.


To give the medical establishment a little bit of credit, DRIs (previously known as RDAs, or Recommended Daily Allowances) were created at a time when a noticeable amount of people had health problems due to two world wars, a Spanish Flu epidemic, and a depression happening in relatively quick succession.  Even though modern nutritional science was in its infancy, mainstream medicine realised that food was affecting people’s health.  However, nutritional research has progressed dramatically since these numbers were established and modified, and we now know that the state of a persons digestive tract plays a big role in just how well nutrients from the food they eat are utilised.


Admittedly, I’m not a calorie counting person.  Once upon a time I tried to keep track of the amount of nutrients for everything I put in my mouth every day, and it stressed me out.  Most of my clients would prefer not to do that either, so I emphasise spending time examining what people eat, why they eat what they eat, and put the effort into establishing a healthier eating mentality.  There are literally zillions of “clean eating” recipes out there that will allot a person the right amount of nutrients and taste great in the process.  Focusing on getting at least 5 serving of brightly coloured vegetables every day, in my opinion, is time better spent than making sure a person gets at least 80mg of vitamin C.   


That being said, if you suspect that a nutrient deficiency is causing you health problems, please get in touch and we can look at different tests to find out where your nutrient levels are.  For more information, visit my website www.healthyworldnutrition.co.uk 


To your very good health! 😁

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