Chapter 2: Nutrition

• Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI)


  Reference values that are quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes
• DRIs


  Used for planning and assessing diets for healthy people
• Nutrient standards aimed for healthy people

  • EAR: Estimated Average Requirement (targets: deficiency diseases)
  • RDA: Recommended Dietary Allowance (targets: deficiency diseases)
  • AI: Adequate Intake (targets: deficiency diseases)
  • UL: Tolerable Upper Intake Level (targets:supplement use)
• DRIs Energy and Macronutrients

  • EER: Estimated Energy Requirement (targets: carbs, lipids, protein intake)
  • AMDR: Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (targets: carbs, lipids, protein intake)
• In the 1930s DRI was to reduce risk of diseases like scurvy and now today it has been related to chronic diet related diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
• Main Objectives of DRIs

  • Prevent Deficiency Diseases
  • Reduce Risk of Chronic Disease
  • Safety Supplement use and fortification
• Nutrient Standards: Men have 10 life stages, Women have 16 life stages to include periods, pregnancy and lactation (at these two periods nutrient increase must increase)
• EAR


  Nutrient requirement that meets the need for 50% of the population (healthy people, either gender)
• RDA


  Golden standards in DRIs, Required nutrient intake, Required dietary intake (meets the needs of 98% of the population in a lifestage or gender group)
• AI


  Based on intake levels of healthy group of people in a population, Assumed to be higher than EAR and lies somewhere near the RDA but below the UL
• UL


  Highest level of nutrient intake that appears safe for most healthy people, Above this level there is a risk of toxicity and death
• Most Canadians consume 3400 mg of sodium per day, the AI for sodium is only 1500 mg per day
• Too little is just as bad as too much
• Nutrient requirements vary across the country, Ex: Australians require 10 mg of Vitamin E while Canadians require 15mg, This indicate cultural differences and mostly differences in interpretation of scientific studies
• EER


  Estimated Energy Requirement, based on the average daily energy needs of a healthy person, Represents the number of calories that maintain energy balance in a healthy person
• AMDR


  Energy intake can also come from carbs (45-65%), lipids (20-35%) and protein (10-35%), Range of intakes for energy-yielding nutrients that provide adequate energy and nutrients and reduce the risk of chronic diseases
• Healthy carbs like fruits and legumes supply fiber for healthy bowel this leads to adequate amounts of energy, reduce chronic diet disease and obtain a healthy bowel
• Who Uses DRIs


  • Registered Dietitians
  • Food Industry
• Nutrition facts Table


  Daily Values- loosely based on DRIs (facts table haven't been updated like DRIs tables have been)
• Grains


  • Seed and plant embryo (germ, endosperm and bran make of gene of a grain)
  • Rich in carbs, fiber (rich only when the grain is full), vitamins (vitamin E)
  • Belong to a single plant family: grass family (looks like oat, wheat, rice leaves)
  • Bread and cereal: often enriched or fortified to replace nutrients lost during refinement
• Milk and Alternatives


  • Cheese is protein and contains alot of saturated fat
  • Retain their content of the mineral calcium (vitamin A and D in Canada, protein, minerals of calcium, vitamins riboflavin D and B12)
  • Milk was hammered out of forces of evolution and engineered to be food for animals
  • 8000 years ago we were drinking milk for animals
  • The enzyme required to break down milk emerged 10,000 years ago
  • Source of protein, fat, B12 in milk decreasing child mortality
  • As we grow older we produce less of the enzyme required to digest milk sugar which leads to indigestion
• Meat and Alternatives


  • Poultry, meat, fish
  • Protein, Vitamins B6-B12 and minerals iron and zinc
  • Alternatives: legumes, eggs, nuts and seeds (foods designed by nature and an embryo)
  • Legumes and Nuts (source of minerals; magnesium and potassium and fiber)
  • Legume family: beans, peas, peanut and lentils (enclosed in a pod-nourishing they have an embryo)
  • Tree-nuts are not included in legume family: offer minerals and protein
  • Sunflower seeds: not an important source of protein but can be high in salt
• Fruits and Vegetables


  • Includes vegetables, fruits, 100% fruit juice and 100% vegetable juice
  • Carbs, fiber and vitamins
  • All "vegetables" with seeds are actually considered fruits, for example: eggplants
  • Root vegetables: carrots, turnips, fennel: storage organs when energy is needed
  • Plant leaves: lettuce, spinach: source of several nutrients
• Food Guides: Vegetables and fruits highest number of recommended servings per day
• Food designed by nature: legumes(seeds), grains, milk and eggs (also nature's perfect food)
• Animals eat berries on plants and seeds and are eliminated at some distance away from the maternal plant
• Fleshy fruits: cherries, apples, avocados, Dry Fruits: string beans and sunflower seeds