Health Options
New report updates ideas
about the right way to eatLast week, updated recommendations for nutrient intake were released by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. These new recommendations form part of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) series that replaces older recommendations.
This most recent report covers recommendations for calorie needs along with carbohydrate, fat, protein and dietary fiber. It also addresses recommendations for the amount of physical activity required to maintain health and reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases.
Question: Why are new recommendations needed?
Answer: Most people are familiar with the acronym RDA, which stands for Recommended Dietary Allowance. Since the establishment of RDAs in 1941, 10 editions have been published, the latest in 1989.
As with all prior recommendations, a panel of leading nutrition scientists reviewed previous recommendations, along with a great amount of research on nutrition and health published since 1989. For many nutrients, the new recommendations are a refinement of the old RDAs.
However, this report definitely breaks some new ground. Top scientists from the United States and Canada collaborated to produce a publication that will guide nutrition practice for the foreseeable future.
Q: What is similar between RDAs and DRIs?
A: Both sets of recommendations are for healthy individuals -- not those with health problems. Nor are they for those who are significantly overweight, obese, or consuming low-calorie diets.
Q: How do the DRIs differ from previous recommendations?
A: DRI recommendations represent a new thought process on ways to meet nutrient needs. Stressing flexibility, the report states that adults with no specific health problems can maintain health with fairly wide ranges of intake from the three energy sources: carbohydrate, fat and protein.
Other highlights of the report are summarized below. Future Health Options columns will expand on them.
>> Rock-bottom intake of carbohydrate should be 130 grams per day. This amount is needed to support normal brain function. More reasonable intake is at least twice this much for most people.The 1996 Surgeon General's report recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day. The new DRI publication doubles this to one hour of physical activity per day for adults and children.>> Specific recommendations for omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are given for the first time.
>> Cholesterol and saturated fat should be limited as much as possible without compromising the quality of the diet.
>> Dietary fiber intake should be about 14 grams for each 1,000 calories consumed.
>> Added sugar in foods should account for no more than 25 percent of total calories.
>> The report strongly emphasizes the importance of balancing calories consumed with calories burned in physical activity. It stresses that this is more critical for weight control than any specific mixture of the various calorie sources.
Although these rather technical DRI publications are used mostly by nutrition professionals, other committees have already been formed to "translate" the recommendations into more general guidelines for use by the public.
Health Events
Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S., is a sports nutritionist in the
Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Science,
University of Hawaii-Manoa.Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., is a food and nutrition consultant
and owner of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.
She is also responsible for the nutritional analyses
indicated by an asterisk in this section.