Today, let's talk about What is RDA? Why you need to understand before you make any purchase.
WHAT IS RDA?
RDA stands for recommended dietary allowance. The Food and
Nutrition Board of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine
created this general guideline that applies to vitamins and minerals from food.
It states how much of a specific nutrient your body needs on a daily basis to
avoid illness. For example, if people don’t get enough vitamin D, they may get
rickets. If they don’t get enough vitamin B1, then they may get beriberi.
WHAT IS % DV?
The percent daily value (DV) is a guide to the nutrients present
in your food. For example, if a portion of food lists 10% DV for calcium, it
means that that portion of food gives you 10% of the calcium you need for the
day.
DO WE NEED TO REACH 100% OF DV?
No. You do not need to reach 100% of the DV to be healthy.
The DV is a very general guideline to give us an idea of what we
need in a day. It does not take into consideration different individual needs,
such as one’s activity levels, whether active or sedentary, physical size,
diet, health, or environment. For example, if we get a lot of sun exposure, our
bodies will synthesize our own vitamin D, thus, we do not need 100% DV of
vitamin D. However, if we do not get any sunlight at all, we might need more
vitamin D. Moreover, the DV is based on a calorie intake of 2,000 calories a
day for a healthy adult, but depending on our circumstances, we may need more
or less calories. In addition, our bodies have stores of some vitamins such as
A, D, E and K, so for most of us, we do not need to take in 100% of the DV for
all vitamins and minerals.
ARE
THE VITAMIN OR MINERAL LABELS ALWAYS ACCURATE?
The vitamin and mineral values
are not always accurate.
Each wholesome food has a
different composition, and every batch of food may be different. Natural
wholesome foods differ in nature. That’s why natural and wholesome fruits and
vegetables themselves—the best foods—simply do not have nutrition labels.
ARE NUTRITION LABELS
ARTIFICIALLY INFLATED?
For many foods, the nutritional
content changes, or leeches out, with time and exposure. For example, vitamin C
is easily lost when exposed to air. Many manufacturers will add artificial
synthesized vitamins into their products to boost the DV so that their products
seem better. For example, ascorbic acid is often added to artificially boost
vitamin C content, and costs as little as $3.50 a kilogram—enough to give 45
people sufficient vitamin C for a year.
HOW
ARE NUTRIENTS PRESERVED?
The manufacturing process plays
a large role in preserving nutrients. Wholesome foods should be either frozen
or dried to preserve the natural nutrients. If the product is in liquid form,
good manufacturers will fill the remaining space in the product with nitrogen,
not oxygen, to prevent nutrient leaching.
ARE VITAMINS AND
MINERALS ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN LIFE?
No. Relying solely on vitamins
and minerals cannot help us maintain normal body functions. If we take in only
vitamins and minerals, we may survive for a while but not for long. Hence
experts recommend eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. In addition
to vitamins and minerals, wholesome plants are packed with other nutrients,
such as phytochemicals, antioxidants, and polysaccharides, most of which
scientists haven’t even discovered yet.
WHY ISN’T EVERY
NUTRIENT LISTED ON THE LABEL?
Wholesome plants contain a
variety of phytochemicals, polysaccharides, and other nutrients, most of which
scientists haven’t even discovered yet.
CAN TAKING VITAMINS AND
MINERALS BE HARMFUL?
Yes, taking too many manmade vitamins can
harm your health, and there is a possibility of overdose. Evidence shows that
too much of a vitamin can cause a variety of health issues, including cancer.
Taking isolated, concentrated minerals creates physiological
imbalances in the body. Multiple studies have demonstrated that taking such
vitamins (beta-carotene, folic acid, and vitamin E) increases the risk of
cancer, heart disease, and death.
The American Association for Cancer Research
looked at research of over 300,000 people in one of their annual meetings in
2015. They found that: selenium could increase the chances of getting
non-melanoma skin cancer; vitamin E could increase the chances of prostate
cancer; beta-carotene could increase the chances of lung cancer; and folic acid
could increase the chances of colon cancer.
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