The Nutrients We Need Each Day
Each day, we need hundreds of nutrients to stay healthy,
and these nutrients must be supplied by the food we eat.
The following chart will give you a sense of the variety of some of
the nutrients we must get each day from our food if we wish to experience a healthy weight and optimal
health. Please note that this chart is by no means comprehensive;
it doesn’t show you all of the
nutrients you need.
Even though they have yet to be named or identified in the laboratory, these
phytonutrients are still very much present—in
nutrient- rich foods, like the World’s Healthiest Foods. In fact,
that is the only
place you can currently get them! They cannot, for example, be obtained from
dietary supplements because they have not
yet been isolated from the whole, natural foods that contain them. Nor are they
available in highly processed “fast” foods.
The following chart contains some well-established and well-
researched nutrients that are included in the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration’s “Reference Values for
Nutrition Labeling.” Next to each nutrient
you’ll see the Daily Value (DV) that was established as part of the FDA’s labeling program.
Please note that this DV value is
a population-based goal
Nutrient
|
DV
|
Biotin (mcg)
|
300
|
Calcium (mg)
|
1000
|
Carbohydrates (mg)
|
300
|
Chromium (mcg)
|
120
|
Copper (mcg)
|
2000
|
Fat – total (g)
|
65
|
Fiber (g)
|
25
|
Folate (mcg)
|
400
|
Iodine (mcg)
|
150
|
Iron (mg)
|
18
|
Magnesium (mg)
|
400
|
Manganese (mg)
|
2.0
|
Molybdenum (mcg)
|
75
|
Vitamin B3-Niacin
(mg NE)
|
20
|
Omega-3 fatty
acids* (g)
|
2.5
|
Pantothenic Acid
(mg)
|
10
|
Phosphorous (mg)
|
1000
|
Potassium (g)
|
3.5
|
Protein (g)
|
50
|
Vitamin
B2-Riboflavin (mg)
|
1.7
|
Selenium (mcg)
|
70
|
Vitamin B1-Thiamin
(mg)
|
1.5
|
Vitamin A (IU)
|
5000
|
Vitamin B12 (mcg)
|
6
|
Vitamin B6 (mg)
|
2
|
Vitamin C (mg)
|
60
|
Vitamin D (IU)
|
400
|
Vitamin E (IU)
|
30
|
Vitamin K (mcg)
|
80
|
Zinc (mg)
|
15
|
All DVs, except for omega-3 fatty acids, based upon the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling.
DVs based on 2000 calories per day.
** As there is currently no DV set by
the FDA for omega-3 fatty acids, we adopted the standards set forth in a 1999
workshop conducted at the National
Institutes of Health
(NIH). The workshop concluded that at least 1.2% of
daily calories should come from omega-3 fatty acids, including 1% from alphalinolenic
acid and 0.1% each from EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA
(docosahexaenoic acid) When translated into the context
of an 1800-calorie diet, this workshop standard represented a
recommendation of 2.4 grams of omega-3
fatty acids per day, which we adopted as our food and recipe rating system standard.
** On our website and in The World’s Healthiest Foods book, we offer a DV of 0.35 grams for
the amino acid trytophan calculated for 31-50 year old female based on 2002 DRI
value of 7 mg/g of protein and protein DV of 50g.
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