Reference Daily Intake

About: Reference Daily Intake is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1564 publications have been published within this topic receiving 52794 citations.

Nutritional support and growth in thalassaemia major.

Abstract: Twelve thalassaemic children under 3 years of age received intensive nutritional support for one month and were discharged on a prescribed diet of locally available foods. Anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance analysis and dietary intake were longitudinally assessed. Mean energy intake was 20% greater than the recommended daily allowance during nutritional supplementation as compared with below the recommended daily allowance before and after the period of nutritional support. Weight, but not height, significantly increased during the support period and was due to increases in both fat free mass and fat mass. Body weight, fat free mass and fat mass declined in line with the reduced intake upon return home; however, height velocity accelerated and exceeded normal through the fourth month before resuming a below normal rate. It can be concluded that (1) nutritional stunting as the result of reduced nutrient intake is an important cause of growth failure in young children with thalassaemia and is responsive to nutritional support, (2) the deficit in height velocity was due to retarded truncal height growth, and (3) the bioelectrical impedance analysis method is suitable for body composition analysis of thalassaemic children.

Zinc intake and resistance to h1n1 influenza

Abstract: Stevenson, et al1 summarized the needs of children at risk for H1N1 influenza and noted the poverty of 14.5 million child recipients of free school meals every day in the United States. Such children are at risk for dietary zinc deficiency, a condition likely to afflict at least 1 in 5 persons worldwide,2 in part because of low intakes of foods derived from animal flesh, especially red meat (the richest common dietary source of zinc), and high intakes of whole grain cereal products and legumes rich in phytate and other indigestible zinc-binding ligands.3 Zinc deficiency is relevant to H1N1 influenza because it decreases cell-mediated immunity.4 At the practical level, zinc treatment has been found to be efficacious for a variety of infections4; in low-income Mexican Americans aged 6 to 7 years who are not visibly ill but have mild zinc deficiency (normal plasma zinc), a randomized trial showed that the administration of zinc and other micronutrients together were significantly more efficacious for cell-mediated immunity than was administration of other micronutrients alone.5 The presence of zinc in the diet affects various aspects of cell-mediated immunity, including expression of interleukin-2 and interferon-γ.4 Interleukin-2 stimulates generation of natural killer and cytolytic T cells that kill viruses, bacteria, and tumor cells. Interferon-γ and interleukin-2 together activate macrophage monocytes that kill parasites. Zinc also suppresses ICAM-1, which serves as a receptor for viruses, and inhibits the protease from HIV type 1.6 Pertinent to bacterial pneumonia–complicating influenza, a 1-year study of 420 nursing home patients who daily were administered 50% of the United States Department of Agriculture Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins and minerals found that participants with plasma concentrations of zinc greater than 70 μg/dL had a significantly lower risk of pneumonia requiring antibiotics than did participants with plasma zinc levels of less than 70 μg/dL.7 Zinc treatment is likely to be most efficacious when administered with a mixture of other micronutrients.8 In nature, micronutrient deficiencies seldom occur alone, and micronutrients act in concert. For example, the methionine cycle–transsulfuration pathway requires folate, riboflavin, pyridoxine, cobalamine, choline/betaine, methionine, and zinc for several reactions.9 Food fortification is an effective method for prevention of nutrient deficiencies. Groups at high risk for zinc deficiency could be specifically targeted by the introduction of inexpensive, culturally acceptable fortified foods into their diets, thus avoiding treatment of groups at low risk. We believe it would be appropriate to use such an approach to ascertain if zinc given with other micronutrients is at least as efficacious for preventing H1N1 influenza as zinc administered with oral rehydration fluids is for treatment of diarrhea.10

Dietary folate intake in US adults: findings from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Abstract: To estimate the dietary intake of folate in the US population, we used data from the first phase of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted from 1988 through 1991. Using data from a single 24-hour dietary recall, the mean intake for the population aged 17 years and older was 283.4 microg/day (standard error [SE] 3.8). After correcting for a single 24-hour dietary recall, 70.0% (SE 1.1%) met the current recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for folate. Because data on intake of nutritional supplements were not available, it is likely that a higher proportion of the United States population met the RDA for folate. Folate intake was not uniform in the population: men had higher intakes than women, and African Americans had lower intakes than persons of other races. African-American men had lower absolute folate intakes than white men (P=0.001) or Mexican-American men (P=0.002). African-American women had the lowest folate intakes among women (P<0.001 for white women, P=0.006 for Mexican-American women, and P=0.003 for other women). When folate intakes were expressed as mg per 1,000 calories, the results were very similar. Because of methodologic differences in administering the 24-hour dietary recalls in NHANES II and NHANES III, it is unclear whether increases in dietary folate consumption have occurred since NHANES II, which was conducted during 1976-80, and the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, which was conducted during 1985-86. The low dietary consumption of folate by African Americans, if confirmed, suggests the need for public health strategies to increase consumption of folate among this group.

Relationship between different protein intake recommendations with muscle mass and muscle strength.

Abstract: Objective The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between two different levels of protein intake (0.8 vs.1.2 g/kg body weight/day) with muscle mass and muscle strength.Method Seventy-two postmenopausal women were recruited. Body composition (bioelectrical impedance analysis), muscle strength (dynamometer), energy metabolism (indirect calorimetry) and dietary intake (dietary journal) were measured. We divided the women into two groups. Women with a protein intake of ≥ 1.2 g/kg body weight/day were placed in the Protein ≥ 1.2 group (n = 35), whereas women with a protein intake of 0.8–1.19 g/kg body weight/day were categorized in the Protein 0.8–1.19 group (n = 32).Results No significant difference was observed between groups for age, height, skeletal muscle mass, resting energy expenditure, total energy expenditure, carbohydrate and lipid intake. Significant differences between groups were observed for body mass index (p < 0.001), fat mass (p < 0.001) and muscle strength (ha...