Recommended intake tables

| There are nutrients that should be consumed daily in greater quantity because they provide us with energy and their requirements are in grams.

It should be noted that the recommended intake tables are not sufficient by themselves to assess the nutritional status of an individual. Other parameters are needed apart from dietary ones, such as anthropometric (height, weight, complexion, etc.), biochemical (cholesterol, glucose, triglycerides, ...) and clinical (diseases).

Even so, each country designs its own recommended intake tables taking into account the amount of nutrients that need to be covered per person per day. This does not mean that the diet should be readjusted daily to reach the established daily recommendations, since a well-nourished person has sufficient body reserves of nutrients to cover the daily variations in intake of these nutrients. The figures are calculated with the average diet of what we eat, approximately, for 7-15 days.

Nutrient differences

There are nutrients that should be consumed daily in greater quantity because they provide us with energy (fats, sugars and proteins) and their requirements are in grams (gr). On the other hand, there are other nutrients that are required daily to a lesser extent because they do not provide energy (vitamins and minerals) and milligrams (mg) or even smaller amounts are needed.

For example, according to Tables of recommended intakes for the Spanish population, an 8-year-old girl needs 9 mg of iron daily to cover the recommended intake, while a 20-year-old woman needs 18 mg daily and a 20-year-old man needs 10 mg of iron daily to meet the requirements. This difference is a consequence of the blood loss that the woman has in each menstruation.

In order to reach the recommended intake figures, we have the foods that make up our diet. This does not mean that if one day we take 5 mg we will be in; other days we will have consumed more. Meeting these nutritional requirements is easier by following the food guides since the guides translate the recommended intakes and tell us what foods should be eaten from each group based on the recommended amount of that nutrient. Following the same example, it is recommended to ingest 125 g of liver if you need to cover the 10 mg of iron since 100 g of liver contains 8 mg of iron and this is easier for the individual to understand.

Another example is the recommended intake of calcium, which varies according to age, sex and physiological situation. For a 6-year-old boy, 800 mg / day is recommended, for a 14-year-old boy it is 1300 mg / day, for a 14-year-old girl it is 1300 mg / day, for a 20-year-old male it is 1000 mg / day and for a 50-year-old woman it is 1200 mg / day. Also the recommended intake of calcium varies according to physiological situation, being 1400 mg / day during pregnancy and 1500 mg / day in lactation.

To achieve these values ​​and not have to use the food tables, we use the food guides again. According to the guidelines, it is recommended to consume 2-3 servings of dairy products daily to reach the desired calcium values. A portion of calcium is equivalent to 2 yogurts (250 mg) or 1 glass of milk (250 ml) or 40 grams of aged cheese or 60 grams of fresh cheese.

These nutritional requirements are calculated for healthy people, non-smokers and who do not consume drugs or alcohol on a regular basis since some medications, alcohol and tobacco interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients.