SHOULD INTAKES WITH BENEFICIAL ACTIONS, OFTEN REQUIRING SUPPLEMENTATION, BE CONSIDERED FOR RDAS

The conceptual framework upon which the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) was derived is being replaced by a new, less population-based an d more individualistic view of nutrition that relates to health more b roadly than merely the prevention of overt nutrient deficiency disease . As this has occurred, problems have become apparent concerning the R DA, which constitutes the key linkage between nutrition understanding and dietary guidance, calling for its redefinition. Any reconstruction of the RDA must be based on the paradigm for nutrition that has, in f act, been adopted; this will require, where evidence warrants, the inc orporation into the new construct of intakes with beneficial actions w ithout regard for whether this may require supplementation in the cont ext of contemporary diets.