DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKES - THE NEW BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CALCIUM AND RELATED NUTRIENTS, B-VITAMINS, AND CHOLINE

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) represent the new approach adopted by the Food and Nutrition Board to providing quantitative estimates of n utrient intakes for use in a variety of settings, replacing and expand ing on the past 50 years of periodic updates and revisions of the Reco mmended Dietary; Allowances (RDAs). The DRI activity is a comprehensiv e effort undertaken to include current concepts about the role of nutr ients and food components in long-term health, going beyond deficiency diseases. The DRIs consist of 4 reference intakes: the RDA, which is to be used as a goal for the individual; the Tolerable Upper Intake Le vel (UL), which is given to assist in advising individuals what levels of intake may result in adverse effects if habitually exceeded; the E stimated Average Requirement (EAR), the intake level at which the data indicate that the needs for 50% of those consuming it will not be met ; and the Adequate Intake (AI). a level judged by the experts developi ng the reference intakes to meet the needs of all individuals in a gro up, but which is based on much less data and substantially more judgme nt than that used in establishing an EAR and subsequently the RDA. Whe n an RDA cannot be set, an Al is given. Both are to be used as goals f or an individual. Two reports have been issued providing DRIs for nutr ients and food components reviewed to date: these include calcium and its related nutrients: phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin D, and fluoride; and most recently, folate, the B vitamins, and choline. The approache s used to determine the DRIs, the reference values themselves, and the plans for future nutrients and food components are discussed.