01.29.2025_Nutrition Standards and Guidelines

Nutrition Standards and Guidelines Overview

• Presenter: Margaret Slavin, PhD, RDN, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Announcements

• Slides are available on ELMS (Week 1 page).

• No discussions this week; discussions will begin next week.

Today’s Agenda

• Introduce sets of nutrition standards:

  • Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

  • Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)

  • MyPlate

• Connect and compare these standards/guidelines with eating patterns.

U.S. Nutrition Standards and Guidelines

• Tools for diet evaluation include:

  • Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

  • Dietary Guidelines for Americans

  • MyPlate

• Recommendations tailored to age, gender, and life stage.

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

• Established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

• Make recommendations for individual nutrient intake.

• Include:

  • RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances)

  • EAR (Estimated Average Requirement)

  • AI (Adequate Intake)

  • UL (Upper Limit)

  • CDRR (Chronic Disease Risk Reduction)

Goals of the DRI Committee

1. Set recommended intakes for individuals (RDA & AI).

2. Facilitate nutrition research (EAR).

3. Establish safety guidelines (UL).

4. Prevent chronic diseases (AMDR & CDRR).

Nutritional Status

• Optimal: Adequate nutrition leads to healthy body functions.

• Suboptimal: Decline in function due to nutrient deficiency.

• Undernutrition: Insufficient intake leading to health issues.

• Overnutrition: Excessive intake causing toxic effects (e.g., iron toxicity).

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

• Average daily intake sufficient for 97-98% of healthy individuals.

• Concern arises when intake deviates significantly from the RDA.

• Setting of RDA requires high-quality experimental data; not all nutrients may have RDA due to lack of research.

Setting the RDA for Vitamins and Minerals

• Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) used as a base.

• RDA is calculated by adding 30-50% to cover the nutrient needs of nearly all individuals within a group.

Adequate Intake (AI)

• Used when insufficient research exists for establishing an EAR/RDA.

• Based on observations of nutrient intake in healthy populations.

Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)

• Maximum intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects for the general population.

• Risks increase as intake exceeds the UL, particularly from supplements.

Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intakes (CDRR)

• A new DRI category introduced in 2019.

• Aims for risk reduction of specific chronic diseases based on moderate evidence of dietary impact.

• Sodium was the first nutrient to have its CDRR value set to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

Estimated Energy Requirement (EER)

• Estimates calorie intake necessary to match energy expenditure based on individual characteristics.

Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR)

• Range of intake associated with reduced chronic disease risk while providing essential nutrients:

  • Carbohydrates: 45% to 65% of energy

  • Protein: 10% to 35% of energy

  • Fat: 20% to 35% of energy

Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)

• Purpose: Provide science-based dietary advice for healthy individuals and assist professionals in creating healthy dietary patterns.

• Updated every 5 years by USDA and HHS.

History of Dietary Guidelines for Americans

• 1985-90: Maintain "desirable" weight and reduce fats/sugars.

• 2005-10: Focus on health promotion and disease prevention.

• 2015-20: Introduced MyPlate and emphasized healthy eating patterns.

• 2020-25: Addressing dietary links to obesity.

Key Recommendations of DGA 2020-2025

1. Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.

2. Customize food choices based on personal and cultural preferences.

3. Focus on nutrient-dense food and beverage consumption within calorie limits.

4. Limit intake of added sugars, saturated fat, sodium, and alcohol.

MyPlate

• Educational tool encouraging balance and variety in food choices:

• Foods to increase:

  • Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

  • Switch to whole grains.

  • Opt for low-fat dairy.

• Emphasizes balancing calories by avoiding oversized portions and reducing sodium and sugary drinks.

Connecting Nutrition Recommendations to Eating Patterns

• Following healthy eating patterns, like MyPlate, enhances nutrient requirement fulfillment.

Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern

• Includes daily recommended servings from MyPlate groups, focusing on portion sizes and food variety.

Alternative Dietary Patterns

• Mediterranean Diet: High in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, moderate in dairy and eggs, low in red meat.

• Vegetarian Patterns: Emphasizes plant-based foods while allowing for various dairy and egg inclusions.

Conclusion: Nutrition Standards & Guidelines

• Various standards (DRIs, DGA, MyPlate) serve purposes in diet evaluation and public health.

• Focus on patterns of healthy eating allows for flexibility in individual preferences and dietary needs.