Nutrient Recommendations: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI)From the National Institutes of Health: Issued by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Sciences Engineering, and Medicine. The Food and Nutrition Board addresses issues of safety, quality, and adequacy of the food supply; establishes principles and guidelines of adequate dietary intake; and presents authoritative judgments on the relationships among food intake, nutrition, and health.
DRI is the general term for a set of reference values used to plan and assess nutrient intakes of healthy people. These values, which vary by age and sex, include:
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): Average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97–98%) healthy individuals; often used to plan nutritionally adequate diets for individuals.
Adequate Intake (AI): Intake at this level is assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy; established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA.
Estimated Average Requirement (EAR): Average daily level of intake estimated to meet the requirements of 50% of healthy individuals; usually used to assess the nutrient intakes of groups of people and to plan nutritionally adequate diets for them; can also be used to assess the nutrient intakes of individuals.
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): Maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects.
