Could you be over- or under-dosing with vitamins or minerals?
Vitamins and minerals – can they be too much of a good thing? Or are some people suffering from deficiencies in these essential nutrients? In recent years, there has been considerable confusion over what levels are optimum for given population groups.
A new approach integrates all available scientific data on both risks, from inadequacy and excess, as well as on benefits to offer a range of doses of specific vitamin and mineral forms suitable for specific populations, says a press release.
The research culminating in the paper has been on-going for two years and was commissioned by the Alliance for Natural Health International, a non-profit alliance of consumer and stakeholder interests in natural and sustainable health care.
Lisette Krul, from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), leading the research, says, "Our approach involves integrating all available data taking into account risks of deficiency, the higher requirements or benefits for particular populations while also considering toxicity."
There is increasing recognition that various estimates of intake, such as estimated average requirements (EARs), nutrient reference values (NRVs) or recommended daily allowances (RDAs), are either out-of-date or do not adequately reflect optimal levels of intake for particular nutritional benefits.
The manuscript of the full paper, Quantifiable risk-benefit assessment of micronutrients: from theory to practice, is available the following link http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2016.1162765
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