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Optimising vitamin and mineral intake
Optimising vitamin and mineral intake is a bit more complicated than just considering nutrient content in foods. Bioavailability, cooking, processing and seasonality are other important factors to keep in mind. Follow the 10 principles below to improve your vitamin and mineral status. 1. Know your requirements While the Nutrient Reference Values are estimated based on the best evidence that was available at the moment of their development, it is useful to know how much of each micronutrient you need for good health. Your requirements depend on your age, gender and pregnancy/lactation status when applicable. The easiest way of finding out is using the NRV calculator. In “Reference values”, select “Show…
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Mineral overview
If you know minerals are micronutrients that are good for you but struggle to name more than 2 or 3, this mineral overview is for you. In this guide you will find the following information (when applicable or available) for the main minerals: Calcium Sources: dairy foods (e.g. milk, yoghurt, cheese) and in smaller amounts in fish with bones, legumes, dark green leafy vegetables (e.g. kale, spinach), certain nuts, fortified soy beverages and breakfast cereals. Bioavailability: absorption from milk is between 20 and 40%, from vegetables is either in the same range or lower, depending on the vegetable (higher in cruciferous vegetables). Absorption from food can be enhanced by fortification…
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Vitamin overview
If you know vitamins are micronutrients that are good for you but struggle to name more than 2 or 3, this vitamin overview is for you. In this guide you will find the following information (when applicable or available) for all vitamins: Vitamin A Forms: preformed and provitamin A carotenoids (e.g. β-carotene, α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin), which can be converted to vitamin A. Solubility: fat-soluble. Sources: preformed vitamin A is found in animal foods and carotenoids are found in oils, green leafy vegetables (e.g. spinach and kale), carrots, fruits (e.g. mango, papaya, orange). The conversion factor of β-carotene to vitamin A depends on the source. Making 1 ug of vitamin A…
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What are micronutrients?
As a dietitian, I always advocate for variety in the diet to increase exposure to micronutrients. But what are micronutrients? Below is a quick overview, more in-depth articles to follow. As seen previously, macronutrients are the “bigger” components of food, namely protein, fat and carbohydrates. Water can be also considered a macronutrient, however it does not contribute any energy. Conversely, alcohol cannot be considered nutritious but does contribute energy. The prefix “macro” comes from the ancient Greek makrós, which means “long”. It is normally used to mean “big” or “large”. Thus, macronutrients are needed in large amounts in the diet (tens or hundreds of grams). The prefix “micro” comes from…
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How to eat more vegetables
According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines, adults should eat about 5 serves of vegetables for good health (1). However, only 7.5% of the adult population manage to meet their recommended target (2). Part of the problem is that some people don’t like vegetables, but it’s also true that many people don’t know how to eat more vegetables. How many serves of vegetables For most of the population from the age of 9, the recommended number of serves is around 5 serves per day. This varies based on gender (males need more) and life stage (pregnant and lactating women need more). Likewise, more active individuals, such as athletes, need more. The…
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Nutrient reference values vs nutrient intake in Australia
We all know we should be eating vitamins and minerals but not many know how much. Is there a gap between nutrient reference values vs nutrient intake in Australia? What are nutrient reference values? Nutrient reference values (NRV) are the recommended levels of intake of different nutrients, based on scientific evidence about food intake and health. The NRVs for Australia and New Zealand are expressed as a recommended daily intake (RDI) of each nutrient, which is the average amount of the nutrient that is required for the majority of healthy individuals. For some nutrients where the RDI could not be determined, the recommendation is based on the adequate intake (AI)…
