Understanding Micronutrient Targets: What Do They Mean, and Where Do They Come From?

The Stronger By Science Podcast

In this episode (which is Part 2 of our micronutrient series), Greg and Lyndsey discuss nutrient targets: where they come from, what they mean, and how to think about them. They also talk about the relative imprecision of micronutrient tracking, why micronutrient content can differ so much within a single food, and why it can be challenging to track your micronutrient intake in the first place.

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TIME STAMPS

Intro (0:00)

Recommendations and good vibes (0:20)

• Lyndsey – Bottoms movie
• Davie High fight club news report
• Greg – Telemarketers docu-series
• Reply All “Long Distance” podcast episodes

Housekeeping notes (8:45)

• MacroFactor Annual Report

Recommended products and more from the SBS team (11:50)

• Work with a Stronger By Science coach: Get personalized training and nutrition plans and ongoing support from one of our expert coaches.
• Try MacroFactor for free: Use code SBS to get a 14-day free trial of our nutrition app MacroFactor. MacroFactor has the fastest food logger on the market and its smart nutrition coach adapts to your metabolism to keep you on track with your goals. Download it today on the App Store or Google Play.
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Episode 1 in the Micronutrient Series

History of RDAs and Government Micronutrient Recommendations (14:53)

• The 100-Year History of Vitamins - Supplement Facts - Better Nutrition
• Vitamins Come to Dinner | Science History Institute
• Are We Well Fed?: A Report on the Diets of Families in the United States (Miscellaneous Publication No. 430)
• The History and Future of Dietary Guidance in America - PMC
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025
• Dietary Reference Intakes Development | health.gov
• History of Nutrition: The Long Road Leading to the Dietary Reference Intakes for the United States and Canada

DRI development retrospective

Ongoing DRV-related publications from the EFSA

Micronutrient series on the website

Micronutrient content in the MacroFactor knowledge base

Understanding Micronutrient Targets and the DRI Framework (37:13)

• General framework
• How ULs are determined
• Vitamin A toxicity

How EARs, RDAs, and LTIs are Determined (59:52)

• EFSA publication on calcium, used as an example
• Figure showing data used to define calcium DRVs (from this article)

General discussion of the implications of imprecise research and large inter-individual variability (1:21:21)

• Note: I was right about magnesium, and wrong about calcium. Calcium carbonate is the more common version in supplements (not oxide). Chelated calcium is generally a bit better than calcium carbonate, but the difference between calcium carbonate and chelated calcium isn’t NEARLY as large as the difference between magnesium oxide and chelated magnesium.

The relative imprecision of micronutrient tracking (and WHY micronutrient content can differ so much within a single food) (1:49:30)

• Why labeling error generally doesn’t matter much for calorie (and macronutrient) tracking: SBS article – Nutrition Labels Are Inaccurate (and the Math Behind Why It Doesn’t Matter)
• Variable vitamin C content in spinach
• Slightly higher nutrient levels in similar foods in Germany than the Netherlands
• Soil health and nutrient density
• Many roles of vitamin C in plants
• MacroFactor knowledge base content on selenium
• Selenium uptake in plants
• Regional selenium differences in the US
• Regional selenium differences in China
• Selenium intake and diabetes
• Selenium and cancer
• General selenium content
• Omega-3 content in farmed vs fresh salmon
• Generally high vitamin A levels in the livers of numerous arctic predators

Why it can be challenging to track your micronutrient intake in the first place (2:22:27)

• Nutrient reporting frequencies in the UK graphic: (from this study, discussed in this article)

Wrap-up and conclusions (2:28:39)

• Considerably higher rates of vitamin D deficiencies with darker skin at higher latitudes

Depressing final thought (2:35:49)

• Learn more and donate to GAIN

Cool, less depressing final thought (2:42:16)

• Fun video about cod and the Vikings