Since 1941, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) has been recognized as the most authoritative source of information on nutrient levels for healthy people. Since publication of the 10th edition in 1989, there has been rising awareness of the impact of nutrition on chronic disease. In light of new research findings and a growing public focus on nutrition and health, the expert panel responsible for formulation RDAs reviewed and expanded its approachâ€"the result: Dietary Reference Intakes. This new series of references greatly extends the scope and application of previous nutrient guidelines. For each nutrient the book presents what is known about how the nutrient functions in the human body, what the best method is to determine its requirements, which factors (caffeine or exercise, for example) may affect how it works, and how the nutrient may be related to chronic disease. The first volume of Dietary Reference Intakes includes calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin D, and fluoride. The second book in the series presents information about thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin, and choline. Based on analysis of nutrient metabolism in humans and data on intakes in the U.S. population, the committee recommends intakes for each age groupâ€"from the first days of life through childhood, sexual maturity, midlife, and the later years. Recommendations for pregnancy and lactation also are made, and the book identifies when intake of a nutrient may be too much. Representing a new paradigm for the nutrition community, Dietary Reference Intakes encompasses: Estimated Average Requirements (EARs). These are used to set Recommended Dietary Allowances. Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). Intakes that meet the RDA are likely to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all individuals in a life-stage and gender group. Adequate Intakes (AIs). These are used instead of RDAs when an EAR cannot be calculated. Both the RDA and the AI may be used as goals for individual intake. Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs). Intakes below the UL are unlikely to pose risks of adverse health effects in healthy people. This new framework encompasses both essential nutrients and other food components thought to pay a role in health, such as dietary fiber. It incorporates functional endpoints and examines the relationship between dose and response in determining adequacy and the hazards of excess intake for each nutrient.

Diet and Health examines the many complex issues concerning diet and its role in increasing or decreasing the risk of chronic disease. It proposes dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of the major diseases and causes of death today: atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (including heart attack and stroke), cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, and dental caries.

The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.

In the past 20 years micronutrients have assumed great public health importance and a considerable amount of research has lead to increasing knowledge of their physiological role. Because it is a rapidly developing field, the WHO and FAO convened an Expert Consultation to evaluate the current state of knowledge. It had three main tasks: to review the full scope of vitamin and minerals requirements; to draft and adopt a report which would provide recommended nutrient intakes for vitamins A, C, D, E, and K; the B vitamins; calcium; iron; magnesium; zinc; selenium; and iodine; to identify key issues for future research and make preliminary recommendations for the handbook. This report contains the outcome of the Consultation, combined with up-to-date evidence that has since become available.

MILS-13 provides an up-to-date review on the relationships between essential metals and human diseases, covering 13 metals and 3 metalloids: The bulk metals sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, plus the trace elements manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, molybdenum, and selenium, all of which are essential for life. Also covered are chromium, vanadium, nickel, silicon, and arsenic, which have been proposed as being essential for humans in the 2nd half of the last century. However, if at all, they are needed only in ultra-trace amounts, and because of their prevalence in the environment, it has been difficult to prove whether or not they are required. In any case, all these elements are toxic in higher concentrations and therefore, transport and cellular concentrations of at least the essential ones, are tightly controlled; hence, their homeostasis and role for life, including deficiency or overload, and their links to illnesses, including cancer and neurological disorders, are thoroughly discussed. Indeed, it is an old wisdom that metals are indispensable for life. Therefore, Volume 13 provides in an authoritative and timely manner in 16 stimulating chapters, written by 29 internationally recognized experts from 7 nations, and supported by more than 2750 references, and over 20 tables and 80 illustrations, many in color, a most up-to-date view on the vibrant research area of the Interrelations between Essential Metal Ions and Human Diseases.

This volume is the newest release in the authoritative series issued by the National Academy of Sciences on dietary reference intakes (DRIs). This series provides recommended intakes, such as Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), for use in planning nutritionally adequate diets for individuals based on age and gender. In addition, a new reference intake, the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), has also been established to assist an individual in knowing how much is "too much" of a nutrient. Based on the Institute of Medicine's review of the scientific literature regarding dietary micronutrients, recommendations have been formulated regarding vitamins A and K, iron, iodine, chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, and other potentially beneficial trace elements such as boron to determine the roles, if any, they play in health. The book also: Reviews selected components of food that may influence the bioavailability of these compounds. Develops estimates of dietary intake of these compounds that are compatible with good nutrition throughout the life span and that may decrease risk of chronic disease where data indicate they play a role. Determines Tolerable Upper Intake levels for each nutrient reviewed where adequate scientific data are available in specific population subgroups. Identifies research needed to improve knowledge of the role of these micronutrients in human health. This book will be important to professionals in nutrition research and education.