How nutrient targets are calculated

The framework: DRIs, RDAs, and ULs

Every nutrient target in the app is grounded in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) published by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). DRIs are the reference set used by nutrition professionals and public-health agencies across North America.

Within the DRI framework, two values do most of the work:

• RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) the daily intake estimated to meet the needs of 97-98% of healthy people in a given age and sex group. This is the “adequacy” target, what you aim to reach.
• UL (Tolerable Upper Intake Level) the highest daily intake that is unlikely to cause harm over time for most people. This is the ceiling, what you aim to stay below.

Where no RDA has been established, the app uses the Adequate Intake (AI) value instead, which is the DRI value derived from observed intakes in healthy populations. For a few nutrients (saturated fat, added sugar, sodium, alcohol), the target is a limit rather than an RDA, based on guidance from authorities like the WHO and the American Heart Association.

How your profile personalizes the targets

DRIs are tabulated by age and sex, and adjusted further for pregnancy and lactation. The app reads those fields from your profile and picks the correct DRI row automatically. On top of that, calorie and macronutrient targets are computed from your body stats:

• Age, sex, height, and weight feed the basal metabolic rate estimate.
• Activity level scales that estimate into a total daily energy expenditure.
• Weight goal (maintain, lose, or gain) adds or subtracts a calorie delta from maintenance.
• Pregnancy / lactation status shifts several DRI values upward (notably folate, iron, iodine, and calcium needs).

The result is a full per-nutrient target sheet tailored to you, not a one-size-fits-all reference column. Update your profile and every number on this site updates with it.

Macronutrients

Macronutrient targets are derived from your body, not a fixed percentage split. Calories are calculated using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which estimates basal metabolic rate from your age, sex, height, and weight, then multiplies by an activity factor and applies your weight-goal adjustment to reach a daily calorie target.

Protein is set relative to body weight and scaled up with activity level, weight-loss goals, and pregnancy or lactation. The baseline follows the DRI of 0.8 g/kg for sedentary adults; active individuals and those in a deficit need more to preserve lean mass, consistent with the International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand.

Fat is set as a percentage of your calorie target within the DRI Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (20-35% of calories for adults). Fiber follows the DRI recommendation of roughly 14 g per 1,000 calories consumed. Carbohydrates are reported for reference and fill the remaining calorie budget after protein and fat are set.

Added sugar and alcohol appear in the macro group as daily upper limits, not targets to reach. Both are inspired by the WHO guideline on sugars intake (which recommends keeping free sugars under 10% of total calories, with a further conditional reduction below 5%) and the NIAAA definition of moderate drinking.

Sources: NASEM, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (2005), WHO Sugars Guideline (2015), NIAAA Moderate Drinking Definition.

Lipid Profile

The lipid panel splits fat into sub-types with very different health implications, so each one has its own target rather than a single “total fat” number.

Saturated fat is treated as a limit, not an adequacy target. The ceiling follows the WHO guideline on saturated fatty acid intake (under 10% of total calories) and the corresponding American Heart Association advisory on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease, which ties saturated fat intake directly to LDL cholesterol and coronary risk.

Trans fat is reported against a zero target. There is no safe intake level; the WHO recommends elimination from the food supply.

Omega-3 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, DHA) are reported against an Adequate Intake from the NASEM DRIs. Cholesterol is tracked but no longer carries a numeric upper limit, consistent with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans removing the 300 mg/day cap.

Sources: NASEM DRIs for Fat and Fatty Acids (2005), WHO Saturated Fatty Acid Guideline (2023).

Vitamins

Every vitamin target is a per-person value from the NASEM Dietary Reference Intakes, selected for your age, sex, and pregnancy or lactation status. Where an RDA has been established the app uses it; where the evidence base is thinner the app falls back to the Adequate Intake (AI). Both are adequacy targets: the number you are trying to reach, not a maximum.

For vitamins with a documented risk from over-intake (notably A, D, E, niacin, B6, and folic acid), the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) is shown alongside the adequacy target. You get the floor and the ceiling in one row so it is obvious when a supplement or fortified food is pushing intake past the safe range. Water-soluble vitamins that have no meaningful UL (for example B12, thiamin, riboflavin) are shown as adequacy targets only.

Source: NASEM, Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements.

Minerals

Mineral targets follow the NASEM Dietary Reference Intakes. Most minerals have an RDA and a UL, both personalized by age, sex, and life stage. Iron, iodine, calcium, and zinc needs shift substantially during pregnancy and lactation, and the app adjusts for that automatically based on your profile.

Sodium is treated differently from other minerals. The DRIs include an Adequate Intake (AI) for sodium as well as a Chronic Disease Risk Reduction (CDRR) intake - the level above which reducing sodium is expected to lower chronic disease risk. The app uses the CDRR as the daily limit, aligned with the WHO recommendation to limit sodium to under 2,000 mg/day.

Sources: NASEM DRIs for Sodium and Potassium (2019), WHO Guideline: Sodium Intake for Adults and Children.

Additional Nutrients

A handful of tracked values do not fit neatly into the macro, vitamin, or mineral groups. They cover choline plus several carotenoids and retinol - things the app reads off food records so they can feed the food-scoring engine, even when they do not have a daily target.

• Choline is reported against its NASEM Adequate Intake (AI). There is no RDA for choline, but the AI is a well-established adequacy target that shifts by age, sex, pregnancy, and lactation. Where a UL is defined it is shown alongside the AI, same as for vitamins and minerals.
• Retinol and the carotenoids - beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, cryptoxanthin, and lycopene - are shown for reference. There are no established daily RDAs or ULs for these individual compounds (vitamin A activity is tracked separately under Vitamins as retinol activity equivalents), so the app reports the amount in what you ate without drawing a target bar.

The carotenoid readings still matter: they feed the micronutrient score used in the star plot and the per-100 g Food Score, so foods rich in them score higher even though you will not see a numeric target next to them.

Source: NASEM, Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements.

Read further

Why required nutrient density varies ~3× across people - a research note showing how the same DRIs translate into wildly different per-calorie demands depending on age, sex, body size, and activity level.