Recommended Daily Values for Nutrition
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises the public with accurate information to improve their health. For your daily nutrient intake, the FDA has a recommended allowance that details the amount of a particular nutrient, vitamin or mineral that should be consumed each day to maintain good health.
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Food Label
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The FDA requires food labels for most prepared foods such as snacks, cereals, bread, drinks, etc. This is an excellent guide for you to make healthy food choices and to follow the recommended daily values for nutrition.
Food labels list nutrients and the "percent Daily Value" (%DV), which indicates the percentage per day of your recommended total intake of that particular nutrient that is contained in one serving of the labeled food. The serving size is a good way to compare similar foods; They are standardized in measurements like cups or pieces.
The food label can help you determine if you are meeting the recommended daily value of nutrients without the need to know what those values are; it is an easy and very effective way to maintain your calorie intake.
History
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The concept of daily nutrition values was developed in the early 1940's during World War II. The United States National Academy of Sciences established a committee to investigate issues of nutrition and to advise a set of nutrient value recommendations on a daily allowance. The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) were officially accepted in 1941 and its standards were set forth in use for the armed forces and for civilians.
The RDAs have been revised since then but the guidelines were finally made easier to follow in the early 1950s' when the United States Department of Agriculture developed an updated version that included servings per food group.
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Daily Values
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The USDA has an extensive list of recommended daily values for nutrition based on a 2,000 calorie intake. For the full list of recommended daily intake, see the Resources section.
Effects
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To effectively use the FDA recommended daily values (DV) guideline, you need to understand how it relates to the percent daily values on the food labels.
For example, if the total fat listed in a food label is 20 percent DV, that means that you have 80 percent fat allowance remaining for the rest of the day if you eat one serving of thhis food. Remember that the value listed, in this case 20 percent, is per serving and if you eat two servings then you double your intake.
Just by looking at the percent daily values in a glance, you can see whether a product has a high or low amount of fat or nutrient. According to the FDA, the rule of thumb is 20 percent DV or more is high and 5 percent of DV or less is low.
Warnings
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Armed with the knowledge of how the food labels work, you can easily recognize and ignore false claims on food packages. Just compare the percent daily values for total fat in each food to see if one product really is 'light" or "non fat."
You should pay close attention to how much you eat per serving to make sure your daily nutrient value intake is healthy and that the total amount of fat you consume for the day stays below 100 percent.
Considerations
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Keep in mind that these food labels are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. You may have higher or lower calorie needs based on individualized factors such as medical conditions, etc.
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