Your Body’s Daily Nutrient Needs

Nutrients your body needs on a daily basis

Every human needs a certain amount of nutrients each day. There is a lot of controversy on exactly how much of each type of nutrients you need such as proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals. There are some really great charts put out by various organizations such as the CDC, centers for disease control, and other government entities. The best thing you can do for yourself is to ensure that you’re eating plenty of veggies, fruits, and whole natural foods as unprocessed as possible, in every color of the rainbow.

This chart is a very general guideline, you should consult your physician or healthcare practitioner to be sure about your particular needs. Your needs can be determined by special blood tests which check the levels of the nutrients in your blood. It is recommended, if you’re concerned to get one blood test per year to check your levels. Once you know your levels you can adjust your dietary intake accordingly.

In general every woman needs adequate amounts of calcium, iron, and folic acid. The actual amount is dependent upon the person’s individual weight, caloric intake and health issues. Most women need about 18 milligrams per day of Iron, and 400 micrograms of folic acid, and about 1000 mg of calcium. It is also important to take or expose yourself to vitamin D each day. Despite rumors you can get adequate amounts of these vitamins and minerals easily, whether you’re a vegan or a carnivore. Just learn the nutrient amounts in the foods you ingest and use a nutrition calculator such as CRON-O-Meter or FitDay.org’s nutrition calculator to ensure that you’re meeting your goals. Remember that goals can also be met on a weekly basis over time and don’t always have to be daily.

Men need to also ensure that they meet their requirements each day too but on different levels of women’s. It’s important for men to also check with their doctor to ensure they’re getting the essential nutrients that they need over time. Most of the time, people who eat a variety of healthy whole foods and enough dark green leafy veggies, will meet their nutrition requirements over time. But in some cases, such as with vitamin B 12, both men and women can have issues with processing the vitamin and may need supplementation. This is because our soil is depleted of these vitamins today, but for the most part you should be able to get the vitamins and minerals from your diet.

Check with your doctor before you ingest high doses of any supplement as it could be dangerous. Instead, seek to get most of your needs met through your diet. A good way to ensure you’re getting enough fruits and veggies is to incorporate either a green juice or green smoothie into your diet once a day. A good recipe is below: