DRV's Flashcards
What are the DRV’s?
The Dietary Reference Values are a set of nutrient reference values that act as a benchmark for assessing the adequacy of diets. They include the RNI, LRNI and EAR.
What is the RNI?
Reference Nutrient Intake. It is the mean requirement + 2SD so meets the requirements for 97.5% of the population.
What is the LRNI?
The Lower Reference Nutrient Intake is the mean - 2SD so is only adequate for 2.5% of the population’s needs. This is the level of intake below which it is unlikely that metabolic integrity is maintained.
Why is it recommended to not exceed twice the RNI for protein?
If you eat more protein than you require you break it down and you deaminate it (remove the nitrogen part in the amino acid) and you have to pee it out through the kidney so all that extra nitrogen is being excreted through the kidney and you’re using the carbon skeletons for energy so you’re giving yourself a lot of extra energy. You need a fully functioning kidney to cope with this. When you excrete a lot of nitrogen you can also excrete a lot of calcium at the same time, so there’s a possibility of kidney stones.
