Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA): What Has it Done For You Lately?

Let's start by defining who the RDA applies to. The RDA applies to the average person that you may know. So who are these average people? The "average person" is defined as an adult under 60 years old, experiencing good health, dealing with little to no stress, no medical problems, not on medication, eating a balanced diet of 2000 calories per day, with good digestion and at an ideal body weight.

Now that we can all see that the above description defines most all of us we can rest assured that the RDA is taking care of all of our nutritional needs. Ok, so maybe the dripping sarcasm was a bit much, but I could not resist. Well if by chance you do fit into the above description there are a few more things that you may want to read before you checkout.

According to numerous sources it has been well documented that most adult men and women are deficient even by the RDA standards. You ask why that should be cause for alarm? There is more and more research being made available daily that further reinforces the fact that many diseases can be prevented and/or slowed down including: heart disease, cancers, arthritis, osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis and the list goes on. Further more, research shows that this can only be accomplished if your body is being supplied with optimal amounts of the vitamins and minerals that our diet is severely lacking in. In case you didn't notice I said "optimal amounts". What you may not know is that the optimal amounts in many cases are much higher than the RDA. While we are all different, by consulting with a knowledgeable professional in nutritional medicine they will be able to properly counsel you on what your particular needs may be.

What I have just described above is what applies to those "average persons" and those that may be close to being average. Take into account our elderly population, children, smokers, drinkers, city dwellers, those suffering from acute illness, athletes, people that are on medication, and pregnant or nursing women and you have very large groups of people that are walking around daily in a deficient nutrient state. It is estimated that more than half of the Americans over the age of 60 have reduced nutrient intake and as a result are malnourished. While you may not notice it in the people around you their cells are screaming for the very nutrients that could stave off many of the chronic diseases that they are faced with daily. In spite of the fact that many of these problems could be solved with the proper nutrition these people are handed yet another prescription and sent along their way and exposed to premature death.

While the RDAs were never meant to be a foundation for the production of natural supplements it seems that everyone seems to be focused on how their product rates against the RDA. A much more logical approach would be to base the production of these natural supplements on the most current medical research and/or clinical trials. What makes this fact even more frustrating is the fact that the RDAs are not even based on scientific research. At best the RDA values have been set based on political agendas. The amount of research over the past 20+ years that has found that the American public is at risk for less than adequate nutrients should be some cause for alarm. Yet little progress has been made in updating the RDAs to reflect more optimal values based on what current medical/biochemical research points out as the nutrient levels that we should have in our bodies.

While supplements should not be an excuse for not trying to maintain a healthy balanced diet, it is a well documented fact that supplementation is required if you are going to try to maintain any type of anti-aging. While none of us have a guarantee of tomorrow I fully expect to maintain the highest quality of life that I can reasonably expect. In short I want to live my life and not simply exist and based on all of the research that is available the RDA is not going to get me anything except maybe average health. I don't know about you guys that are reading this, but if you haven't walked through a nursing home lately let me tell you that average is nothing to aspire to.

Many of the nutritional vitamins and minerals that we need in our daily intake provide the antioxidants that our bodies need to repair the damage that is done just by virtue of the fact that we are breathing. Add to that damage the additional damage done to our bodies due to the daily stresses that we live with, toxins that are in our environment and suddenly it becomes readily apparent that our bodies are under constant attack from free radicals. Fortunately, Univera LifeSciences has provided us with AgelessXtra to help combat the free radical damage that is done to our bodies daily. Just 1 fluid once of AgelessXtra Concentrate provides the antioxidant protection of more than 10 servings of fruits and vegetables. When was the last time that you had 10 servings of fruits and vegetables in a single day? For those of you who may be finding it to be a challenge to get all of the folic acid that you need (dark green leafy vegetables) MetaGreens may be just what you are looking for. One table spoon of MetaGreens mixed into water or your favorite juice is equivalent to having 5 large dark green leafy salads. For those of you that may find it to be a challenge to get balanced meals in between all the phone calls, appointments, and deadlines, Ageless Essentials is the most nutrient dense superfood that you will be able to find anywhere. More importantly, Ageless Essentials is not only packed with all of the nutrients that your body could every hope for, it has been design with Nano technology so that you body does not have to work nearly has hard to absorb those needed nutrients. Conservatively speaking your body should absorb 95% of the available vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids within approximately 20 minutes. Compare that to the hours that you body would be required to digest your typical fast food packed with calories, little to no nutrition and enough saturated fat to clog the best of arteries and you will quickly see why Ageless Essentials has become a favorite among many.

As I hope you can see from this entry the RDA falls embarrassingly short when it comes to the nutrients that you body (every cell) is screaming for. What I have covered here does not even do this subject justice, but I hope I have at least generated enough interest that you will feel compelled to do some further research. If there is enough interest, I will at some time in the near future compile some of the research materials that I have into a list of what many experts define as optimal amounts or an Optimal Daily Allowance (ODA) for many of the nutrients that we need to maintain a healthy life style.

References:

1) Cherniske, Stephen M.S., The DHEA Breakthrough, Random House Publishing, 1998

2) Roizen, Michael F, M.D., Oz, Mehmet C, M.D., You The Owners Manual, Harper Collins Publishers, 2005

3) Cherniske, Stephen M.S., The Metabolic Plan, Random House Publishing Group, 2003

4) Lam, Michael, M.D., Sulindro, Maria, M.D., How to Stay Young & Live Longer, Published by the Academy of Anti-Aging Research, 200