It’s been several months since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released the new calcium and vitamin D Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations, but considering it’s been more than 10 years since the last revision in 1997, they will be “new” for quite a while. If you counsel clients or write on the topic, you will need to refer to them often.
A handy reference is the March/April issue of the Dairy Council Digest, titled “New Report on Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D.” This issue of the Digest provides an overview of the process used by the IOM Committee to develop the new DRIs for calcium and vitamin D, and presents the new DRIs across the life cycle in easy-to-read tables that include tolerable upper-intake levels. A feature of the tables I especially like is a comparison to the 1997 recommendations. This issue also provides statistics on current dietary intake and adequacy of calcium and vitamin D in Americans and dietary sources of these nutrients.
You may or may not know that milk—nearly all of which is voluntarily fortified with vitamin D—is the number one source of both calcium and vitamin D in the American diet. And, in fact, the IOM report encourages consumers to look to foods in order to meet the recommended levels of calcium and to help meet vitamin D needs. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recognizes the importance of dairy foods in a healthy diet and recommends 3 daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products for people ages 9 and older, 2.5 servings for 4-8 year olds and 2 servings for children ages 2-3.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The National Dairy Council's The Dairy Report