Trends in Dietary Recommendations: Nutrient Intakes, Dietary Guidelines, and Food Guides

The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) are a set of reference values for nutrients. They are used in the USA and Canada. The DRI values include—Estimated Average Requirements (EAR), Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intakes (AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL). DRI tables also include Estimated Energy Requirements (EER). The purpose of the DRI is to provide an estimation of the nutrient intake that will meet the needs of most individuals and groups within a specific population. The European Union uses a set of values known as Dietary Reference Values. These are similar to the DRI. The United Kingdom also uses a set of values known as Dietary Reference Values. However, these values have major design differences compared to the DRI. Many countries publish sets of dietary guidelines that are aimed at the improvement of population diets. Some include quantitative recommendations that focus on nutrients while other sets of dietary guidelines are based entirely on foods. The version used in the USA is the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Many countries publish food guides that are written for the general public, such as MyPlate which is used in the USA.