Cronometer, carrots and vitamin A estimation

rawcarrot

Cronometer's estimation (18 g) of how many grams of raw carrot you need to get the RDA of vitamin A is lower than all the other equivalent estimations (those of nutritiondata.com etc.) I've come across. This, as well as some discussions I've participated in, makes me suspect that Cronometer is wrong about this. What do you think?

Hilary

Cronometer uses lab analysed data from NCCDB for the listing of Carrots, Raw (Food #465045)
Keep in mind, that the % values that you see listed in your diary are your nutrition targets for the day. Each target has an optional minimum and maximum value. By default, the minimum is set to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) value for your body type, and the maximum is set to the Tolerable Upper Limit (TUL), when available, values which can be quite different than the %DV value on a label.
The %DV that you see on nutrition labels (or perhaps on other websites) is a standardized value used for nutrition labels to help people better understand amounts on labels. In the Cronometer Calories Summary, the Nutrient Targets shows.
Here at Cronometer we value accuracy as a high priority; if you have referenced data indicating our values are incorrect, we would love to look into the issue.

rawcarrot

I was about to write a reply with references to various websites and their numbers, but there may be a more efficient way of getting to the bottom of my question. In Cronometer, in my diary, "Vitamin A" (measured in terms of IU) was visible by default. The minimum value is 3000 IU (max. value is not specified), which, to my knowledge, amounts to 900 micrograms of retinol activity equivalents, which is often quoted as the RDA (for males aged 14 and older, for instance). However, somebody told me to change the Cronometer settings so that "Retinol Activity Equivalent" too becomes visible in the diary, which I did (minimum value = 900 micrograms, max. value not specified). If I add 100 grams of raw carrot, the "Vitamin A" section suggests that that amounts to 557% of my daily target, whereas if I look at the "Retinol Activity Equivalent" section, it appears that 100 grams of raw carrot yield 93% of my daily target.

So, I suppose the main question is this: Should I focus on the "Vitamin A" or the "Retinol Activity Equivalent" section if I want to know how close I am to hitting the RDA of Vitamin A? There is a significant difference between 557% and 93%. I'm starting to wonder whether I should focus on RAE, but I'm not sure yet.

Susan_RD_101

@rawcarrot

The DRIs for vitamin A are based on RAEs (which include the units IU or mcg). I would focus on the RAE when considering how close you are to your needs, considering:

1 RAE = 1 mcg retinol = 3.33 IU retionol
1 RAE = 12 mcg beta carotene, 24 mcg alpha carotene, 24 beta cryptoxanthin

Hope this helps!

rawcarrot

Okay, thanks. Those numbers seem familiar. Also, this makes me think that perhaps my initial suspicion was warranted. In my case, "Vitamin A" was visible by default in the diary, but not "Retinol Activity Equivalent". If your reply is anything to go by, maybe it would be better if it were the other way around?

Susan_RD_101

Definitely something to consider!