Recommended Daily Values for Macronutrients vs Vitamins, Minerals, etc.

tom2515

I'm new to this. I have noticed that the amount calories, protein, carbs and fats goes up over the course of the day. I assume this is because some are burned up through activity and also basal metabolism. That makes sense.

I'm wondering if it works this way for things like vitamins, minerals, nutrients. I'm thinking it would be no or maybe only sometimes.

I keep an eye on where I am throughout the day and use that as a guide to what to have next to get a nice macro balance, however, I forget about sodium and seem to always exceed it. It seems to be in everything, even things I wouldn't think it is in. I guess I'm learning.

Anyone whose been at this a while have any knowledge on how this works?

Thanks

thistle_dave

Confused yes your first point correct based on activity your macros change, for example you are likely bringing over activity from your fitness tracker device.
Vitamins etal, the recommended daily allowance set out by "authorities" is often just X mg/iu per day. Sometimes there is a different number for male/female, sometimes there is a different number for age groups, often not. Protein often mentioned as a number per kg of body weight. In your example sodium seems to be a flat number.
You will note some exceedances even when eating "real food". Uncooked raisins good for you but sugar content way up there. Cereal mostly bad for you but work with simple rules - does it change the colour of the milk = bad.
Then there is the whole debate about carbs vs. fat.
Because you are a gold member you can really dive into your eating patterns.

tom2515

That tells me I'm sort of catching on. I'm thinking if I exercise a good deal of calories and that allows me to consume more foot, I might be able to better include more items of food to best fill in any missing vitamins or nutrients.

I'm sort of getting the hang of balancing macro nutrients and am now realizing I should also be looking at other things like sodium, saturated/unsaturated fat as well.

The K:Na indicator has me confused and I've found others wonder about it. Usually this is expressed as Na:K. I also have some recent blood and urine tests and I could calculate Na:K. Blood and urine ratios are about the same, the Na and K levels measured are both in the sweet spot. Those ratios aren't the reciprocal of what is shown on the indicator. I will try to up my K and lower Na.

Potassium and any electrolyte is complicated. The kidneys excrete or retain K to maintain a certain level as well.