Recommended Daily Intake of Vitamins & Minerals 

Each person’s dietary needs will vary slightly, but it can be useful to have benchmark numbers for vitamin and mineral intake as a point of reference.

Globally we know several Food  & Drug safety authorities, like the European Food Safety Association (EFGSA) or the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who set out guidelines for the amounts of different vitamins and minerals an individual should consume per day.

However, individual nutrient needs will vary depending on many factors, including a person’s age, body weight, overall health, and whether they are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Daily Value Vitamins

Vitamin	DV
biotin	30 micrograms (mcg)
choline	550 mcg
folate, or folic acid	400 mcg of dietary folate equivalents
niacin	16 milligrams (mg) of niacin equivalents
pantothenic acid	5 mg
riboflavin	1.3 mg
thiamin	1.2 mg
vitamin A	900 mcg of retinol activity equivalents
vitamin B6	1.7 mg
vitamin B12	2.4 mcg
vitamin C	90 mg
vitamin D	20 mcg
vitamin E	15 mg of alpha-tocopherol
vitamin K	120 mcg

Daily Value Minerals

The Daily Value (DV) Minerals chart below applies to most healthy adults.

Mineral	DV
calcium	1,300 mcg
chloride	2,300 mg
chromium	35 mcg
copper	0.9 mg
iodine	150 mg
iron	18 mg
magnesium	420 mg
manganese	2.3 mg
molybdenum	45 mcg
phosphorus	1,250 mg
potassium	4,700 mg
selenium	55 mcg
sodium	2,300 mg
zinc	11 mg

Healthy Diet

A healthy, varied, and balanced diet,  which includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, healthy fats, and dairy products,  usually provides the micronutrients a person needs. Each vitamin and mineral plays a different role in bodily processes. For example, sodium and potassium are crucial for the proper function of the central nervous system.

Deficiencies

There may be reasons why a person may not be able to get the nutrients they need through diet alone. Some people have inadequate nutrient intake or lower absorption of vitamins and minerals.

For example people with restrictive diets, such as vegetarians or people with certain food allergies. Or when medical conditions require additional nutrient intake. But also elderly people, pregnant or breastfeeding women. Or when people experience higher physical or mental stress during an extended period of time, like professional athletes, long-distance runners training for a marathon, women with hormonal changes from pre- to peri-menopause, or when we go through very emotional or stressful periods in life.

Some vitamin and mineral deficiencies are particularly common. Some of these include vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E, iron, folate, vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium.

Deficiency tests

If someone thinks their consumption of specific vitamins or minerals is either too high or too low, a vitamin and nutrition test can help determine which micronutrients a person is lacking. You can purchase several “at-home micronutrient deficiency test kits” online.  These tests indicate your overall nutritional profile and may give you guidance on which supplements are suitable to take.

You could have your at-home test results confirmed with your doctor, who can provide a broader assessment,  including a simple blood test, of whether you are nutritionally deficient, and whether adjusting your diet, adding supplements or other adjustments is the best way to address the issue.

Nutritional Supplements

In some situations, it is useful for people to take one or more supplements to meet the Daily Values of certain nutrients. The over-the-counter vitamins and minerals can sometimes make you feel overwhelmed. How would you know which ones to choose?

NeoLife Nutritionals

Good News! MoreFun2Run’s owner, Angelique Pascaud,  is an official distributor for NeoLife International, a global company that has been a pioneer in whole-food nutrition supplementation since 1958.  NeoLife Nutritionals offer the highest quality based on whole foods, with formulas based on nature and backed by science. With over 60 years of proven solutions, you can trust in purity and safety for yourself and your family.

Check out our Neolife Page for more details.

Can we consume too many Vitamins and Minerals?

In most cases, people will not consume too much of a particular vitamin or mineral, when they are getting it from their regular food. Overconsumption usually happens when an individual takes too many nutritional supplements. Vitamin and mineral toxicity is rare. This only happens when someone consumes a certain nutrient in very large amounts.

Note that not all vitamins and minerals are harmful when a person over-consumes them. If we’ve taken too many water-soluble vitamins,  the body usually gets rid of the excess in the urine. Vitamin C and B vitamins for example are both water-soluble.

However, fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in fat and oils. This means that fatty tissues and the liver store them, and the excess amounts could build up over time. In some cases, they could reach toxic levels. This is particularly common in people who consume too many fat-soluble vitamins. Not all fat-soluble vitamins are harmful when consumed in large amounts. It is generally safe to consume a surplus of vitamin D, although we should avoid consuming megadoses of this vitamin over long periods of time. Consuming excess amounts of certain minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, and selenium, can cause adverse effects.

Side effects overconsumption

Usually, mineral or vitamin overconsumption results from excessive intake of a certain micronutrient through the use of multivitamins or supplements. When someone consistently greatly exceeds the DV of certain vitamins and minerals, they may experience some side effects. The body uses each micronutrient differently, and therefore each can cause different symptoms.

In the table below, we outline potential symptoms of acute or chronic toxicity due to overconsumption of specific vitamins and minerals:

Vitamin or mineral	Side effects
vitamin A	peeling skin liver damage vision loss
niacin	burning, itching sensation low blood pressure a buildup of fluid behind the eye
calcium	gastric reflux constipation kidney stones reduction in the absorption of iron, zinc, and magnesium
magnesium	gastric reflux constipation kidney stones reduction in the absorption of iron, zinc, and magnesium
selenium	irritability hair and nail brittleness skin rashes and sores nausea

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