A Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI), sometimes referred to as recommended daily intake, is the average daily intake level of a particular nutrient that is likely to meet the nutrient requirements of 97-98% of healthy individuals in a particular life stage or gender group.
For example,
- The RDI for Iron for women aged 19-30 years = 18mg/day
- The RDI for Iron for men aged 19-30 years = 8 gm/day
This means that most women 19-30 years of age who consume 18mg of iron each day will meet their iron needs and will not show signs of poor iron levels e.g. tiredness, low energy levels. In this case, women have higher Iron needs than men of this age because of their increased iron loss through menstruation.
To find an RDI for a particular nutrient, please use the combined Australian and New Zealand RDI tables by clicking on your appropriate age group below. Please note that these estimates are for healthy people and are not suitable for those people with various diseases or conditions, pre-term infants or those with specific nutrient needs.
While we have given tables listing RDI values, it is important to eat a variety of foods from the four major food groups:
- Fruit & vegetables
- Bread and cereal foods
- Milk & milk products
- Meat and vegetarian protein alternatives
By eating a wide range of these foods, in addition to a small amount of healthy fats each day, you will be heading in the right direction to meeting your daily nutrient needs. Please see the articles below for more information as they provide examples of how many servings of each food group you need each day depending on your age or needs