Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA)

[PopeyeFAFL]

I read somewhere that for an adult male, the Recommended Daily Allowances is:

25% Protein
25% Fat
50% Carbohydrates

The Fat could then be divided in:
30% Saturated
35% Monounsaturated
35% Polyunsaturated

The Carbohydrates could then be divided in:
90% Complex Carbohydrates
10% Sugars

Does these numbers sound right? I don't recall if it was for someone with a stable weight or for someone trying to loose weight.

Thanks in advance.

[RacerBill]

Do you mean USDA recommendations?

Those can be found here, in the table at the bottom of the page. The ratios are a bit different: 18% protein, 55% carb, 29% fat (7.8% saturated, 11% monounsaturated, 9% polyunsaturated, % as total of calories).

I'm not particularly thrilled with the government ratios. If you eat that way and achieve your goals with them, fine. If you're interested in losing weight, I think it would be help to keep the carbs to 33% or lower, once you figure out your caloric goal.

[cycomiko]

The RDA's are from the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine from the National Academies of Sciences, not the USDA, which utilizes the RDA's to develop guidelines for americans.

You hve pointed out the USDA food guides, but the figure next to it in the chart is the correct one. The IOM recommendations

There is not a specific macronutrient RDA, however they have Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) acceptable distribution ranges (adults)

Protien: 10-35% of energy
Carbohydrates 45-65% of energy and
Fat 20-35% of energy.

[JoshDunn]

Not sure what the those specific guidelines say but a persons needs should be based on bodyweight, goals, and activity levels rather then some arbituary % value.

[cycomiko]

They have gone away from the grams per kilogram approach for their latest revision of the DRI values.

The percentages of the macronutrients tie back to the EER's for energy, which tie back to bodyweight, or a proxy of size, BMI.

So for a 30 year old man, with low activity and a BMI of 25, they would need a protein intake around 1.0g/kg to 3.5g/kg protein.