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RDA Made Easy

For runners, getting the right amount of nutrients is essential. Here’s how to do it

Posted: 24 January 2012
by Ruth Emmett

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Vitamin A (Fat-soluble)

Why you need it: Keeps your vision sharp and your skeletomuscular system strong.

RDA: 0.7mg men; 0.6mg women (upper limit: 1.5mg)

Get it: Half a carrot or 37g of chicken liver pate.

Risk factor (from over-supplementation): Too much (the sort of dose you could only take in through vitamin tablets, not food) could be bad for your bones, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, which followed 2,300 men over 30 years. Most of us get a good intake, but the NHS recommend you don’t eat A-rich liver or pate more than once a week – and to avoid taking in too much of the vitamin, they say liver-lovers shouldn’t take any supplement with A or its relative, betacarotene.

Picture credit: Karen Strauss/ Getty Images

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RDA Made Easy

Discuss this article

Mos

Did not like this article!!

I think that the information given could scare a lot of people. Vitamin requirements are measured in tiny units (milligrams) and the way the article reads there are terrible consequences from being either deficient or from taking too much.

Not good for people who are prone to worry!! Surely better to encourage a varied, balanced diet and just to point out where people may be deficient if they are vegetarian/don't eat fish/don't eat fresh vegetables, etc.

Posted: 25/01/2012 at 07:59

Lee the Pea

I agree, it is a bit heavy on the scaremongering. So if I eat double the quantities of sunflower seeds they recommended (i.e. 30g), will I have a haemorrhagic stroke? Unlikely.
Posted: 25/01/2012 at 08:15

John Pollock 3

I wouldn't know a vitamin if it jumped up and bit me! Everything in moderation. I'm with you on this.
Posted: 25/01/2012 at 12:42

CannonedAle

I thought the title was RDA Made Easy? Not worry if you eat too many oranges that you might s**t yourself to death!!!!
Posted: 26/01/2012 at 07:18

PhilPub

Wow, that article really is pretty shit in the way it's presented. In every single case, they devote several times more words to warning you about the bad stuff than what the actual benefits are of vitamins.

Best avoid eating a WHOLE carrot every day, if it's a big one!

Posted: 26/01/2012 at 15:53

RunnerBean_1987

Agreed - very poor article!! RW take note!
Posted: 28/01/2012 at 22:05

Keep Left

Agree - it doesn't really tell us much. E.g. don't eat 100 times your RDA of vitamin B1. Has anyone ever had that much Marmite?
Posted: 29/01/2012 at 00:12

Harry Warren

I don't usually feel inclined to comment on these type of things but this article is a joke! It's scaremongering and misinforming nonsense. Whoever is responsible has clearly spent far too much time reading the Daily Mail and needs to get a grip on reality. The studies that provide these sensationalist claims are usually small scale with negligible results and they never seem to specify what 'large doses' actually translates to. I really hope that nobody reads this article and leaves with an impending sense of dread that because they've gorged themselves on peanut butter for years they are now going to have a haemorrhagic stroke!
Posted: 29/01/2012 at 00:22

tuoyu0306@yahoo.com tuoyu0306@yahoo.com

Thank you to share