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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"It’s important you get your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins - but there's no need to pop pill after pill. Many runners are tempted to top up with multivitamins but in fact, it's easy to get your RDA through simple tweaks to your diet. “Just remember – unlike fat-soluble vitamins, your body can’t store water–soluble vitamins so you should make extra sure you get your full RDA of these every day”, says Bridget Benelam of the British Nutrition Foundation.

And while you'll never do yourself any damage eating a varied diet full of fresh produce, massively overdoing it on the vitamin supplements could, in a rare number of cases, be bad for your health. Popular brands of multi-vitimins can contain many times your RDA, and in some cases exceed the Government recommended limits. Here's how to meet your daily quota - and why you might think about giving the tablets a miss.

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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

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