Nutrient RDA and Upper Limit Lookup

How this works

The lookup holds the Dietary Reference Intakes for 35 nutrients: 14 vitamins, 15 minerals and 6 macronutrients and water. The values come from the National Academies DRI summary tables, as updated for sodium and potassium in 2019, checked against the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheets, with one row per age group, sex and life stage. Choose a nutrient and who it is for, and it shows the daily amount, whether that amount is an RDA or an AI, and the tolerable upper limit with what the limit covers. Type part of a name to narrow the list, or switch to "All 35 for me" to see every nutrient, or one group, in a single table.

Infants and children up to age 8 have one value for girls and boys, which is how the tables publish them. Where NIH gives one row for a wider age band, such as all adults 19 and older, the narrower age groups here repeat that value. For more on two of these nutrients, read our guides to magnesium dosage and the upper limit and when to take vitamin D.

Assumptions and limits

• The amounts are for healthy people. Illness, medicines, pregnancy complications and some diets change what a person needs; a doctor or dietitian can say what applies to you.
• Amounts are per day and averaged over time; a single day above or below is not a problem in itself.
• Upper limits do not apply to people taking a nutrient as treatment under a doctor's care.
• Upper limits differ in what they count. Most cover food, water and supplements together; a few (magnesium, niacin, vitamin E, folic acid) count only supplements, fortified foods or medicines, and the vitamin A limit counts only preformed vitamin A. Where a group has no upper limit, none has been published, which is not the same as proven safe at any amount.
• Sodium has no upper limit; the lookup shows its Chronic Disease Risk Reduction intake instead. Potassium amounts do not apply to people whose kidneys or medicines limit how they clear potassium.
• Some units need care: vitamin A is in micrograms of retinol activity equivalents (RAE), folate in micrograms of dietary folate equivalents (DFE), and niacin in milligrams of niacin equivalents (NE). Vitamin D is shown in micrograms with international units beside it (1 mcg is 40 IU), because supplement labels often use IU.
• Total fiber has no recommended amount for infants, and the lookup says so rather than showing a number. Energy (calories) and total fat are not included: energy needs depend on body size and activity, and the DRI tables set no amount of total fat after the first year.