Estimated Dietary Requirements for a Healthy Adult
		Nutrients	Units	Daily  Amount	Notes
		Fundamental Food Components
1		Calories	kcal	2000	2000 calories per day has been adopted as the comparison standard
2		Protein	g	100	20% of daily calories from protein, 4 calories of protein per gram
3		Fat total	g	56	25% of daily calories from fats, 9 calories per gram of fat
4		Carbohydrate	g	275	55% from carbohydrates, 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate
5		Fiber, total	g	30	Required fiber is at least 1 gram per 80 calories
6		Sugar, total	g	55	This sugar maximum represents 20% of the carbohydrates.
		ORAC	te	3000	Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity - anti-oxidant measurement
Minerals
7		Calcium CA	mg	1400	These 10 minerals are tabulated in the USDA database.  We also have a need for the major mineral, chloride, and trace minerals, boron, chromium, cobalt, fluoride, iodine, molybdenum, nickel and vanadium.
8		Copper CU	mg	2
9		Iron FE	mg	18
10		Magnesium MG	mg	500
11		Manganese MN	mg	2.3	In most situations when these 10 minerals are obtained from foods that these additional required minerals will be present.
12		Phosphorus P	mg	2000
13		Potassium K	mg	4700
14		Selenium SE	mcg	70
15		Sodium NA	mg	2300	2300 mg of sodium represents an upper limit for an adult.
16		Zinc ZN	mg	15
Vitamins
17		A Retinol	iu	5000	5000 iu (International Units) = 1500 mcg (micrograms)
18		B1 Thiamine	mg	2	There are 7 B-vitamins listed.  Since they tend to function together it is important to obtain all of them in sufficient quantity.
19		B2 Riboflavin	mg	2.8
20		B3 Niacin	mg	22
21		B5 Pantothenic Acid	mg	5
22		B6 Pyridoxine	mg	2.4
23		B9 Folic Acid	mcg	400
24		B12 Cobalamin	mcg	6
25		C Ascorbic acid	mg	90
26		D Calciferol	iu	400	400 iu = 10 mcg
27		E Tocopherol	mg	15	1 mg = 1.5 iu; 15mg = 22.5iu
28		K Phylloquinone	mcg	300
Fat Details
29		Cholesterol	mg	300	300 is the maximum suggested; none is required.
30		Monounsaturated	g	18.5	Fats are specified as equal amounts of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated.
31		Polyunsaturated	g	18.5
32		Omega-3	g	1.6	The USDA database does not provide omega-3 or omega-6 explicitly, and they are not provided for all foods.
33		Omega-6	g	7.8
34		Saturated	g	18.5	Saturated fats should be as low as possible.
35		Total trans fats	g	5	Hydrogenated and trans-fats should ideally be zero.
Protein Details
36		Histidine*	g	3.1	Essential amino acids are protein components that cannot be manfactured by our bodies and must be consumed in our diet.
37		Isoleucine *	g	4.4
38		Leucine *	g	9.6
39		Lysine *	g	8.9
40		Methionine *	g	4.4	Methionine is the most difficult protein component to get in our food.  Cystine is converted into methionine as needed.
		cystine	g	4.4
41		Phenylalanine *	g	8.2
		tyrosine	g	8.2
42		Threonine *	g	4.7	There are a total of 22 amino acids known to form our body protein.  Eleven amino acids contribute to the essential aminos required, the other 11 can be manufactured by our body.
43		Tryptophan  *	g	1.2
44		Valine *	g	5.6
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A 2000 calorie per day food plan, corresponding to food labeling, has been selected.  It is recommended that all nutrients come from foods, not supplements.  Sugar, sodium, cholesterol, saturated fats, trans fats and alcohol should be minimized.  Numerical requirements are based on our example healthy full-grown adult.  When men and women required different amounts, the greater was selected for this example.
Required nutrients are customized for each person. This table can be used as a tutorial on required nutrients and as a starting point for figuring out individual ideal nutrient needs.