Nutrient needs explained

Australia and New Zealand have shared recommendations for energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, water and all of the vitamins and minerals. You can find these listed on the Australian Government Eat for Health website(external link).

There's a high degree of variation in the way that people absorb and break down nutrients in their body. This was taken into consideration when designing the recommended amounts. The recommendations are based on the best available science and are regularly reviewed.

Please note that the recommendations are estimates for healthy people and may not be suitable if you have certain health conditions or specific nutrient needs (eg, preterm baby). It's best to seek advice from your healthcare provider about your own individual nutrient needs.

We eat foods and not single nutrients, so it’s best to follow the advice recommended in the Eating and Activity guidelines as they were developed to ensure New Zealanders are able to meet their nutrient needs. Find out about recommended daily servings of major food types and more about food groups in general. You can also read more about nutrients and why we need them.  

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Recommended dietary intake (RDI)

This in the average daily dietary intake level that will be enough to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all healthy people (97–98%) in each life stage and gender group. You may see the term RDI used on packaged food labels. Read more about using food labels. 

Estimated average requirement (EAR)

This is the daily nutrient level estimated to meet the requirements of half the healthy people in each life stage and gender group.

Adequate intake (AI)

Sometimes there isn’t enough information to work out the recommended dietary intake (RDI). The alternative is the adequate intake (AI), which is an estimated intake of a nutrient that's assumed to be enough for healthy people.

Estimated energy requirement (EER)

This is the average dietary energy intake that's predicted to maintain good health and energy balance in a healthy adult of a particular age, gender, weight, height and level of physical activity. EER is measured in kilojoules or calories. 

Upper level of intake (UL)

We only need nutrients in certain amounts. The upper level of intake is the highest average daily nutrient intake level that poses no risk or harm to the health of almost everyone in the population. As intake increases above the UL, the risk of there being an adverse effect increases.

There's no established benefit for healthy people to eat a nutrient in amounts greater than the RDI or AI. Where there's no UL available, this means there's not enough evidence for an upper limit to be set. It doesn't mean that eating a high level of that nutrient is safe.