Diet allowances to slim down?If Americans really are what they eat, there could be a nationwide identity crisis until the National academy of Sciences decides whether it will recommend lowering the levels of some vitamins and minerals needed to maintain health. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Sept. 23 New York Times, the New York Times, The Morning daily newspaper, long the U.S. newspaper of record. From its establishment in 1851 it has aimed to avoid sensationalism and to appeal to cultured, intellectual readers. Academy's committee on dietary allowances has drafted a report proposing reduction of the recommended dietary allowances Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are quantities of nutrients in the diet that are required to maintain good health in people. for vitamins A, C and B6, magnesium, iron and zinc. The same report calls for an increase in the daily allowance for calcium, the The Times said. The recommended dietary allowances are used to design food stamp and institutional menu programs and to determine nutritional labeling in food processing. Because of the broad implications, some nutritional experts quoted by The Times were dismayed by the suggested changes. Committee chair Henry Kamin, a professor of biochemistry of Duke University, in Durham, N.C., refused this week to confirm or deny the allowance figures attributed to the committee report by the newspaper. He told SCIENCE NEWS that the report, scheduled for completion in November, is still in the Academy's standard review process. Part of that process is review by the Academy's food and nutrition Food and Nutrition See also cheese; dining; milk. accubation Rare. the act or habit of reclining at meals. alimentology Medicine. thescience of nutrition. allotriophagy Pathology. board. Board chair Kurt J. Isselbacher, chief of the gastroenterology gastroenterology Medical specialty dealing with digestion and the digestive system. In the 17th century Jan Baptista van Helmont conducted the first scientific studies in the field; William Beaumont published his own observations in 1833. and nutrition unit at Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital Health care The major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, widely regarded as one of the best health care centers in the world , called the controversy over the report "premature." "The point is there is no final report yet, and all the allowances are still under discussion," he said in a telephone interview. "It's conceivable there may be no change, or there may be a lowering or raising of values. We want values that can be defended or justified by the Academy." The Academy has revised the guidelines every four or five years since they debuted in 1943. |
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