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Micronutrient Calculator

Created by Joanna Michałowska, PhD candidate and Dominika Śmiałek, MD, PhD candidate
Reviewed by Dominik Czernia, PhD and Jack Bowater
Based on research by
Institute of Medicine (US) Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride; National Academies Press (US); 1997See 6 more sources
Institute of Medicine (US) Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes and its Panel on Folate, Other B Vitamins, and Choline Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline; National Academies Press (US); 1998Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Dietary Antioxidants and Related Compounds Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids; National Academies Press (US); 2000Trumbo, P., Yates, A. A., Schlicker, S., Poos, M. Dietary reference intakes: vitamin A, vitamin K, arsenic, boron, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, vanadium, and zinc; Journal of the American Dietetic Association; 2001Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium, Ross, A. C., Taylor, C. L., Yaktine, A. L., & Del Valle, H. B. (Eds.) Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D; National Academies Press (US); 2011National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium, Oria, M., Harrison, M., & Stallings, V. A. (Eds.) Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium; National Academies Press (US); 2019Institute of Medicine; Food and Nutrition Board; Panel on Dietary Reference Intakes for Electrolytes and Water; Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate; National Academies Press (US); 2005
Last updated: Sep 06, 2023


This micronutrient calculator shows your dietary reference intake (DRI) for all elements according to your age and sex. Depending on the scientific evidence, you will see either the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) or Adequate Intake (AI) for each element. If you are interested in recommendations for vitamin intake, check out our vitamin calculator.

Read the article below to find out what are micronutrients, what are consequences of micronutrient deficiency, and the difference between macronutrients vs micronutrients.

Interested in other dietary calculators 🥗? Check out the macronutrient calculator.

We try our best to make our Omni Calculators as precise and reliable as possible. However, this tool can never replace a professional doctor's assessment. All information on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for medical consultation. Always consult your results with a health care provider.

What are micronutrients? Micronutrients definition

Micronutrients are essential elements required by our bodies to function healthily by coordinating a range of physiological functions. Micronutrients are often referred to as vitamins and minerals, and human bodies need them in small amounts (usually less than 100 mg per day). This calculator focuses only on microelements, which include major elements (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus) and minor elements (iron, chlorine, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iodine, selenium, chromium, fluoride). You can find these micronutrients examples by clicking on the drop-down list in the third field of the calculator. Vitamin D calculator and vitamin A calculators could also be useful when trying to plan micronutrient-oriented meals.

Most of the minerals in a human diet come from eating different foods and drinking water.

Macronutrients vs. micronutrients

As mentioned above, our bodies need micronutrients in relatively small quantities, whereas we need large quantities of macronutrients to get energy.

Macronutrients include:

  • Proteins;
  • Fats; and
  • Carbohydrates.

Micronutrient deficiency

Micronutrient deficiency can cause visible and dangerous illnesses, but it can also lead to less threatening health conditions, e.g. reductions in energy level or muscle cramps.

Depending on the micronutrient, symptoms of the deficiencies will vary, e.g. iron deficiency is associated with developing anemia, whereas magnesium deficiency can result in frequent muscle spasms. Deficiencies in iron and iodine are the most common around the world (particularly in children and pregnant women).

Most of the deficiencies are preventable through a healthy and balanced diet.

The micronutrient calculator

The micronutrient calculator shows your dietary reference intake (DRI) for all elements. What is dietary reference intake you may ask? Daily reference intake (DRI) is the general term for a set of reference values used to plan and assess the nutrient intake required for healthy people. These values may vary by age, sex, and physiologic state.
There are three terms associated with DRI:

  • Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) - the average daily dietary intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97–98 percent) healthy individuals in a group;
  • Adequate Intake (AI) - AI is believed to cover the needs of all healthy individuals in the groups but is used when not enough information is available from scientific research to determine RDA; and
  • Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) - the maximum daily intake that is unlikely to cause adverse health effects.

Our micronutrient calculator uses RDA and AI values - let's see how easy it is to use it!

  1. Input your age.
  2. Choose your sex.
  3. Select the element you are interested in from the micronutrients list.

That's it! You will see your recommended daily allowance for the chosen element, based on your age and sex.

The data comes from Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academies and shows RDA intake levels when possible.

Joanna Michałowska, PhD candidate and Dominika Śmiałek, MD, PhD candidate
Age
yrs
Sex
Male
Element
Calcium
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