I often hear the question: “Dr, do you have any easy tips for eating well?” Indeed, today, we find it difficult to make balanced dishes while respecting instructions that seemed obvious to previous generations. So I’m going to tell you about the RDA, the famous Recommended Daily Allowances.
This AJR acronym, which appears on the packaging of all food products, indicates benchmarks allowingassess nutritional quality of a product in relation to the needs of the population (assessed in terms of deficiencies).
Their development has benefited from the evolution of a discipline which appears in France, at the medical level, only 1985: nutrition. Does that mean anything to you?
Strictly speaking, this science analyzes the relationship between food and health, thanks to the study of food composition, of their properties and their use by the body, and the eating behaviors of individuals.
Knowledge long regarded as the poor relation of medicine before we realize its potentialities, especially in the prevention of a number of diseases.
The authors of AJR have shown the greatest scientific rigor by presenting their recommendations, since they set out from the outset the difficulties of developing a perfect model.
No perfect model for balanced dishes
The variability of foods, populations, knowledge, as well as the difficulty of carrying out the studies necessary to establish these recommendations indeed prevent any absolute certainty.
Therefore, to be on the safe side, these RDAs have been increased by around 15%, both upwards and downwards. Which explains why we, nutritionists, we fight to explain that sometimes the recommended doses are higher than those in other countries – especially calcium – for simple reasons of safety.
The initiators also underlined the need to repeat these studies regularly, so that they remain as reliable and close to reality as possible in order to keep dishes balanced according to the evolution of the population.
This work was initially supposed to allow the food industry to refine its identification of deficiencies in order to offer suitable creations, products or dishes. In the end, the recommended daily intakes were mainly used to flood us with unnecessary numbers drowning the fish.
More people, today, not even an emeritus nutritionist, is able of calculate with precision all of his intake of vitamins D, C, B or trace elements at the end of a day! A shame, right? So how do we make sure we cook balanced meals?
By amplifying the hygienist discourse with figures of devilish precision, which, at times, I myself have been wrong to repeat, I fear that the AJR have had the opposite effect of that sought.
Not to simplify the individual awareness and the responsibility of each one vis-a-vis food and balanced dishes, but on the contrary everything complicate to the point of leading everyone to panic, then abandoned, then in the arms of communities or simpler food religions to understand or apprehend.
The most alarming in this specific case is to see that we started from a logical idea, simple, intended to facilitate the nutritional understanding of the French to achieve a opposite result.
The PNNS, an overly simplistic vision?
How did this turnaround happen? Well, probably because the general, official recommendations are not readily acceptable.
the National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS), he suffers from the opposite defect. Assuming that it is necessary educate the masses by using a simple speech, he professes recommendations that could not be more moderate, to put it mildly.
Like, and I admit it, there is a great temptation to make fun of these simplistic advice:
- “eat your soup”,
- “Drink your milk”,
- “Do not abuse sweets”,
- “Don’t drink too much alcohol”,
- “Try to vary your diet”…
But who does not know that?
Admittedly, the nutritional education of the population is insufficient and it is undoubtedly good to recall such basic precepts, but I fear that the imprecision of the recommendations has the opposite effect to that sought by contributing not only to the dissemination of fake information, but the almost fraudulent use of certain scientific data.
No advice or direction taken in isolation is enough ; this is why there is no precise recipe to make sure to make balanced dishes in all areas, perhaps fortunately, by the way, no food law to prevent or cure diseases.
It seems to me more interesting, on the other hand, to persevere in nutritional research to finally come up with useful recommendations.
Respect the RDI to eat a balanced diet
To be clear, the AJR are a good thing, are going in the right direction, but, at the current stage of data development, it seems essential to me to inform the reader of themeasurement inaccuracy.
Especially since a recent study clearly shows the existence of a very strong relationship between understanding, popularization nutritional guidelines and their application to make balanced dishes. Which leaves a glimmer of hope.
I will not repeat here the detailed recommendations of the PNNS, it would be superfluous because you hear them every day and I have, admittedly with a little irony, recalled them a little above.
But know that striving towards these goals is the way to achieve a better nutritional balance, to have an adequate intake of fibers, minerals and vitamins, reduce the risk of being or becoming obese, hypercholesterolemic and / or hypertensive, and decrease the risk of developing certain diseases.
Eat healthy and respect the recommended daily allowances, it is within everyone’s reach.
