Why Your Micronutrient Targets Aren't Everyone's
Reference intakes are set separately for men and women and change with age, because requirements genuinely differ. Kriterion uses yours.
- A menstruating woman needs 18mg of iron a day and a man needs 8, so one shared target is wrong for someone.
- Vitamin C is set at 90mg for men and 75mg for women.
- Calcium steps up after 50 for women and after 70 for everyone.
- Pregnancy and lactation shift many targets, and Kriterion does not adjust for them.
Why targets differ
Reference intakes are set separately for men and women, and change with age, because requirements genuinely differ. Iron is the starkest case: a menstruating woman needs 18mg a day, a man needs 8. A single shared target set at 18 tells every male user he is short of iron every day of his life, which is both wrong and the kind of wrong that erodes trust in everything else on the screen.
It runs both ways
It runs the other way too: vitamin C's 90mg figure is the male value, and women are set at 75. Calcium steps up after 50 for women and after 70 for everyone, as bone density protection becomes the binding concern. Kriterion already knows your age and sex, so it uses them.
Pregnancy and lactation
One deliberate omission: pregnancy and lactation shift many of these substantially. Kriterion lets you declare a pregnancy, but does not adjust these targets for it, so anyone in that position should be working from clinical advice rather than a general population table.
Kriterion sets your micronutrient targets from your own age and sex, and shows a nutrient a source never measured as “not measured” rather than as a zero.
References
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. National Academies Press, 2006.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. National Academies Press, 2019.
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. National Academies Press, 2011.
- World Health Organization. Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. WHO, 2015.
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