Free tool
Micronutrient calculator
One generic '%DV' on the label isn't your number. Vitamin and mineral needs shift with age, sex, and pregnancy. This gives you the actual NIH reference intakes for the 20 nutrients that matter most.
Your daily targets
35-year-old female · RDA / AI and Tolerable Upper Limit (UL)
| Nutrient | Target | UL | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin A† | 700 | 3,000 | mcg RAE |
| Vitamin C | 75 | 2,000 | mg |
| Vitamin D† | 15 | 100 | mcg |
| Vitamin E | 15 | 1,000 | mg |
| Vitamin K* | 90 | — | mcg |
| Thiamin (B1) | 1.1 | — | mg |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 1.1 | — | mg |
| Niacin (B3)† | 14 | 35 | mg NE |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.3 | 100 | mg |
| Folate† | 400 | 1,000 | mcg DFE |
| Vitamin B12 | 2.4 | — | mcg |
| Calcium | 1,000 | 2,500 | mg |
| Iron | 18 | 45 | mg |
| Magnesium† | 320 | 350 | mg |
| Zinc | 8 | 40 | mg |
| Potassium* | 2,600 | — | mg |
| Sodium*† | 1,500 | — | mg |
| Phosphorus | 700 | 4,000 | mg |
| Selenium | 55 | 400 | mcg |
| Copper | 900 | 10,000 | mcg |
* Adequate Intake (AI) — used where evidence is insufficient to set an RDA. — in the UL column means no Tolerable Upper Limit has been established.
† Has a UL caveat: Vitamin A (UL applies to preformed vitamin A (retinol) only.) Vitamin D (1 mcg = 40 IU.) Niacin (B3) (UL applies to supplemental/fortified niacin.) Folate (UL applies to synthetic folic acid only.) Magnesium (UL applies to supplemental magnesium only.) Sodium (No UL; CDRR (chronic disease risk reduction) intake is 2,300 mg.)
Values are NIH Dietary Reference Intakes for healthy people. The UL is the safe upper bound, not a target — reaching it from food alone is rare. Not medical advice.
Formula & assumptions
The numbers below are the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) set by the National Academies and published by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Three terms do most of the work, and they are easy to confuse:
- RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) — the daily intake that meets the needs of ~97.5% of healthy people in a given age and sex group. This is the target to aim for. Where the science isn't strong enough to set an RDA, an AI (Adequate Intake) is used instead (vitamin K, potassium, sodium).
- UL (Tolerable Upper Intake Level) — the highest daily intake unlikely to cause harm. The gap between the RDA and the UL is your safe range; routinely exceeding the UL (almost always via supplements, not food) is where risk starts. Several nutrients have no established UL.
- %DV (Percent Daily Value) — the single reference number on a food label. It is deliberately one-size-fits-all (generally the highest adult RDA), so it over- or under-states the target for most individuals. The calculator replaces it with your RDA.
Why needs vary. Iron requirements roughly double for menstruating women (18 mg vs 8 mg) and jump to 27 mg in pregnancy. Folate rises to 600 mcg in pregnancy to support neural-tube development. Calcium and vitamin D climb in older adults to protect bone. Vitamin B6 increases after 50. The calculator applies these age, sex, and life-stage adjustments from the DRI tables.
Units note. Vitamin A is shown in mcg RAE (retinol activity equivalents), niacin in mg NE (niacin equivalents), and folate in mcg DFE (dietary folate equivalents) — the modern bioavailability-adjusted units used by the DRIs. The vitamin A and folate ULs apply to preformed retinol and synthetic folic acid respectively, not to the forms found naturally in food.
Not medical advice. These are population reference intakes for healthy people, not a prescription. Medical conditions, medications, malabsorption, and individual lab values can change your needs substantially. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before starting supplements, especially anything approaching a UL.
References
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Nutrient Recommendations and Databases — Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: Recommended Dietary Allowances and Adequate Intakes (vitamins and elements) summary tables.
National Academies. Dietary Reference Intakes: Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (vitamins and elements).
Per-nutrient fact sheets with the same values are available from the NIH ODS Health Professional Fact Sheets.