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RDA stands for the Recommended Dietary Allowance, and refers to specific amounts of each nutrient
needed to avoid deficiency related disease.
It was first introduced during world war 2 to prevent soldiers suffering from these diseases,
and since has been used for the public.
An example of this is the RDA for vitamin C is 60 mg, which is the minimum amount of
vitamin C required to avoid scurvy.
The RDA is the minimum required to avoid these deficiency diseases, and to be truly healthy,
your body may require ten times the RDA of some nutrients.
Certain lifestyle factors can increase this amount further.
Smoking will massively increase your requirements for free radical fighting nutrients, such
as vitamin C and vitamin E.
A poor diet, which is high in heavilyprocessed foods will increase your demand for many vitamins
and minerals.
Regular and intense exercise produces radicals in the body, and so demands more antioxidants
to protect the body from damage.
As we age we start to lose the ability to utilise nutrients from our food, and so we
require more to maintain a healthy body.
Living in cities exposes your body to a large amount of pollutants, and so your body requires
a massive number of vitamins and minerals to protect the body from these toxins.