Dietary Reference intakes or DRIs is a term that refers to the a common set of reference values for a

healthy population based on nutrient intake and current health. DRIs are also utilized in the prevention
of disease associated with malnutrition. DRI is considered an widely encompassing terminology referring
to four subsets of references know as the EAR, UL, AI and RDA. EAR or

Estimated Average requirement refers to the recommended nutrient intake value that is suggested to
meet the requirement of half of a particular group of individuals. UL or Tolerable Upper-Level Intake, in
stark comparison to EAR, refers to the highest average level of daily nutrient intake, without the risk of
adverse effects on an individual or group. As intake increases above the UL an individual or groups risks
adverse effects pertaining to their health. AI or Adequate Intake refers to your recommended daily
intake level based on observed or experimentally determined approximations of nutrient intake by
groups of healthy individuals. In layman’s terms this is the recommended level of nutrient intake based
off of healthy examples of dietary references within a subset or group of individuals based on an
experimentation’s results. RDA or Recommended Daily Allowance is The average daily dietary nutrient
intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all 97% to 98 percent% healthy
individuals in a particular life stage and gender group. e.g Senior citizens, women, men, youth.

When using dietary analysis programs that reference to DRAs it is important to understand the man y
influencing factors that contribute to the validity of the data. Lack of feasibility in the user interface can
lead to misinterpretation of input values, this also refers to the metrics utilized during the input process
e.g weight values, grams v.s Ounces v.s Fluid ounce and directly correlates to the users level of
education. Hence a nutritional data base of such a program is limited to certain parameters this input
may be made under the false pretense of another product such as Pizza A from Pizza place may not be
equivalent to Pizza A from Pizza Spot, of course this is a vague example.