05 Sep Recommended Daily Intake
Introduction of Recommended Daily Intake LogMeal feature
In today’s fast-paced world, maintaining a healthy diet can often be a challenge. The choices we make regarding what we eat play a vital role in our overall well-being. It is within this context that LogMeal emerges as a valuable tool that helps to record what we really eat and offers quality nutritional information. This gives us the opportunity to better understand our eating habits and dietary patterns.
LogMeal it’s a pathway to a healthier lifestyle. It recognizes that eating well is a crucial aspect of our lives that often remains a pending subject for many. It understands that knowing what our bodies need in terms of nutrients and calories is the first step toward making informed dietary choices.
With the “Recommended Daily Intake” feature, every user has access to their recommended daily intake of energy (kcal) and macronutrients: carbohydrates (g), proteins (g), and fats (g).
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Daily Caloric Intake
What is BMR?
BMR are the acronyms of basal metabolic rate, known as the number of calories your body needs to accomplish its most basic (basal) life-sustaining functions.
Harris-Benedict Formula
At LogMeal, we use the Harris-Benedict formula to get the BMR. This formula takes into account the sex, age, weight and height of the individual.
- Man: BMR = 66,5 + (13,75 x weight in kg) + (5,003 x height in cm) – (6,75 x age in years)
- Women: BMR = 655,1 + (9,563 x weight in kg) + (1,850 x height in cm) – (4,676 x age in years)
Daily Caloric Intake calculation
The estimated BMR value is multiplied by a number that corresponds to the individual’s activity level. The resulting number is the daily caloric intake, the one LogMeal uses as recommended daily intake. It is the approximate daily kilocalorie intake to maintain current body weight.
Macronutrients requirements
Based on the daily recommended calories, we automatically estimate the macronutrients requirements.
- Carbohydrates: 45% of the total recommended daily intake → (45%) of the calorie_target / 4.
- Proteins: 20% of the total recommended daily intake → (20%) of the calorie_target / 4.
- Fats: 35% of the total recommended daily intake → (35%) of the calorie_target / 9.
Example calculation
Example of recommended macronutrients based on 2500 daily recommended calories :
- 1125 kcal of carbohydrates = 281,25 g
- 500 kcal of proteins = 125 g
- 875 kcal of fats = 97,2 g
Ranges for recommended values
Max and min ranges are +-5% of the calculated amounts.
Other nutritional indicators recommendations
Beyond macronutrients
In addition, if the company has a Monitor plan or higher, the LogMeal API will also give the user automatic recommendations from all the available nutrients at LogMeal. This includes quite a variety of nutritional indicators like calcium, iron, many types of vitamins, magnesium, fiber, sugar, potassium, etc. The recommendations are based on the user’s profile information and extracted from Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) and nutrition reference organizations’ recommendations. The more information the user provides, the more accurate and personalized the recommendations will be.
Calories, macronutrients and any other nutritional indicators recommendations can be edited by an APIUserManager. That way they can define personalized nutritional goals for their APIUsers.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to LogMeal’s nutritional recommendations:
1. How can LogMeal help users with their nutrition? LogMeal APP calculates each user’s daily caloric needs, macronutrient requirements, and other nutritional indicators based on their profile information, helping them to make informed dietary choices.
2. Nutritional recommendations can be customized? If you have access to Monitor, Recommend, or Custom plan, you can define personalized nutritional goals. This allows you to tailor LogMeal’s recommendations to your specific dietary objectives.
3. What if there is any user profile information missing? How can LogMeal calculate daily intake recommendations? If any user profile information is missing, the results will be based on worldwide averages.