Recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals

Humans need a certain daily intake of food supplements. This page summarizes recommended daily intakes by various health experts and agencies in order to provide an overview of recommended daily allowances of all vitamins and minerals.

Table 1: Recommended daily intakes of various food supplements

Vitamins	Recommended daily intake	Vitamins informational pages	Over dosage (mg or µg/d)
Biotin (B-complex)	30 µg	Biotin in food and as a supplement	No information found
Folate (B-complex)	400 µg	Folate in food and as a supplement	Doses larger than 400 µg may cause anaemia and may mask symptoms of a vitamin B₁₂ deficiency
Vitamin A	600 µg	Vitamin A in food and as a supplement	Extremely high doses (>9000 mg) can cause dry, scaly skin, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, bone and joint pains and headaches
Vitamin B₁ (thiamin)	1,4 mg	Vitamin B₁ in food and as a supplement	No toxic effects resulting from high doses have been observed
Vitamin B₂ (riboflavin)	1,6 mg	Vitamin B₂ in food and as a supplement	Doses higher than 200 mg may cause urine colour alteration
Vitamin B₃ (niacin)	18 mg	Vitamin B₃ in food and as a supplement	Doses larger than 150 mg may cause problems ranging from facial flushing to liver disease
Vitamin B₅ (patothenic acid)	6 mg	Vitamin B₅ in food and as a supplement	Dose should not exceed 1200 mg; this may cause nausea and heartburn
Vitamin B₆ (pyridoxine)	2 mg	Vitamin B₆in food and as a supplement	Doses larger than 100 mg may cause numbness and tingling in hands and feet
Vitamin B₁₂(cobalamine)	6 µg	Vitamin B₁₂ in food and as a supplement	Doses larger than 3000 µg may cause eye conditions
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)	75 mg	Vitamin C in food and as a supplement	No impacts of over dose have been proven so far
Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)	5 µg	Vitamin D in food and as a supplement	Large doses (>50 µg) obtained form food can cause eating problems and ultimately disorientation, coma and death
Vitamin E (tocopherol)	10 mg	Vitamin E in food and as a supplement	Doses larger than 1000 mg cause blood clotting, which results in increased likelihood of haemorrhage in some individuals
Vitamin K	80 µg	Vitamin K in food and as a supplement	Large doses of one form of vitamin K (menadione or K₃) may result in liver damage or anaemia

Minerals	Recommended daily intake	Over dosage
Boron	< 20 mg	No information found
Calcium	1000 mg	Doses larger than 1500 mg may cause stomach problems for sensitive individuals
Chlorine	3400 mg (in chloride form)	No information found
Chromium	120 µg	Doses larger than 200 µg are toxic and may cause concentration problems and fainting
Copper	2 mg	As little as 10 mg of copper can have a toxic effect
Fluorine	3,5 mg	No information found
Iodine	150 µg	No information found
Iron	15 mg	Doses larger than 20 mg may cause stomach upset, constipation and blackened stools
Magnesium	350 mg	Doses larger than 400 mg may cause stomach problems and diarrhoea
Manganese	5 mg	Excess manganese may hinder iron adsorption
Molybdenum	75 µg	Doses larger than 200 µg may cause kidney problems and copper deficiencies
Nickel	< 1 mg	Products containing nickel may cause skin rash in case of allergies
Phosphorus	1000 mg	Contradiction: the FDA states that doses larger than 250 mg may cause stomach problems for sensitive individuals
Potassium	3500 mg	Large doses may cause stomach upsets, intestinal problems or heart rhythm disorder
Selenium	35 µg	Doses larger than 200 µg can be toxic
Sodium	2400 mg	No information found
Vanadium	< 1,8 mg	No information found
Zinc	15 mg	Doses larger than 25 mg may cause anaemia and copper deficiency

Notes

– The above-stated values are not meant for diagnosis, these are mainly reference values for informational purposes.

– Most of these values are based on a 2000 calorie intake for people of 4 or more years of age. This reference is applied because it approximates the caloric requirements for postmenopausal women. This group has the highest risk for excessive intake of calories and fat.

– Values on labels are stated Daily Reference values (DRV) of Recommended Daily Intake (RDI). The RDI is a renewed value referring to the old Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). All values in this table are new RDI values.

– Maximum values are based on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) values, the World Health Organization (WHO), BBC Health values, the European Union Directive (based on FDA values) and values from various other governmental and private agencies in the USA and the UK.

– Values from the World Health Organization (WHO) may be somewhat lower than those of the FDA for various vitamins and minerals. Examples of differences (WHO values to FDA values): Mg: -60 mg, Vitamin B₆: -0,5 mg, Vitamin B₁₂: -4 µg, vitamin C: -15 mg, Vitamin K: -35 mg, folate: -220 µg.

– Elements that have a recommended daily intake within µg range are sometimes referred to as trace elements (e.g. copper, chromium, selenium).

Information on vitamins can be found from the vitamins overview page

Information on vitamin content of fruits and vegetables is also available now

Information on mineral content of fruits and vegetables is also available now