Open AccessThe nutrient problem
Author(s) -
Heaney Robert P
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
nutrition reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.958
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1753-4887
pISSN - 0029-6643
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00469.x
Subject(s) - referent , a priori and a posteriori , hormone replacement , nutrient , medicine , computer science , endocrinology , hormone , biology , ecology , epistemology , philosophy , linguistics
Nutrient intake recommendations, unlike hormone replacement standards, are based empirically, rather than physiologically, i.e., they lack an a priori normal referent. Randomized controlled trials do not provide the needed referent and are unlikely to distinguish between fully normal and various suboptimal nutritional states. Several alternative approaches, each providing an a priori normal, are described and briefly discussed.