Explain the Minimum Requirement of nutritional needs?
Minimum nutrient requirement is defined as the 'lowest amount of the nutrient ji-om the diet that will prevent clinically detectable impairment in function'. For example, it has been established through experimental studies that an intake of 10 mg of ascorbic acid will prevent the occurrence of scurvy in individuals, and therefore the minimum requirement of ascorbic acid is 10 mg per day; however, it is highly undesirable to subsist on minimum requirement on a continuing basis. We should strive on a daily basis to meet the lowest intakes that would assure positive health rather than merely protect us from frank nutritional disease. In other words, we should strive for the safe level or the RDA rather than the minimum requirement.