Have you ever wondered EXACTLY how much of each nutrient you are supposed to eat each day based on things like your sex, weight and age? Here is a very cool calculator that lets you discover your daily dietary needs for things like Protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, etc. It is individualized to your weight, height, sex and age:

Interactive DRI for Healthcare Professionals

Use this tool to calculate daily nutrient recommendations for dietary planning based on the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). These represent the most current scientific knowledge on nutrient needs, developed by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine.

Fill in the five pieces of information at the top of the calculator, then check all of the check boxes to get a full report and see what you need according to “the most current scientific knowledge”.

The report you get back is extensive. It even lists water. The most interesting number in my report is the “Estimated Daily Caloric Needs” (I used an activity level of “low active”). It is 2,867 calories per day. If I select “sedentary” I get 2,602 calories per day. In the course of doing the Dukan diet I have been trying to eat less than 2,000 calories per day, and am averaging about 1,500 per day. So now I know that I am running a 1,000+ calorie deficit every single day, and this is what is allowing me to burn off 2 pounds a week or so (you have to burn about 3,500 calories to lose a pound of body weight).

The second most interesting number is the recommended intake per day for carbohydrates: 322 to 466 grams. On the Dukan diet I am getting about a tenth of that per day and feeling fine. As explained in these articles…

- How Carbohydrates Don’t Work – in fact, carbs are probably causing the obesity epidemic. If you are overweight, it is probably the carbs.

- What if everything that we are taught about carbs is actually propaganda?

- Why do we feel like we are entitled to carbs? That we cannot live without them?

…it is possible that scientific research is about to set the number much lower. The problem with setting it lower is that it can get expensive.

Anyway, if you have been wondering how much you should be eating per day in terms of protein, carbs, fat, fiber, salt, vitamins, water, etc., it is a very informative tool.

Lots more info:

- How the Dukan Diet works – The French diet that is supposed to end the obesity epidemic

- Yesterday I finished a five-day “Attack Phase” on the Dukan Diet – here’s a report on how it went

- I have finished the first five days of the “Cruise Phase” on the Dukan Diet – here is a report on how it went, plus a menu for a typical protein day

- I have finished my second week on the Dukan Diet “Cruise Phase” and lost 5.4 pounds during the past seven days. Here is a report on how it went, and a “secret ingredient” that may have helped.

- A report on week 3 of the Dukan Diet Cruise Phase. The whole thing has become a straightforward habit, and the weight loss seems very consistent

- I finished my fourth week in the Dukan Diet Cruise Phase and lost another 2.4 pounds – plus I saw an amazingly good blood pressure reading and survived a pot luck dinner

- I have finished my fifth week in the Dukan diet cruise phase and lost another 3.0 pounds – and now I know the secret to avoiding calories in an Italian restaurant

- In my sixth week on the Dukan Diet Cruise phase I lost “only” 1.8 pounds, and I am now halfway to my 50 pound goal

- Today I finished my seventh week on the Dukan Diet cruise phase and lost 2.6 pounds – I have almost broken through the 200 pound barrier

- How much does the Dukan Diet cost per day?

- How Carbohydrates Don’t Work – in fact, carbs are probably causing the obesity epidemic. If you are overweight, it is probably the carbs.

- What if everything that we are taught about carbs is actually propaganda?

- Why do we feel like we are entitled to carbs? That we cannot live without them?

- How Treadmills and Exercise Bikes Don’t Work – if weight loss is your goal, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a better option

- What is your “ideal weight” if you want to be healthy?

- When a person is fat, how is the fat distributed in the body (amazing x-rays)?

- How Seitan (also know as Wheat Meat) Works – a vegetarian form of protein made from wheat gluten

- How to make tofu

- How to make Greek yogurt at home and cut your yogurt costs in half