Calcium

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nguth20
nguth20 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What is the 100% calcium based on - is it 1000 mg? I need 1200 mg of calcium, so I'm wondering if I need to adjust it to 120%.

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  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    edited September 2019
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    I’ve always assumed those numbers were based on the RDA numbers. For adults, I think that’s 700mg. So, without doing the maths I’m guessing you’re going to have to be looking at 180% give or take!

    If it’s medically important for you to track calcium though, you’ll have to select and double check your database entries very carefully because a huge amount of entries don’t include any of the macros/micros beyond the protein/fat/carb numbers.

    User added entries rarely go beyond those basics so it’s not safe to rely on the numbers. Legitimate USDA entries will be accurate down to that level, but anything else will be massively hit and miss on what they include.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    To expand on the above, unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and admin-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find admin entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

    Note: any MFP entry that includes "USDA" was user entered.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP. (Alas, you cannot just scan with your phone and assume what you get is correct.)
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    I’ve always assumed those numbers were based on the RDA numbers. For adults, I think that’s 700mg. So, without doing the maths I’m guessing you’re going to have to be looking at 180% give or take!

    If it’s medically important for you to track calcium though, you’ll have to select and double check your database entries very carefully because a huge amount of entries don’t include any of the macros/micros beyond the protein/fat/carb numbers.

    User added entries rarely go beyond those basics so it’s not safe to rely on the numbers. Legitimate USDA entries will be accurate down to that level, but anything else will be massively hit and miss on what they include.

    According to the FDA, the DV for calcium used on U.S. food labels is 1000 mg.

    Equivalencies
    30% DV = 300mg calcium = one cup of milk
    100% DV = 1,000mg calcium
    130% DV = 1,300mg calcium

    https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-education-resources-materials/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label#nutrients

    So, OP, you could change your settings to make your calcium goal 120%.
  • julielwebster8757
    julielwebster8757 Posts: 1 Member
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    1000 is the RDA for men and younger women. Once women are in perimenopause and beyond they should get 1200. It should be simple for MyFitnessPal to use your gender and age to set the correct amount. Otherwise, reporting in mg instead of percentages would be more helpful for people trying to get all they need from food. So tired of everything being based on men.

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