Are vitamin and mineral supplements meaningful?

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Water-Soluble Vitamins:

Vitamin C	Vitamin B1	Vitamin B12	Pantothenic Acid
Folic Acid	Vitamin B2	Biotin
	Vitamin B6	Niacin

Other:

Antioxidants

Coenzyme Q10

Melatonin

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) - USA - Vitamins and Mineral nutrients

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) - USA -Vitamins, Mineral nutrients and trace elements:

The "Recommended Dietary Allowances" (RDA) of the USA from 1989 are currently being revised. The new recommendations are referred to as "Dietary Reference Intakes" (DRI) and contain two reference values which are recommended dietary intakes.

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
Adequate Intakes (AI)

There are already new recommendations for the first 14 substances. The values of the rest of the substances are still valid.

1997-1998 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI)															1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
	Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)							Adequate Intakes (AI)
Age	B 1 (mg)	B 2 mg)	Niacin (mg)	B 6 (mg)	Folic Acid (µg)	B 12 (µg)	Phosphorous (mg)	Magnesium (mg)	D (µg)	B 5 Pantothenic acid (mg)	Biotin (µg)	Choline (mg)	Calcium mg	Fluoride (mg)	Age	Kcal	Protein (g)	A (µg)	E (mg)	K (µg)	C (mg)	Iron (mg)	Zinc (mg)	Iodine (µg)	Selenium (µg)

Males															Males
9-13	0.9	0.9	12	1.0	300	1.8	1250	240	5	4.0	20	375	1300	2.0	9-13	2500	45	1000	10	45	50	12	15	150	40
14-18	1.2	1.3	16	1.3	400	2.4	1250	410	5	5.0	25	550	1300	3.2	15-18	3000	59	1000	10	65	60	12	15	150	50
19-30	1.2	1.3	16	1.3	400	2.4	700	400	5	5.0	30	550	1000	3.8	19-24	2900	58	1000	10	70	60	10	15	150	70
31-50	1.2	1.3	16	1.3	400	2.4	700	420	I 5	5.0	30	550	1000	3.8	25-50	2900	63	1000	10	80	60	10	15	150	70
51-70	1.2	1.3	16	1.7	400	2.4	700	420	10	5.0	30	550	1200	3.8	51 +	2300	63	1000	10	80	60	10	15	150	70
>70	1.2	1.3	16	1.7	400	2.4	700	420	15	5.0	30	550	1200	3.8
Females															Females
9-13	0.9	0.9	12	1.0	300	1.8	1250	240	5	4.0	20	375	1300	2.0	11-14	2200	46	800	8	45	50	15	12	150	45
14-18	1.0	1.0	14	1.2	400	2.4	1250	360	5	5.0	25	400	1300	2.9	15-18	2200	44	800	8	55	60	15	12	150	50
19-30	1.1	1.1	14	1.3	400	2.4	700	310	5	5.0	30	425	1000	3.1	19-24	2200	46	800	8	60	60	15	12	150	55
31-50	1.1	1.1	14	1.3	400	2.4	700	320	5	5.0	30	425	1000	3.1	25-50	2200	50	800	8	65	60	15	12	150	55
51-70	1.1	1.1	14	1.5	400	2.4	700	320	10	5.0	30	425	1200	3.1	51 +	1900	50	800	8	65	60	10	12	150	55
>70	1.1	1.1	14	1.5	400	2.4	700	320	15	5.0	30	425	1200	3.1
Pregnancy	1.4	1.4	18	1.9	600	2.6	*	+40	*	6.0	30	450	*	*	Pregnancy	+300	60	800	10	65	70	30	15	175	65
Lactation	1.5	1.6	17	2.0	500	2.8	*	*	*	7.0	35	550	*	*	Lactation
															1st 6 mo.	+500	65	1300	12	65	95	15	19	200	75
															2nd 6 mo.	+500	62	1200	11	65	90	15	16	200	75
*	Values for these nutrients do not change with pregnancy or lactation.																		National Academy of Sciences, USA