We've been told that a healthy diet should consist of foods within each of the major food groups, including fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins and dairy. The reason for this revolves around your body's need for certain vitamins (as well as minerals). But these recommended daily allowances aren't just about these types of nutrients. Your body also requires a certain amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats to thrive, which often prompts questions involving the actual daily requirements of vitamins, proteins, sugars and fats.
Vitamins
If you maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet, which includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy, you shouldn't have any problems meeting your daily requirements in all the essential vitamins. However, some people do have difficulties when it comes to nutrition, so you should try to get at least the recommended daily allowance of each of these vitamins.<br /><br />Vitamin A - 700 to 900 micrograms (?g)<br />Vitamin B6 - 1.3 to 1.7 milligrams (mg)<br />Vitamin B12 - 2.4 ?g<br />Vitamin C - 75 to 90 mg<br />Vitamin E - 15 mg<br />Folate - 400 ?g<br />Thiamin - 1.1 to 1.2 mg<br />Riboflavin - 1.1 to 1.3 mg<br />Niacin - 14 to 16 mg<br /><br />The variance in some of these vitamins is due to your sex and age. But for children, the requirements are a bit lower.<br /><br />Vitamin A - 300 to 900 ?g<br />Vitamin B6 - 0.5 to 1.3 mg<br />Vitamin B12 - 0.9 to 2.4 ?g<br />Vitamin C - 15 to 75 mg<br />Vitamin E - 6 to 15 mg<br />Folate - 150 to 400 ?g<br />Thiamin - 0.5 to 1.1 mg<br />Riboflavin - 0.5 to 1.1 mg<br />Niacin - 6 to 14 mg
Protein
The daily requirement of dietary protein is measured much differently than that of vitamins. In this situation, you're actually looking for certain percentages of your caloric intake to consist of protein. In adults, this percentage can be anywhere from 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories. This means that a diet on 2,000 calories should be made up of between 200 and 700 calories from protein, which includes beef, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes, dairy, green leafy vegetables and many of your whole grains (like rye and buckwheat). In children, this number is lower, consisting of 5 to 20 percent between the ages of 1 to 3 and 10 to 30 percent between the ages of 4 and 18.
Fat
The daily requirement of fat is measured similarly to that of vitamins. In this situation, an adult should keep their fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of daily calories. That means a 2,000 calorie diet should contain 400 to 700 calories from fat. But this doesn't mean just any fat. Stick to the healthier fats, which includes polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Children of almost any age need a little more fat than adults--between 30 and 40 percent up to the age of 3 and 25 to 35 percent in kids from 4 to 18.
Sugar
No more that 25 percent of your daily calories should come from added sugar.
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