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Terms and Abbreviations to Know
You'll see these abbreviations throughout the Arthritis Today Vitamin and Mineral Guide:
AI: Adequate Intake - An intake goal used as a guideline when there is insufficient evidence to generate an RDA for a specific nutrient.
Antioxidants: Compounds that can minimize or prevent the damage caused to cells by oxidation.
% DV: Percent Daily Value - Required on food and supplement labels to show the percentage amount of a nutrient in one serving based on what you should have in one day.
Enriched: Describes a product in which nutrients lost during processing have been added back into that food.
Fortified: Describes a product in which nutrients not found in the natural form of a food or present in insignificant amounts are added to a food.
IU: International Unit - A measure of vitamin activity. Only vitamins A, D and E are measured this way.
mg: Milligram; 1 mg is 1/1000 of a gram.
mcg: Microgram (also seen as µg); 1 mcg is 1/1,000,000 of a gram or 1/1000 of a mg.
RDA: Recommended Dietary Allowance - The average amount of a vitamin or mineral needed each day to meet the needs of the general population.
UL: Upper Limit or Tolerable Upper Intake Level - The highest level of a specific vitamin or mineral you can take before putting yourself at risk for toxicity or other negative effects. Some nutrients lack UL values, due to insufficient data, but that does not imply that it is safe to consume excessive amounts of that nutrient.
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