Do I Need to Get All Nutrients in One Day?

I get a lot of questions from people on how to meet daily nutrition requirements. In particular, people are wondering, “Do I need to get all nutrients in one day?” So, I’m answering your top questions on how to meet your daily nutrient recommendation in this guide. Plus I’m providing my top 10 nutrient-rich recipes that provide a big boost of nutrition in a single meal to help you meet your daily needs.

You have probably read about all of the various nutrients you need every day, from vitamin A to zinc. And it can be worrisome when you consider how difficult it can be to fit all of these nutrients into a busy day. Indeed, human nutrient needs are well established in the scientific community, based on decades of research into deficiencies, disease conditions, body physiology, and optimal health and wellness. You can find the most recent dietary recommendations for macronutreints (protein, carbs, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) published by the NIH here. But do you need to be counting up all of those vitamins and minerals to ensure you’re getting enough? Are there other ways you can ensure you’re meeting your needs and not falling short? Do you need to get all of those nutrients in a single day? Read on to learn more about how to meet your daily nutrient needs. 

Question: Do I need to get all nutrients in one day?

Sharon’s Answer:

If you are reading RDAs on nutrition chart or labels, you may be concerned that you are not meeting those nutrient needs every day. Consider that the term RDA means “Recommended Dietary Allowance”—not “Recommended Daily Allowance.” This can help you better understand the concept that your nutritional intake doesn’t have to be so precisely calculated down to every drop of nutrients within a 24-hour period. Even though these established guidelines for essential nutrient intake are designed as a goal for your daily intake to promote optimal health, they are meant to be used as an average intake recommendation over several days. If you’re short on a nutrient one day, but over on the next day, it averages out.

Question: How can I get my nutrients every day?

Sharon’s Answer:

In order to meet your nutrient needs, I recommend that you aim for the appropriate number of servings of foods recommended each day, and that will help you meet your nutrient goals. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate are established based on these RDAs. The servings recommended in these dietary guides help ensure you get those nutrients in your day in a simple way. After all, we eat foods, not nutrients! This information is also available in my book The Plant-Powered Diet in the meal planning section, where I outline how many servings of each major food group, such as protein, grains, fruits, and vegetables you should include in your day. I also have meal planning information in my book The Plant-Powered Plan to Beat Diabetes.

In fact, an easy meal planning plate can be a helpful tool to aid in planning your meals in a balanced way.

Plant-Powered Plate: 

Fill your plate with the following foods to meet your nutrient needs:

• Half the dinner plate filled with fruits (like apples, berries, and bananas) and veggies (like broccoli, leafy greens, tomatoes, and zucchini)
• One-fourth of the plate filled with whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, and wheat
• One-fourth of the plate filled with plant proteins, such as soyfoods, pulses, nuts, and seeds
• Small amount of healthy fats (avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, healthy oils) at each meal
• Supplement with B12 (see recommendations here), ensure calcium-rich food choices daily

It’s important that you include the appropriate number of servings of these foods in your diet, as well as focus on variety and diversity in your diet—lots of various foods each day to broaden your scope of nutrients—so that you meet your needs for nutrients like vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

When it comes to macronutrients, such as protein, fat and carbohydrates, it’s important to have a proper intake of them during the day, as your body is in the constant process of building up and breaking down tissues, so you need a baseline amount of protein for those functions, and you also need carbohydrates for energy intake and to spare the protein for its proper use. If you don’t get enough of these macronutrients, you will go into your stores.

Question: Do I need to take a multivitamin to meet my daily nutrient needs?

Sharon’s Answer:

Multivitamin and mineral supplements are not a replacement for a poor diet. Taking a vitamin pill simply cannot replace the miraculous compounds found in a pear or zucchini. I consider supplements more like an insurance policy to protect against shortfall meals. We all have those days where we are not able to fit in healthful meals that include a balance of the major food groups. In addition, there can be factors that make it more difficult to meet your nutrient needs, such as dietary preferences, poor appetite, and health conditions. In fact, plant-based diets benefit from some supplementation of nutrients like vitamin B12 and calcium. Check out my multivitamin supplement recommendations for plant-based diets here.

Question: How can I plan meals to provide my daily nutrients?

Sharon’s Answer:

The most important thing to consider is including plenty of minimally processed whole foods in your meal planning: beans, lentils, tofu, brown rice, sorghum, cabbage, kale, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, and apples, for example. By piling your plate with a variety of these foods, you can ensure you meet your needs. When cooking meals at home, include servings from all of the major food groups—proteins, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats—in your meal planning. And when eating out, try to fit all of those food groups in as well. Try to look for menu options like grain bowls, hearty salads, and curries with rice. Remember, when you make room for low-nutrient foods—chips, cookies, candy—in your meals, you squander the opportunity to feast on these nutritious foods, thus, you miss out on those nutrients.

Top 10 Nutrient-Rich Recipes 

These recipes provide a balance of protein, grains, veggies, and healthy fats to your meals to help you meet your nutrient needs. 

Image: Berry Bowl with Quinoa and Walnuts, Sharon Palmer, RDN

Check out the other nutrition questions I’m answering at The Plant-Powered Dietitian: