Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) is the daily intake for a nutrient that has been found adequate to prevent deficiency.
It refers to the absolute minimum amount of a certain vitamin/mineral that the average ADULT requires.
The NRV should be used as a guide to help prevent deficiency only and does not represent nutrient intakes designed to achieve optimal health.
Optimal amounts can far exceed the NRV.
The dosage formulated in the Mighty Kids Supplements has been carefully developed by experts to achieve OPTIMAL health support for each targeted age group, and each nutrient works very differently in the body.
There are three questions we commonly receive:
Why is the NRV% of the magnesium so low?
(6.5% NRV age 2-4, 13% NRV age 5-12)
Why is the NRV% of the vitamin C so high?
(312.5% NRV age 2-4, 625% NRV age 5-12)
Does the vitamin D daily serving meet the NHS recommendation?
Mighty Kids supplements labels follow the EFSA (European Food Standards Agency) guidelines. In the case of magnesium, 100% NRV is 375 mg. This is based on the average adult requirements, so the percentage needed for children is lower.
When the magnesium NRV was created, the consideration was given to the understanding that the body has a difficult time utilising and retaining magnesium, it is not absorbed well or stored in excess, and it is used up rapidly.
On average, magnesium from diet or traditional supplements is only around 20-40% absorbed, and filtered out very quickly.
The suggested daily intake for Magnesium takes into account the reduced absorption and increased elimination and is compensated for in the NRV% amount by overloading the daily intake.
Liposomes work very differently; the efficiency of the absorption means we no longer need the overdose to compensate for the loss of the total nutrient uptake through digestion and excretion. Better absorption allows for a lower dose. There are currently no set amounts like the NRV specific to liposomal supplements, and that is why Mighty Kids supplements are specially formulated by a team of scientists and experts who understand the advanced bioavailability and absorption rates provided by the liposomal technology.
Magnesium does appear to be optimal in simply continually receiving the daily amount required to prevent deficiency, and so this does factor into the lower NRV%.
Vitamin C dosage is very different. The concept of ‘mega dosing’ vitamin C has been popular with physicians and studied for many years. Vitamin C administered intravenously has also been increasing in popularity, where extremely high amounts are taken directly into the bloodstream for health support.
100% of the NRV set for vitamin C is the amount deemed suitable to prevent death from scurvy.
It is very widely agreed that far higher doses are optimal to support optimal overall health.
A confusion we often come across with vitamin D is the NHS recommended daily amount, as this differs from 100% NRV. The NHS recommends 400 IU daily and refers to this as meeting 100% of their recommendation, which is very confusing as 400 IU = 200% of the NRV.
In summary, we don’t strive for 100% NRV with every single nutrient; the Mighty Kids supplements have been formulated to include ‘optimal’ levels for optimal health support.
The quantity of each nutrient contained in Mighty Kids products sits between the NRV and Upper limit; in other words, it is greater than the minimum required amount but less than the maximum tolerable amount.
The NRV charts can be a great reference point and offer helpful guidance, but because of the limitations discussed, they are not the end goal for our formulations.
We encourage the use of nutrient-rich food as the first and most important source of daily nutritional intake, and we are so proud of the wide protection and support offered through our carefully formulated, powerful, but gentle supplements.
For more information on liposomal supplements, see this post and this one.
To learn about our products and the daily support trio for kids, this post is a great place to start, and if you are curious about whether our supplements contain methylated vitamins and minerals, there is a great overview here about the MTHFR gene type.
