Compare an amount of a vitamin or mineral with the adult RDA and upper limit
check_doseCompare an amount of a vitamin or mineral with the adult RDA and upper limit. For requests like "is 5000 IU of vitamin D too much?", "is 500 mg of magnesium glycinate safe?", "is 10 mg of melatonin a lot?" or "is 300 mg of caffeine too much?". Handles IU, mcg, mg and g, including IU for vitamins A, D and E and DFE for folate. For vitamins and minerals, status is above, at, within or no_upper_limit; when the name is a compound (magnesium glycinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc gluconate) the compound field also gives how much of the mineral the compound holds, as US and UK labels list the mineral itself; when only one reading is over the limit, the say line gives both and compared_with.depends_on_label is true. Fish oil, cod liver oil and krill oil amounts are the oil weight, so EPA plus DHA is estimated (amount.epa_dha_estimate_mg). With country=GB the limit is the NHS guidance (compared_with.reference is UK (NHS), with us_upper_limit alongside). For other supplements the answer compares with an official ceiling where one exists (caffeine) or the amounts studies have used, with status above, at, within, above_studied_range, within_studied_range, below_studied_range or no_set_amount, plus cautions. Adult values only, with a note.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| q | No | The whole question instead, for example 5000 IU vitamin D. | |
| unit | No | IU, mcg, mg, g, mcg DFE, or billion (CFU) for probiotics. Defaults to IU for vitamin D amounts of 200 or more, otherwise the usual unit. | |
| amount | No | The amount taken per day, in the unit given. | |
| country | No | Two-letter country code. GB compares with NHS guidance and gives UK amounts. Default from the request. | |
| nutrient | No | The vitamin, mineral or supplement, for example vitamin D, magnesium or melatonin. |