Micronutrients: The 14 Benchmarks Your Calorie App Ignores

What exactly is a micronutrient?

Micronutrients cover vitamins and minerals. Unlike macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), they provide no calories at all — yet they're essential to how the body runs: carrying oxygen, muscle contraction, immunity, bone building, the nervous system, and more. There are two families: fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), absorbed alongside dietary fat and stored in the body, and water-soluble ones (C, the B group), barely stored and needing regular replenishment through food.

Why they matter, beyond calories

Two people can log the exact same calorie total and the exact same macros at the end of the day, while having very different micronutrient intakes depending on how varied their plate actually is. A shortfall doesn't show up on the scale or in a standard calorie counter: it tends to show up as fatigue, weaker immunity, or a deficiency that builds up over time. That's exactly why most calorie apps skip micronutrients: showing them requires a detailed, well-populated database (like CIQUAL or the USDA's), which few apps bother to build.

The 14 benchmarks Radish shows

Radish tracks 14 nutritional benchmarks beyond standard calories and macros. Eleven are true micronutrients (vitamins and minerals); the other three — fiber, sugar and saturated fat — are tracked with the same care but belong to a different category: they're neither energy macros nor micronutrients in the strict sense (see our dedicated fiber article). Here are the 11 micronutrients, with the official benchmark used on European food labels — the Nutrient Reference Values from EU Regulation No 1169/2011 — and their best food sources.

Minerals to track

• Potassium (label benchmark: 2,000 mg): fluid balance, blood pressure, muscle contraction. Sources: bananas, legumes, potatoes, spinach. Worth noting: EFSA places the actually recommended intake much higher, around 3,500 mg/day.
• Calcium (label benchmark: 800 mg): bone and dental structure, muscle contraction. Sources: dairy, leafy greens, calcium-rich mineral water, legumes. Worth noting: ANSES sets a higher nutritional reference for adults, 950 mg/day.
• Iron (label benchmark: 14 mg): carries oxygen in the blood. Sources: red meat, legumes, spinach, shellfish. The actual need according to ANSES is closer to 11 mg/day for most adults, rising to 16 mg/day for women of childbearing age with heavy menstrual losses.
• Magnesium (label benchmark: 375 mg): muscle and nerve function, sleep. Sources: nuts, dark chocolate, legumes, wholegrains.
• Zinc (label benchmark: 10 mg): immunity, wound healing, protein synthesis. Sources: meat, shellfish (oysters), legumes, seeds.

Vitamins to track

• Vitamin C (label benchmark: 80 mg): antioxidant, helps iron absorption, immunity. Sources: citrus fruit, peppers, kiwi, broccoli.
• Vitamin D (label benchmark: 5 µg): calcium fixation, bone health. Sources: skin synthesis from sunlight, oily fish, fortified dairy. Since 2016, ANSES has actually recommended 15 µg/day for adults, a benchmark well above the one shown on labels.
• Vitamin A (label benchmark: 800 µg): vision, skin, immunity. Sources: liver, dairy, carrots and sweet potatoes (beta-carotene).
• Folate / vitamin B9 (label benchmark: 200 µg): cell division, especially watched when planning a pregnancy. Sources: leafy greens, legumes, citrus fruit. Here too the gap is large: ANSES sets the actual nutritional reference at 330 µg/day for adults — nearly 65% higher than the label benchmark.
• Vitamin B12 (label benchmark: 2.5 µg): red blood cell production, nervous system. Sources: animal products only (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) — a point of attention on a strict vegan diet. ANSES sets the adequate intake at 4 µg/day for adults, roughly 60% higher than the label benchmark.

Sodium works the opposite way: it isn't a target to hit but a limit to stay under. The WHO recommends staying under 2 g of sodium per day, roughly 5 g of salt — most of that intake comes from processed food (cured meats, ready meals, bread, cheese) rather than salt added at the table (see our dedicated salt and sodium article).

How Radish shows your micronutrients

In Radish, every food logged with its micronutrient data (sourced from the CIQUAL and USDA tables) automatically feeds your daily total — no manual math required. The app even adjusts certain benchmarks to your profile: the iron target is raised for women of childbearing age, and the vitamin D target follows the updated ANSES recommendation rather than the plain label benchmark. All of it stays free, account-free and offline — just like the rest of the app.

General information, not medical advice.

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