U.S. RECOMMENDED DAILY ALLOWANCES (USRDAs) A term that once indicated suggested intake levels for nutrients. U.S. RDAs simplified the RDAs of the National Academy of Sciences by providing a single recommended allowance for the general healthy population. With few exceptions, these allowances were based on the highest RDA for each nutrient- the amounts required for young adult males. Since these values were excessively high for children, women and the elderly, U.S. RDAs have now been replaced by RDIs which represent average RDAs. -see Daily Values (DVs), Daily Reference Values (DRVs)