Taube's estimates of daily influx of energy carriers and structual materials required for average human

Humans need a continuous input of the following materials in well-defined amounts

• 8 amino essential acids
  (leucine, isoleucine, lysine, valine, methionine ,phenylalanine, threonine,,histidine (for babies)
• 3 essential fatty acids
  (arachiodonic, linoleic, linolinic
• 14 vitamins (B-1, B-2, B-12, C, A, D, E, K, Niacine, and others)
• 21 elements
  (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, sodium, potassium, magnesium, chlorine, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, fluorine, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, zinc, nickel, tin, aluminum)
• water as an internal medium
• air as a carrier of oxygen

Total required input per day for average human

1. Carriers of free energy (10 MJ)
   • C compunds (490 g total)
     • 150 g Nonessential fats
     • 75 g nonessential proteins (min: 35 g)
     • 270 g carbohydrates
   • Oxygen: 860 g from 3500 g air
2. Internal medium: 1500 g water
3. Structural material
   • 6.0 g essential fatty acids
   • 6.5 g essential amino acids
   • 0.1 g vitamins and provitamins
   • 10.0 g minerals

Source: Taube, M. 1985. Evolution of Matter and Energy on a Cosmic and Planetray Scale . Springer-Verlag, New York. Dal. Lib. QC 171.2 T37 1985