From NuGOwiki

In the field 'drivers for biological variation' you are supposed to describe the factors that cause biological variation in the nutrient intake requirement. Two main categories of sources of variability can be identified

• Biological variation between individuals

a. intrinsic factors (genetic, age, life stage, disease state etc.)

b. external factors (lifestyle, stress factors etc.)

• Diet or product characteristics (affecting bioavailability in the gut)

a. matrix effects

b. nutrient interactions

In this field we focus only on sources of variation deriving from biological variation between individuals and not on sources deriving from diet or product characteristics!