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Consider use of ‘dietary needs’ in following sentence: “I share some of my food with my dog, though in limited quantities since his dietary needs are different.”; while domestic dogs do have different dietary needs than humans in the strict sense, the intent is to convey a softer meaning, as there is overlap hence being okay to eat some of the same (atleast in in the dog-to-human direction —and chosen wisely indeed healthier albe more premium and pricey than gourmet dogfood, whereas less purposeful selections of human food not as much).

Something connoting a sense of an "optimality requirement" as contrasted with the default of a more severe "must-do requirement" implying dire consequence for failing to adhere or the other direction a desire-sans-need "want" would be ideal.

Whereas the default noun "needs" can be thought of as "need-to-haves", the meaning I'm after is approximately "ought-to-haves" (although I'm open to a verb or [re-]phrasal expressions fitting the meaning as well, preferably succinct) while still suggesting some nontrivial degree of necessitation.

11qq00
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    Does this answer your question? What is the formal word to say something is 'nice-to-have'? – Juliana Karasawa Souza Aug 30 '21 at 10:14
  • No (@Juliana Karasawa Souza), as that appears to be targeted more for a "desire/want" connotation than a usage suitable for "physical/bodily" expectation. But it is similar so thank you for linking to it. Also see the modified title. – 11qq00 Aug 30 '21 at 10:19
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    'Optimal' seems a reasonable fit. 'Preferred' if used carefully defaults to the 'better for one' rather than the 'more desired by one' sense. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 30 '21 at 11:46
  • @Edin Ashworth: Hm, ‘optimal’ could maybe work. Too could ‘preferred’ if as you suggest placed judiciously in sentence to make clear the "better" over "more desired"; issue is that it typically emphasizes desire over expectation. Issue with the former is making clear that there exists a "sub-optimal threshhold" below which is unacceptable but that "the optimal point" is not obligatory (or necessarily wisest), i.e. that it is in some sense “literally necessary” but within spectrum rather than totally disparate dichotomy. If distinction without explication be conveyable then that could work. – 11qq00 Aug 30 '21 at 17:40

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