The German Society for Nutrition in 1999 recommended the daily consumption of 375 grams of vegetables and approximatley 250 grams of fruit.  The anticancer effect of eating vegetables is believed to be due not to individual vitamins, minerals or fiber... but instead to numerous secondary enzymes, catalysts and other plant substances which work in many different ways in the human body.  For instance a study of healthy elderly women concluded that strawberries and spinach were as effective in strengthening antioxidant status as the largest dose of vitamin C.  In 2003, a study indicated that eating a wide variety of vegetables had a greater effect on lung cancer risk than the intake of any amount or variety of carotenoids in pill form.  In fact, beta-carotene may only be a marker for the actual agents that protect us against cancer. 

The fact is that complexity offers more effective activity of antioxidants and important nutrients than an isolated vitamin or mineral can.  There is something unknown about foods which defies explanation.  By simply taking vitamin C, you may be doing more harm than good.  Since we have numerous body systems, phases of function, entire cascades of hormones that we don't completely understand... giving the body what it is intended to have makes the most sense and clinically provides the most benefit. 

Green tea, grape seed, red wine, rosemary, paprika, turmeric are all aspects of diet that have long been known to help increase health and prevent serious illness.  We need to maintain our connection to complex foods instead of replacing our foods with isolated, separated nutrients that are synthetically produced in a laboratory.

So why have we gotten to this point?  Convenience is a big reason, but also companies that have realized the market value in producing vitamins and supplements.  The problem is that in order to truly make money on something they come from a habit of believing in exclusivity or patent rights.  Natural food-based elements cannot be patented, because whole food is not an exclusive right.  So in order to make it exclusive, companies will change the chemical structure of a food, reproduce it synthetically so they can make it unique and therefore exclusive.  But this process makes it unrecognizable to the human body and doesn't work well.  It's like a key in the lock.  The lock is intended for the original key.  Reproductions or copies of the key that are made may not work as well, and some won't work at all.  The constant use of copies wears down the structure of the lock and eventually no key will work well. 

This is the problem in our bodies.  Constant use of synthetic supplements, fake foods and laboratory-created nutrients wear down our body's natural structures and eventually disease occurs.  So eat whole foods and when looking for supplementation, search out cold-processed, whole food concentrates.  When you turn it over, the label should say buckwheat leaf, alfalfa, kale, brussels sprouts... not just a list of isolated vitamins. 

To give you a nudge, here is a list of the best sources for getting all your essential nutrients:

Carotenoids: brightly coloured fruit and vegetables such as carrots, tomato, spinach, peach, paprika.

Ascorbic Acid: citrus fruit, berries, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, capsicum, buckwheat.

Tocopherols: vegetable and wheat germ oils, wheat germ, seed-like cereal grains, nuts, avocado, olives, eggs.

Flavonooids: berries, apples, citrus fruits, broccoli, capsicum, onion, tea, wine.

Catechins or Polyphenols: berries, green tea.

Anthocyanins: berries

Lignans: linseed, legumes such as soy bean, sesame seeds.

Indoles: broccoli, Brussels sprouts.

Isothiocyanates: horseradish (yah!), mustard, radish.