Specifically, an excess of Vitamin A constitutes “vitamin danger” because it can cause birth defects in pregnant women and liver damage for others. Vita E can cause uncontrolled bleeding. An excess of Vita C can cause diarrhea. Minerals antagonize each other for absorption: zinc competes with iron, which competes with calcium. Unadulterated plant food, rather than pills, has the correct balances of nutrients along with plenty of fiber to help control the rate of absorption.

A 13-year study of over 10,000 Americans found no evidence of increased longevity among vitamin and mineral supplement users. And consider that most people who take supplements are nonsmokers who don’t drink heavily and eat more fruits and veggies than the larger population. (This study also found that supplements did not increase the longevity of smokers, heavy drinkers, and those with diseases.)

Seventy percent of Americans spend $6.5 billion annually on supplements, and a five-year study at Oxford of more than 20,000 people yielded this verdict in 2002: “Over five years we saw absolutely no effect” of supplements on heart disease, cancer, cataracts, bone fractures, asthma and mental decline.

I wonder if that $6.5 billion would be better spent on raw, organic vegetables and fruits than consulting a vitamin benefit chart and swallowing Flintstones or One-a-Day vitamins. I also wonder if taking supplements for compounds we SHOULD be getting from food is only slightly better than taking even worse pills—the pharmaceutical kind.

Vitamin pill popping is still magical thinking, while generally considered less risky than taking drugs. We should quit hoping that a cure exists in a pill, because they are insurance against nothing and may give us a false sense of security. You cannot take a nutrient found in food, operating synergistically with many other nutrients, and isolate it, make it a chemical compound with some animal products (gelatin capsules) and rocks (inorganic binders) holding it all together, and expect it to create health.

Fact: Eat nutritious food, not vitamin danger. If you want Vitamin C, eat a handful of strawberries. If you want Vitamin E, eat a handful of almonds. If you want the best package of synergistic minerals with Vita A, I recommend green smoothies and/or the Best Whole Food Green Drink in the world. People seeking a magic bullet in a pill delude themselves, because it does not exist.