(shanghai daily)
Updated: 2007-01-31 09:13

A few manufacturers use concentrated foods in their dietary supplements, such as Standard Process and New Chapter. But most use just the active ingredients of vitamins, carotenoids and other compounds, which isolate them from their natural environments in foods.

So, from dietitians to doctors to chemists such as the University of Dayton's Mark Masthay, there's little debate that, as pharmacist Cathy Creger Rosenbaum says, "We should eat our nutrients as much as possible instead of taking them out of the bottle. There are so many other benefits from fresh fruits and vegetables that we would not get in synthetic form."

Beta Carotene

Converts to vitamin A, but is less likely to be toxic than the pure vitamin, which plays important roles in vision, bone growth, reproduction and regulation of the immune system. Found in:

Carrots

Sweet potatoes

Cantaloupe

Squash

Apricots

Collard greens

Kale

Also: spinach, pumpkin, mangos, broccoli, tomatoes and peaches

Other Carotenoids

Lycopene: ripe red tomatoes (tomato paste is the most protective form against prostate cancer); watermelon, guava, papaya, apricots, pink grapefruit

Lutein: spinach, other green leafy vegetables and red peppers

Zeaxanthin: yellow corn

Astaxanthin: salmon

Vitamin C

Essential for wound healing and maintaining healthy bones, teeth, blood vessels, cartilage and other connective tissue. Found in:

Citrus fruits (such as oranges, sweet lime, etc.)

Green peppers

Broccoli

Green leafy vegetables

Strawberries

Blueberries

Black currants

Raw cabbage

Tomatoes

Also: cereals, beef, poultry and fish

Vitamin E

Plays roles in immune function, DNA repair, other metabolic processes and especially in minimizing cell oxidation, which contributes to heart disease and cancer. Stored in body fat and found in:

Almonds and other nuts

Many oils, including wheat germ, safflower, corn, soybean and fish-liver

Mangos

Broccoli

Seeds

Whole grains

Green leafy vegetables