Popping a pill to increase antioxidants in your body doesn’t work as well as eating the fruits and vegetables that contain them naturally. And what works even better is mixing the natural foods together. Well vitamin supplements are probably helpful when you are either deficient in them (there should not be any reason for healthy adults taking regular diet to be deficient on vitamins) or some reason or other (for example you had an illness or operation) you could not take regular food for some time.

Dietary antioxidants are considered beneficial because they slow the chemical process of oxidation, which causes cholesterol deposits and narrowing of the arteries and can lead to various heart-related problems. A variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs contain antioxidants — including onions, tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, grapes and pomegranates. Another reason supplements don’t work as well, they generally contain only one specific antioxidant. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, contain a range of antioxidants that work together synergistically. Vitamin E, for instance, has a stronger effect when it’s obtained in a tomato rather than alone because tomatoes also contain beta carotene, lycopene and some flavonoids, which interact with the vitamin E for increased benefit.

So, the age old saying “Apple a day keeps Doctors away” is very much true today, nature and natural foods are the best.