Getting vitamins and minerals from whole foods is much better than getting them through vitamins and fortified foods because nature always puts nutrients in the right proportions. Too much of one nutrient (e.g. vitamin C) may impede the absorption of another (e.g. vitamin B). Similarly, calcium supplements may diminish the absorption of iron. Also, the whole is much more effective than a part. Lycopene is known to be an anti-carcinogen, but this is true not as a separate nutrient, but in the whole form, as a tomato. Sometimes taking supplements can cause a lot of problems, for example, vitamin D is necessary for bone formation but too much vitamin D3 can actually mobilise calcium away from bones. If you are on a whole food plant-based diet, then you need to check and supplement if required only vitamins B12 and D.
