Vitamins the natural way

If you are one of the millions of people dedicated to boosting your health by popping the odd vitamin pill, then the news that too many can damage your health will no doubt leave you feeling confused. Are pills healthy or not?

Certainly, vitamins in high doses can lead to short and long-term health problems, so if you don't want the risk or to have to buy a range of products, take a simpler approach.

Wendy Doyle, at the British Dietetic Association, says: "The report points to an excess of supplements over a period of time. Although moderate amounts of supplements may be perfectly healthy, they are often unnecessary - we can get everything we need from food."

Here is our guide to using food to boost your vitamin intake for specific problems. One portion of all the foods mentioned provides at least the Government's recommended daily amount (RDA) for each vitamin.

More energy

Usual supplement - vitamin B complex

Replace with: Breakfast: found in soya, eggs and wholegrains, so try wholemeal or rye toast with a boiled egg or wholegrain cereal (corn flakes or muesli), or porridge with soya milk.

Lunch and dinner: found in wholegrains, green vegetables, eggs, poultry and fish (especially shellfish), so try salade Niçoise, chicken risotto, creamy pasta with broccoli and tuna, mussels, poached egg with spinach or spicy chicken couscous.

Snacks: peanuts.

Vitamin B also helps to reduce depression, the risk of cardiovascular disease, PMS, constipation, acne and morning sickness. Most types of vitamin B are involved in brain chemistry - a deficiency in B can lead to poor mental function, which will affect concentration, creativity and memory.

Clear skin

Usual supplement - zinc Replace with:

Breakfast: poached or boiled eggs are the best zinc breakfast.

Lunch and dinner: proteins such as the dark meat of poultry, liver, pork, beef and shellfish (especially oysters) are great sources of zinc, but cheese, miso and beans also contain some. Meals such as prawn miso soup, Tuscan bean soup, bean salad, liver and pork with sage, and chicken with beans, tomato and thyme are zinc-rich.

Snacks: nuts. Zinc helps to reduce acne; low levels of it are linked with the increased conversion of testosterone to DHT, a more powerful version of the hormone that can cause spots. Zinc also repairs damaged tissue and reduces inflammation. It can help if you are rundown or suffer from eczema, hair problems, digestive complaints or are trying to get pregnant.

Immunity boost

Usual supplement - vitamin C Replace with:

Breakfast: kiwi fruit, strawberries and watermelon are particularly high in vitamin C, so have a portion of one as part of your first meal.

Lunch and dinner: most vegetables contain a lot of vitamin C, but tomatoes, red peppers, sweet potatoes and squash are particularly potent. Try grilled vegetables with herbs and couscous, vegetable lasagne or squash risotto with sage. Replacing starchy carbohydrate, such as pasta, with vegetables ensures you're eating a lot of vitamin C.

Snacks: most fruit boasts a lot of vitamin C. Munch on apples and pears between meals. Vitamin C is soaked up by smoke, alcohol, pollution and stress, so Londoners need to eat a lot of strawberries. Its absorption is hindered by caffeine, so don't drink coffee with fruit salad - have it later. Vitamin C is also useful if you have problems with hay fever, skin and toxicity (for example, if you have lots of hangovers). It heals wounds and helps prevent heart disease and cancer.

Bone protection

Usual supplement - vitamin D and calcium Replace with:

Breakfast: dairy products and eggs contain good levels of D and calcium, and nuts and seeds have lots of calcium, so either a yoghurt, a glass of milk, a boiled egg with toasted seeded bread or cereal and milk with nuts.

Lunch and dinner: oily fish, such as herring, salmon, mackerel and tuna, are rich in vitamin D, so good meals might include smoked mackerel pâšté, tuna sandwiches or salmon fish cakes. Fish (especially the canned variety with bones), green vegetables, yoghurt and pulses provide lots of calcium. Nutritious meals thus include salmon, spinach, Puy lentils and natural yoghurt, fish pie and tuna bake.

Snacks: yoghurt, nuts or seeds. Many young women are deficient in calcium because they skip dairy products as part of fad dieting - this can lead to bone problems later in life.

Calcium also boosts the immune system, reduces high blood pressure, strengthens teeth and improves digestion. Vitamin D helps to prevent cancer, strengthens teeth and aids the absorption of calcium.

Healthy heart

Usual supplement - vitamin E Replace with:

Breakfast: oily fish and eggs are full of vitamin E, so smoked mackerel with boiled egg, toast and some tomatoes would make a good breakfast.

Lunch and dinner: green vegetables, oily fish, nut oils, avocado and seeds are great sources, so try Japanese noodles with sesame seeds and green leaves, salmon with stir-fried choi sum and sesame oil or salad with avocado and spinach leaves. Vitamin E strengthens blood vessels, reduces blood viscosity and regulates the heart beat. It is great for the skin. Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant, a molecule that fends off pollutants from food and the environment that make skin look dull and increase the ageing process. Vitamin E also protects us from sun damage.

Get rid of stress

Usual supplement - magnesium

Replace with: Breakfast: soya milk, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and cocoa are good sources of magnesium, so try wholegrain cereal and soya milk sprinkled with nuts, seeds and a cup of cocoa.

Lunch and dinner: Go for green vegetables, wholegrains, soya, pulses and fish (especially shellfish). Try tofu-and-green leaf stir-fry, lentil soup, fish curry with brown rice, paella or seafood pasta with watercress.

Snacks: nuts and seeds. The adrenal glands are very greedy when it comes to magnesium - when overworked, as a result of anxiety, they use bundles of it.

A lack of magnesium can result in sore muscles, which in turn causes a person to feel worse, so they use up more magnesium and the vicious cycle continues. Magnesium can also reduce fatigue, high blood pressure, PMS, panic attacks and the risk of heart disease.