''eat a sack full of oranges to get 1000 milligrams found in one vitamin c capsule (which is EASILY absorbed into the food you eat with it) And I think the notion that food is always better than supplements is not accurate. ''

Here are basic scientific data one must keep in mind in a discussion about vitamins/sups.
Yes, pills in a bottle provide more C than an orange. The problem is that the body does not stock C vitamin, there is a phenomenon of saturation beyond a certain amount; in fact, the more you ingest, the less it is absorbed. See the following article on the fact that increased C consumption leads to decreased absorption:

http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Antioxidants/VitaminC.html

So when you take big quantities of C sups, you are quite literally pouring your money down the drain.
And in the pockets of the labs that sell those sups and want you to believe that you absolutely need them, of course.
Studies have also shown that natural vitamins are better absorbed than synthetic ones; in food form, vitamins come with other substances called cofactors, whose action is synergistic with the vitamins, and facilitate their absorption. There is also the consideration that the body recognizes and absorbs more readily vitamins under food form.
See this study on the superior absorption of natural versus synthetic vitamins

http://www.healthresearch.com/vitamins.htm

Besides, recent studies have shown that taking vitamins supplements does not increase lifespan; in fact, it may even be the opposite:
http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Antioxidants/VitaminC.html

Finally, I have discussed with a number of nutritionists, and all of them agree-- a balanced organic diet should provide everything you need in terms of vits/minerals. It's only if you have a bad/processed foods diet that supplements are useful.

My joke about the bucket was to make the following point--throwing money/pills at a problem and/or attacking the symptoms is not the best way to cure a disease.
This is of course the standard approach of the medical eshtablishment but most of the people visiting this forum get to question this view after a while and understand that the curezone's motto ''educating instead of medicating''is a sounder approach, at least for patients.
''Educating 101'' is figuring out that popping more and more pills is not necessarily the answer.;-D

I agree about the vitamin C and in fact I've upped it to 2 capsules per day. And I take euchinacea because both these things help the immune system and that's key in all this. I'm not advocating stopping all supplements; (I use oregano capsules too) but I think I went overboards on them and am going to limit them now. I also think there's a need for antifungals and probiotics of course, although garlic and oregano capsules work well as antifungals. Anyway I have no choice, this has all put me in debt. I'm just trying to use as much fresh food and herbs as I can instead of most of the supplements. I'm realising how powerful fresh herbs are just as nature intended!

Perhaps they might have helped a bit but if I'd done all the cleansing and healing my digestive system first so that the vitimins could be digested instead of spending all that money first I'd be bound to be seeing more of an effect. It's inadvisable to tackle it the way I did; especially if you don't have much money.