The whole RDA system was started back around the thirties , around when vitamins (and vitamin deficiency diseases) were first discovered. And to the Fed's credit, the RDAs are updated every few years as attitudes and science progress---and politics (special interests) allow.
Unfortunately, its recommendations trail 20-30 years behind the current knowledge.

Historically, the RDA was a very good concept, but has some flaws, not the least of which is that it's frequently misused and misinterpreted.
To the general population today, the RDA functions only as an advertising gimmick, to make foods appear healthier than they actually are.

The RDA isn't designed to apply to people who are already sick or injured, but to keep healthy people healthy. By healthy, for the most part, that means free from deficiency diseases like pellegra, ricketts, beriberi, scurvey, etc.
And, within its design parameters, it's done a great job! Very few doctors alive today have ever seen any of these catastropic, end stage diseases.

It's designed to statistically apply to the majority of the healthy US population--but the statistics don't include at least 5-10% of the HEALTHY people ---that's what? About 14 to 28 million folks?

But the RDA doesn't address, and conservative mainstream medicine doesn't recognize, milder symptoms of vitamin deficiencies.
Many (if not all) common, chronic illnesses that we must take drugs for every day (often for the rest of our lives) can be improved or cured by proper nutrition--and that means getting enough vitamins and minerals for our bodies to function and heal properly.

Disease and healing processes take a great deal of extra calories AND vitamins, minerals, etc. More, usually, than we can obtain just from eating the foods available to us.

Our ability to digest and absorb nutrients decreases with age, so as we get older, the RDA becomes less and less relevant. And vitamin/mineral supplements become more essential.

Some folks do seem to be able to get all the vitamins and minerals they need just from the food they eat--maybe you did too, when you were younger, healthier, and more vigorous---(y'know where I'm going with this?) but if you're reading this now, you're probably not that same superkid you were back then.
Some people can run on forever without taking care of themselves, without needing extra vitamins and minerals, but most folks cannot.

Other factors like diet, environment and activities increase our vitamin and mineral requirements, either by depleting our bodies' stores or by keeping us from absorbing them in the first place.
Spinach and soy products, for example, are notorious for binding to minerals, keeping us from absorbing them---that doesn't mean that we shouldn't ever eat certain foods, but that we shouldn't eat a preponderance of any one food.
Trans fats are paticularly nasty at increasing our requirements, as are alcohol, smoke, heavy metals and stress.

So, what to do? Well, take extra vitamins and minerals, of course.
How much and how often? Well, we can't (won't) give specific recommendations here, because as we said, everyone's requirements (and tolerances) are different.

Start simple. Begin with the three basics:
A good multivitamin, a multimineral, and omega 3 ( fish oil). Don't worry about antioxidants, flavones, or other exotic named compounds until you've learned more and have been on the basics for a month or two.

Do your research. Don't just get one person's opinion and take it as gospel. That's about as smart as needing a lawyer or shrink and picking a name out of a phone book.
Avoid 'experts' who are out to sell you something. Again, common sense. If you need a little help along the way, drop us a line.

Don't listen to anyone who uses phrases like "...one a day..." or "...expensive urine..." or "...until a double blind study...". Better to have expensive urine than expensive prescriptions and toxic side effects.

Find doctors/health care pros who can get to know you and who know what they're doing---if they can't handle your questions and challenges without getting defensive, then they probably don't know.
Don't be afraid to ask; it's always fun to put a doc in the hot seat now and then----typically, MDs totally flip when the patients know more than them! Enjoy yourself!

Space your supplements out through the day, with meals whenever possible. They work better and stay in your system longer that way. Besides, higher doses of some (magnesium and vitamin C for example) will give you the squirts if taken all at once. Good to know if you ever get constipated.

Buy your vitamins and minerals in pill or capsule form. They stay potent longer--and you never know how long they were sitting in a warehouse.

Don't get the cheapest or the ones with the coolest label. Watch out for MLM products! Some of the products are OK, but most all are overpriced.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON COLLOIDAL MINERALS!! No,'colloidals' aren't absorbed better---absorption's actually WORSE than most pill forms. If someone's giving you the hard sell, make them calculate the actual dose of each mineral per dose (miniscule as compared to a pill ), then figure out the cost of that dose (wow! ). Then ask them to get a copy of a 'certified lab analysis' from the company. If that doesn't get rid of them forever, and they actually DO show up with a valid certificate, (unlikely) look down the list and count the heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, etc.).

An exception here---don't confuse colloidal silver with colloidal minerals-- colloidal silver is a different product used for different purposes. There are a few rip-off colloidal silver products out there, but many are OK.