The numbers are skewed... the amount we are supposed to take has to be so high because we have isolated them out of plants OR synthesized them... we need to take much more in supplement form than we would need to get from food because the body only minimally assimilates the isolate... it doesn't make sense to our systems like the nutrition that is still intact in the original system where it was embedded. On the whole, I don't pay attention to RDA. If there is a health issue that requires more of a nutrient, I simply heavily load the menu with foods that deliver. I think this thinking is VERY hard to put out into our medicalized society though... we have all become so accustomed to thinking about isolating one or two "important" compounds out of our medicinal plants and food... and therefore need guidance about how much and how often.