From MSNBC.com:

Antioxidants are well-established as an important part of how healthful eating can lower our risk of heart disease and cancer, and possibly other conditions that can develop as we age. They're also frequently discussed in relation to vitamins C and E, and perhaps other plant compounds such as beta-carotene. However, fruits and vegetables also provide flavonoids, a large group of compounds that are all antioxidants.

The antioxidant power of flavonoids is one reason that apples are again in the spotlight. Apples contain only modest amounts of vitamin C. A medium apple averages about 6 milligrams of vitamin C, not much compared to the recommended daily intake of 75 to 90 milligrams for adults. But scientists have now calculated the antioxidant power of that apple is equal to more than 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C. The vast majority of its antioxidants come from flavonoids.

This is a neat entry by MSNBC. It provides some good details about the specific benefits of the many common vitamins and nutrients found in apples. But what really stuck out to me was they also demonstrate the immense value of 'real' foods beyond the core list of nutrients found in the USDRA labels. For example I didn't know apples contained pectin, a water soluble fiber, that is known to help lower cholesterol.

Articles like this always get me pondering the constrast between natural foods and fortified foods and how there is more to food than merely what is on the label.