The discovery of vitamins changed our world dramatically. Terrifying diseases such as scurvy, which had claimed the lives of millions, became preventable and curable. But before long word of these `miracles' had spread from the laboratory and into the hands of food marketers. Decades of over-hyped advertising later and we've accepted as fact the idea that dietary chemicals can be used as shortcuts to improving our health.

Award-winning journalist Catherine Price goes in search of the truth about vitamins, taking us to vitamin manufacturers, food laboratories and military testing kitchens. In this page-turning investigation of the history, science and future of nutrition, she reveals just how much we still don't know about vitamins - the way they work in our bodies and the amounts we really need. Engaging, witty and personal, The Vitamin Complex proposes an alternative to our obsessive vitamin-driven approach to nutrition - given our lack of knowledge, the best way to decide what to eat is to stop obsessing and simply embrace this uncertainty head-on.