vitamins to help quit smoking

7/31/2019 Vitamins to Help Quit Smoking

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Vitamins to Help Quit Smoking

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Introduction

If youre wondering about the role vitamins

and minerals play in the stop smoking process,

this article has an answer for you! And the

answer is: smoking depletes the body of

essential vitamins and minerals and to

successfully quit, those nutrients must be

replaced.


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Smoking Cessation Requires Vitamins

Dr Jodi Gelfand, a physician assistant in an articletitled: Nicotine dependency and smokingcessation, concurs. According to him, patientswho are undergoing smoking cessation need

higher doses of certain vitamins andsupplements. He then goes on to mention theimportant supplements as Vitamin C, Vitamin A,CoQ-10(a cardio-protective antioxidant), Lipoic

Acid (an anti-oxidant capable of penetrating deepinto tissue lungs, heart) and Zinc (which aidshealing of mucous membranes).
http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/212


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Smoking Cessation Requires

Vitamins(2)

From the above, we can safely say a diet containing thefull supplies of vitamins and minerals is crucial not onlyto good health, but to the body recovery and healingprocess after smoking cessation.

However, be sure to consult with your doctor that youcan do this in safety, and dont forget that, too muchcan also be injurious, so dont over-consume anyparticular nutrient through diet, supplements or both.

Consuming excess niacin can cause liver damage whiletoo much of vitamin C can cause diarrhea or excessivestooling.


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Smokers Have Lower Levels of

Vitamins

Various researches including the INTERMAPstudy on dietary intake in smokers, ex-smokers, and non smokers as well as a 1998

meta-analysis published in the Journal ofNutrition signify that smokers have lowerlevels of vitamin C, A, E, B6 and other essentialvitamins than people who dont smoke and

those who have dropped off cigarettes; eventhough these vitamins are needed to fix theharm caused by smoking.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13679954http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13679954http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/9/1450.fullhttp://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/9/1450.fullhttp://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/9/1450.fullhttp://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/9/1450.fullhttp://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/9/1450.fullhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13679954http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13679954http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13679954


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Smokers Have Lower Levels of

Vitamins(2)

Both studies concluded that public health

interventions in smokers should focus not only

on helping them to quit smoking but also on

improving their diets to further reduce cancer

and cardiovascular disease risks.


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Benefits of Consuming Vitamins and

Minerals While Quitting

Daily ingestion of vitamin C improves thebodys ability to resist illness, boosts energyand repairs tissue, bones and blood vessels

that have been damaged by cigarettesmoking.

Vitamins A and E contain antioxidants whichrestore and repair cellular damage occasionedby smoking, advancing collagen growth andgeneral organ function.


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Benefits of Consuming Vitamins and

Minerals While Quitting(2)

Vitamins set up the body with a naturalresistance against the addictive and excitingproperties of nicotine which intensify withdrawal

symptoms and cause smokers to go back tocigarettes.

The B vitamins have natural calming propertieswhich lessen the withdrawal symptoms of

depression and anxiety, so you may want toconsume more of foods containing this vitaminwhile quitting.


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Which Vitamins and Minerals Should I

take During Smoking Cessation?

Vitamin C

Cigarette smoking leads to the increasedoxidative damage of lung tissue. Basically, the

toxins found in cigarette smoke boost theproduction of free radicals that affixthemselves to lung cells and cause theirdamage or death, according to a studypublished in 2008 in the American Journal ofRespiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/


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Still on Vitamin C

Therefore, you need antioxidants to help the

lungs repair and heal. Vitamin C, a water-

soluble vitamin found in foods including

oranges, lemon, sweet lime, is one such

vitamin. According to the researchers, it has

the ability to reduce the damaging effects of

cigarette smoke. Higher doses of vitamin Cmay also lessen nicotine cravings. It is an

essential nutrient in the quit smoking process.
http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/11/do-lungs-heal/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/11/do-lungs-heal/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/08/effects-of-smoking/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/08/effects-of-smoking/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/10/stop-nicotine-cravings/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/10/stop-nicotine-cravings/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/08/effects-of-smoking/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/08/effects-of-smoking/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/11/do-lungs-heal/http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/11/do-lungs-heal/


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Vitamin E

Increase your Vitamin E intake. Vitamin E is a

powerful antioxidant that helps to keep your

arteries and lungs free of toxins. It is

considered to be important in preventing

heart attacks. Because of the increased stress

to the heart caused by smoking, the heart

attack prevention that vitamin E provides isespecially important to smokers.


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Still on Vitamin E

In addition to helping to prevent heart attacks insmokers, Vitamin Es antioxidant properties canalso help to diminish damage to the respiratory

system. And since smokers have poorer levels of vitamin E

in their bodies than non-smokers, its imperativeto add this vitamin to your diet as you try to quit

cigarettes. It will not only boost the health ofyour respiratory system, it will also help you fightoxidative stress.


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Vitamin A

Vitamin A is another good vitamin to takeduring smoking cessation. It is believed toshield the cilia (the hair-like structures that

keep the lungs dirt-free). It is also responsiblefor the health of certain cells found in thelungs. These cells secrete mucus that acts as abarricade against germs coming into the lungs.

Some research has indicated that vitamin Amay help invalidate some of the damage tothe lungs of long-term smokers.


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Vitamin D

Vitamin D is another vitamin that may helpquitters. It is connected to reduced levels of manyforms of cancer, including lung cancer. In his

book, Quitting Cold: A Guide to Quit Smoking,Carling Kalicak, notes that vitamin D is also goodfor reducing depression and stress, which cancrop up as a result of cessation, particularly in the

first few days. Kalicak ,therefore, advises smokersto start taking vitamin D supplements 7 to 14days before they put out their last cigarette.


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Beta Carotene

Even though Beta carotene boosts the immunesystem, helping to keep you healthy duringnicotine withdrawal, smoking is bad for Beta

carotene. It destroys carotenes beneficialantioxidant properties. So it is much more likelythat smokers need higher doses of antioxidantsthan non-smokers. But care must be taken in the

consumption of Beta carotene in supplementalform as studies say it can increase the risk of lungcancer among current smokers.
http://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/07/nicotine-withdrawal-symptoms/http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n23.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n23.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n23.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n23.shtmlhttp://2stopsmokingtips.com/2011/07/nicotine-withdrawal-symptoms/


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Still on Beta Carotene

Due to this, it is recommended that beta

carotene be taken as a supplement only if you

are in the process of smoking cessation.

Natural beta carotene that comes from foodssuch as green leafy vegetables, orange or

yellow fruits and vegetables are more

beneficial than beta carotene taken in pillform.


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Calcium

Aside the damage that nicotine and cigarettesmoke does to heart and lungs, smoking depletesthe bodys supply of calcium, leading to boneloss, which naturally occurs with age. A year 2000

study by the Center for Clinical and BasicResearch indicates that smoking can boost therapidity of bone loss because calcium, a vitalmineral for healthy bones, is stripped from the

body by nicotine. Adding a calcium supplementor increasing natural calcium consumption canneutralize this effect, keeping bones strong andhealthy.


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Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin (cannot bestored in the body and so must be consumeddaily) thats used by the central nervous systemfor the production of neuro-transmitters that are

signaling brain compounds. Vitamin B6 has alsobeen severally found by scientists to help presentas well as former smokers boost their lung health.Specifically, a study documented in the Journal of

the American Medical Association (January 2011edition) discovered that vitamin B6 was linked toa reduced risk of lung cancer in present and ex-smokers.


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Vitamin B3

Even though Vitamin B-3, or niacin, is most

times indicated for stop smoking, too much of

it can cause liver damage. It is therefore

advisable that you talk to your Doctor beforeusing this Vitamin supplement.


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Should I take these Vitamins as

Supplements or Naturally in Food?

As always, 2stopsmokingtips.com favours the

natural approach. This is because you get the

full benefits of these nutrients in their natural

form rather than in a processed form. Most, ifnot all, of these vitamins and minerals can be

gotten from fruits and vegetables. Avail

yourself of these gifts of nature. They will helpyou pull through the nasty symptoms of

cigarette withdrawal.
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