It's no mystery these days that smoking is bad for you and that prolonged use of cigarettes and other tobacco products can increase your chances of developing cancer and heart disease. The problem is, often times quitting is a lot easier said than done. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of programs and products out there that can help you kick the habit, including some common vitamins and herbal supplements.
Antioxidants
While you're busy pondering over which method to adopt in your quest to quit smoking, it's important that you begin to reverse the damage that smoking has done to your body. While how smoking damages the body isn't fully understood, scientists are placing a majority of the blame on free radicals, which are unstable molecules that are missing electrons. These free radicals move around your body stealing electrons from healthy molecules, thus reducing your health in a process called oxidation. To protect against free radicals, it's important to get a healthy dose of antioxidants into your body. Antioxidants sacrifice their own electrons to help prevent your molecules from deteriorating.
Beta-Carotene
Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that has the added bonus of boosting your immune system. According to a study conducted by Canadian scientists, a collection of 25 smokers experienced a significant drop in oxidation levels after being given about 20 mg, or 33,000 international units, every day for four weeks. After looking over the results from the experiment, and a similar one conducted in Finland, Dr. Jeffery Blumberg suggests that everyone, both smokers and nonsmokers, get about 16,500 and 50,000 international units of beta-carotene every day. Spinach and other dark-green leafy foods are high in beta-carotene, as well as carrots, cantaloupe and other orange and yellow fruits and veggies.
Vitamin C
It's already a pretty well-known fact that vitamin C is a huge immune-system booster and can be found in a variety of different foods and supplements. However, a new study has discovered that vitamins C and E may be working in cahoots in the fight against free radicals. Vitamin E is essentially your lung's first line of defense against free radicals, as they sacrifice themselves in order to protect your lung membranes. Because of this, smoking drastically reduces the amount of vitamin E in your body. This study has found that increasing your intake of vitamin C can help the vitamin E cells revert back to normal and allow them to continue to fight the good fight. Vitamin C can be found in most citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and limes, and can also be bought as a supplement.
Vitamin B
Vitamin B actually refers to a number of different vitamins that all have different functions. B vitamins are responsible for supporting healthy skin, hair and nails, converting carbohydrates into glucose to be used as cell energy, and is also vital for providing the chemicals needed for proper digestion. For smokers, the folic acid provided by B vitamins reduces the symptoms of bronchitis, as well as the number of abnormal pre-cancerous cells in the bronchial cells in your lungs. There are supplements that you can purchase that contain all of the necessary B vitamins and they are great for smokers and nonsmokers alike.
Other Nutrients
There are a number of other important nutrients you should be getting into your body while you quit smoking. Selenium is good for supporting vitamin E in its fight against free radicals and also reduces your chances of getting cancer. Co-enzyme Q12 supplements help detoxify your system quicker and also help protect your heart. And for those moments when you begin to really want to have a cigarette, valerian and skullcap can help calm your nerves and reduce nicotine cravings.
