The harmful chemicals associated with cigarette smoke can assault various vitamin components and cause deficiencies, which may further facilitate smoking-related illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease. Cigarettes achieve this in a radical way by impacting the level of detoxification that the body can achieve. Smoking causes cells to become damaged, causing cancer, raising cholesterol and damaging the respiratory and circulatory systems. On top of this, smoking strips the body of some of its most important vitamins and nutrients. It does this through inhibiting the body's ability to absorb these nutrients. Perhaps the most important of these essential nutrients is vitamin C. Quitting is the best recourse for this effect, but by supplementing these essential nutrients, you can help combat the negative effects of smoking.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an important chemical utilized in the functioning of the retina. An absence of this essential nutrient could also mean a higher susceptibility to diseases such as lung cancer. Failing to replace this vitamin with over-the-counter supplements could mean the difference in repairing cigarette damage or dying with it.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is responsible for facilitating the reproduction of collagen and repairing cell damage throughout the body. Smoking has such a degrading affect on this essential nutrient that smokers are urged to take around three times its recommended daily value per day. Dr. Dan Rutherford, a general practitioner and contributor to NetDoctor.com, suggests that smokers consume about 2000 mg of vitamin C daily. This can only be achieved through vitamins, as this level of vitamin C intake is not likely to be achieved simply through eating. Supplementing vitamin C in your diet can also help curb nicotine cravings and allow those toxic chemicals to be better flushed from the body's system.
Beta Carotene and Other Antioxidants
Beta Carotene can help the body more easily persist through nicotine withdrawals if making the decision to quit. To some extent, beta carotene can also fight against an onset of cancer. It is good to talk to your doctor about taking prescription supplements as over-the-counter ones may not be enough. However, beta-carotene is considered to be most effective when supplemented during a period of cigarette cessation. Taking it while continuing to smoke will not do much good as the continuous introduction of cigarette chemicals and smoke will render beta carotene and other antioxidants useless. Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D, an associate director of antioxidant research at Tufts University, suggests that smokers and nonsmokers alike should get as much beta-carotene and other antioxidants as possible by eating vegetables (particularly green, leafy varieties) and fruits in addition to a supplement.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E acts as an important antioxidant responsible for delaying the hardening of arteries in a smoker's system. It can help prevent atherosclerosis, a condition where cholesterol, scar tissue and cholesterol deposits harden the coronary arteries. Vitamin E also greatly reduces a person's risk of heart disease.
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