Taking daily vitamins can help fight some side effects of smoking.
Smoking cannot only lead to serious diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease, it also increases the production of free radicals in the body which can cause cell and tissue damage. According to mothernature.com, free radicals are the believed to cause aging in people. To fight the effects of free radicals, you can take a variety of nutritional supplements.
Vitamin E
Smoking causes scarring, cholesterol and calcium to form on the walls of your arteries. These deposits block your blood circulation and can ultimately lead to heart disease. According to mothernature.com, taking up to 200 international units of vitamin E can stop any damage from occurring. Vitamin E can be found in foods such as sweet potatoes, kale and sunflower seeds, but would have to be eaten in extremely large quantities to be effective. Taking a supplement is therefore a better alternative.
Vitamin C
According to mcvitamins.com, if you smoke one pack of cigarettes per day, your body's level of vitamin C is 40 percent lower as that of a nonsmoker. Because of low vitamin C levels, smokers are more often ill compared to nonsmokers. When you smoke, your body accelerates the rate at which it breaks down vitamin C. Smokers should take double or triple the amount of vitamin C that nonsmokers consume just to keep their immune system in tact. Consuming foods rich in vitamin C is also helpful. Foods rich in vitamin C include oranges, peppers, Brussels sprouts and strawberries.
Vitamin B
Smoking deteriorates healthy skin, eyes, tissue and nerves and it lowers the amount of B vitamins in your body. Taking B vitamins can combat negative effects of smoking. When you smoke, it damages your skin's collagen and your skin starts looking wrinkly and shallow. Taking vitamin B5, also known as Pantothenic acid, can fight this. Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, is needed to metabolize protein and carbohydrates, which is a process that smoking blocks.
Multivitamin
Smoking depletes the body of all vitamins and minerals. Taking specific nutritional supplements will help with this, but you should also take a daily multivitamin on top of these to help restore nutritional imbalance. Calcium, beta-carotene, niacin and biotin are just some of the nutritional needs of smokers. A multivitamin which also has minerals will cover a wide spectrum of these.
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