Many people wonder whether there are vitamins for smokers that could help fight this free radical damage.
This article discusses how smoking depletes vitamins in the body and whether taking vitamins might help repair this damage.
Smoking and Free Radicals
Cigarette smoking speeds up the production of free radicals in your body.
Kruscha/Pixabay/CC0
These free radicals cause damage to cells that can eventually lead to cancer and other diseases.
What Are Free Radicals?
Even without smoking, your body is exposed to free radicals every day.
Depending on where they find the electron they need, they can wreak havoc on healthy tissue.
When they interfere with collagen, they cause the notorious “smoker’s wrinkles.”
It is this accumulation of gene mutations that is responsible for the formation of a cancer cell.
This combination leaves your body vulnerable to damage.
In this way, they are able to slow the destructive impact that free radicals have on the body.
Vitamins also act as a defense against free radicals.
They help to neutralize free radicals to prevent or minimize damage.
Smoking depletes these shields, making it easier for free radicals to damage the body.
However, making sure you are getting certain important vitamins may have somebeneficial effects.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin.
It’s thought that smokers require 35 mg more vitamin C daily than non-smokers.
Unfortunately, simply taking a supplement isn’t the answer, at least with regard to heart disease.
Food Sources of Vitamin C
Vitamin C can be found in all fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin E is an antioxidant powerhouse.
Like vitamin C,smoking appears to increase vitamin E requirements.
A 2018 study found that high-dose omega-3 fatty acid supplementation could potentially help reduce cigarette cravings and oxidative stress.
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