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Nutrition suggestions for those who can’t quit smoking
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The number of deaths due to smoking-related diseases has been increasing with each passing day in Turkey and throughout the world.
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It is obvious that smoking is one of the fundamental factors impacting public health. However, smoking addiction, which can be regarded as a chronic disease, can be treated. According to many researchers, smoking affects people’s lifestyles negatively, including their eating habits, as it leads to the loss of appetite. Compared to non-smokers, many smokers have low appetites, drink coffee, do not consume three meals a day and do not eat enough fruits or vegetables. Smokers should often consume lemons, tomatoes and apricots. A number of substances present in cigarettes increase free radical production and lipid peroxidation. On the other hand, for a healthy lifestyle, people exposed to cigarette smoke should prefer to eat oranges, lemons, kiwi, mandarins, tomatoes, rose hip, carrots, apricots and leafy green vegetables. There is often an important question in the minds of smokers: If I quit smoking, will I put on weight? It is common for people who quit to gain some weight, as their appetite increases and soon after giving up cigarettes their taste buds will return to normal and they may start to eat more. So a great number of smokers do not want to give up smoking on the grounds that people generally put on weight after they quit smoking. What to do? Ask for help from your friends and family to support you before you quit smoking. In addition, seek professional advice from a dietician or nutritionist on how to eat well before and after you quit smoking cigarettes. Start to participate in sports regularly because it can help control weight. Sports and exercise will also prevent you from becoming nervous, anxious and unhappy following smoking withdrawal. Choose to eat fruits, vegetables and sugar-free or low-calorie foods rather than high-calorie foods. Avoid drinking caffeinated drinks as these drinks might remind of you cigarettes. Consume plenty of water instead.
*Berna Ertuğ is a dietician at Memorial Hospital in Antalya.
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BERNA ERTUĞ*
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