Fruit and Vegetables - Could They Help You to Kick the Habit?

When looking for some inspiration on what to write about, I stumbled across an article from June that puts forward the case that fruit and veg might help smokers to quit. This had passed me by at the time - I'm going to blame it on being on holiday when it was published - so I read it with some interest.

The study, which was carried out in 1000 smokers, found that those who increased their fruit and vegetable intake were more successful in giving up than their counterparts who didn't. It found that smokers who ate 4 or more portions of fruit and veg each day were three times more likely to still be off the cigarettes 14 months later, compared to smokers who had fewer than two portions daily. Even when factors such as age, gender, education and indicators of a healthier lifestyle were controlled for, the trend remained consistent. Even if participants were still smoking, those who ate more fruit and veg had fewer cigarettes daily.

The reason for the association between fruit and veg intake and smoking habits isn't fully understood. However, there is some evidence that fruit and veg are one of the groups of foods that make cigarettes taste worse - unlike coffee and alcohol which are thought to improve their taste - so smoking is not as enjoyable. Another theory is that cravings for food and cigarettes can be mixed up, so that eating more fruit and veg - which are filling due to their fibre content - can block the desire to have something else. It does remain a possibility though that people that have higher intakes of fruit and veg are generally more conscious about their health, so recognise that they should really give up smoking.

Just don't eat it all at once...

Leading on from whether fruit and veg can help you to quit, eating more is also likely to help prevent the weight gain often associated with stopping smoking. As smoking may slightly raise your metabolic rate and dampen the appetite, both are reversed on quitting. Combine this with looking for something food or drink related to replace your cigarettes with and it's no wonder that the weight starts creeping up. As we've already mentioned, fruit and veg are a good option to fill up on at a meal and as they are low in calories, won't affect your waist line. Keep the fruit bowl topped up and perhaps keep some veg sticks such as celery, carrot, pepper and cucumber in the fridge to nibble on - serve with a low fat dip such as salsa or extra light soft cheese. Just watch dried fruit, as although a good handful of raisins or apricots might seem like a healthy alternative to an equivalent amount of sweets, they are concentrated in sugars so it's easy to consume more calories than you realise.

Photo by Megan from New York via Wikimedia Commons