Researchers at the University of Buffalo have found that eating more fresh produce may help smokers trying to quit their habit and stay tobacco-free for longer.
Public health scientists at the university in New York state had their findings published last month in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, and it is the first longitudinal study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking cessation.
The authors surveyed 1,000 smokers aged 25 and older from around the US, using random-digit dialling telephone interviews. They followed up with the respondents 14 months later, asking them if they had abstained from tobacco use during the previous month.
Dr Gary Giovino, chair of the department of community health and health behaviour at the university said: “Other studies have taken a snapshot approach, asking smokers and non-smokers about their diets. We knew from our previous work that people who were abstinent from cigarettes for less than six months consumed more fruits and vegetables than those who still smoked. What we didn’t know was whether recent quitters increased their fruit and vegetable consumption or if smokers who ate more fruits and vegetables were more likely to quit.”
The UB study found that smokers who consumed the most fruit and vegetables were three times more likely to be tobacco-free for at least 30 days at follow-up 14 months later than those consuming the lowest amount of fruits and vegetables. These findings persisted even when adjustments were made to take into account age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income and health orientation.
They also found that smokers with higher fruit and vegetable consumption smoked fewer cigarettes a day, waited longer to smoke their first cigarette of the day and scored lower on a common test of nicotine dependence.
Jeffrey Haibach, first author on the paper and a graduate research assistant in Giovino’s department said: “We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit smoking. Granted, this is just an observational study, but improving one’s diet may facilitate quitting.”
Several explanations are possible, such as less nicotine dependence for people who consume a lot of fruit and vegetables or the fact that higher fibre consumption from fruits and vegetables make people feel fuller.
“It is also possible that fruit and vegetables give people more of a feeling of satiety or fullness so that they feel less of a need to smoke, since smokers sometimes confuse hunger with an urge to smoke,” said Haibach.
And unlike some foods that are known to enhance the taste of tobacco, such as meats, caffeinated beverages and alcohol, fruits and vegetables do not enhance the taste of tobacco.
Haibach said: “Foods such as fruit and vegetables may actually worsen the taste of cigarettes.
“It is possible that an improved diet could be an important item to add to the list of measures to help smokers quit. We certainly need to continue efforts to encourage people to quit and help them succeed, including proven approaches like quitlines, policies such as tobacco tax increases and smoke-free laws, and effective media campaigns.”
The research team warned that more research is needed to determine if these findings replicate and if they do, to identify the mechanisms that explain how fruit and vegetable consumption may help smokers quit. They also see a need for research on other dietary components and smoking cessation.
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