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Quitting is certainly best way of dealing with smoking.
If you even quit you have to maintain a certain health supplement plan for at least five years after quitting.
If, however, you choose to smoke despite knowing the risks, taking antioxidants to combat some of the effects of smoking is advisable. Smokers tend to deplete the body of vitamin C, folic acid, thiamine and vitamin B6, so taking supplements may be recommended by your doctor.
Antioxidants may also enhance immune defense and therefore lower the risk of cancer and infection if you are smoker.
Several large scale surveys have measured the antioxidant vitamin status of smokers compared to nonsmokers and consistently report the following:
- Smokers have lower intake of antioxidant vitamins
- Smokers use up antioxidant vitamins more rapidly
- Smokers have lower blood and tissue levels of these vitamins
In other words smokers are nearly always deficient in the essential antioxidant vitamins which have shown a strong and consistent link with reduced risk of heart disease, lung cancer and a wide range of other ailments associated with smoking.
So if you are smokers then increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables you eat to raise your intake of vitamin C and carotenes.
This is the best way to get your daily needs of these two vitamins as scientists believe fruits and vegetables may contain other as yet undiscovered protective nutrients.
As it is nearly impossible to get sufficient vitamin E from foods to reach the level at which protective effects have been found, taking supplements is the only way to go for this vitamin.
Antioxidant sources:
- Vitamin A: Carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, purple grapes, and other dark coloured veggies and fruits.
- Vitamin C: Strawberries, green leafy veggies, bell peppers, lime and oranges.
- Vitamin E: Nuts, seeds and whole grains (multi-grain rotis are a great way of including these in your diet).
- And Selenium, crucial to control cell damage is found in red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, garlic and grains. So if you’re a vegetarian you better make sure you’re eating all the grains you can get!
Taking fruits (7 portions/week – 1 portion a day) and vegetables( 14 portions/week – 2 portions a day) you’ll supply yourself with maximum antioxidant.
Fruit Antioxidant Powder 10 Day supply 5.29 Oz
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