The paper in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, is the
first longitudinal study on the relationship between fruit and
vegetable consumption and smoking cessation. The authors, from the
University of Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health
Professions, surveyed 1.000 smokers aged 25 and older from around
the country, using random-digit dialing telephone interviews. They
followed up with the respondents fourteen months later, asking them
if they had abstained from tobacco use during the previous
month.
"Other studies have taken a snapshot approach, asking smokers
and nonsmokers about their diets," says Gary A. Giovino, PhD, chair
of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior on the
university website. "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."
Improve the diet, stupid!
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. They also found that
smokers with higher fruit and vegetable consumption smoked fewer
cigarettes per day, waited longer to smoke their first cigarette of
the day and scored lower on a common test of nicotine
dependence.
"We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit
smoking," says Jeffrey P. Haibach, first author on the paper and
graduate research assistant in the UB Department of Community
Health and Health Behavior. "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 fruits and vegetables or
the fact that higher fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables
make people feel fuller. "It is also possible that fruits 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," explains Haibach.