Smoking Sucks the Nutrition Out of You

Cigarettes are the most common and preventable cause of cancer and is one of the most lethal carcinogens in our society. We all know that smoking is bad for us and can cause respiratory and heart disease yet many of us continue to smoke. Studies show that smokers generally are less active, suffer from a poor diet and consume too much alcohol and caffeine.

A study out of Berkeley also showed that smoking cigarettes impacts our nutritional intake negatively in many ways, which include:

- Blood Circulation - If you smoke, your blood circulation and blood flow will decrease by 21%.

- Blood Fat - Smoking 2-4 cigarettes increases blood fats 200%-400% increasing your risk of heart disease 4-6 times if you're over 45.

- Calcium - Important for the formation and strength of bones and teeth, you'll be deficient of this important mineral if you smoke and increase your chance of developing osteoporosis.

- Vitamin C - An important antioxidant that helps to prevent disease. Vitamin C is lost from the tissues and blood the more a person smokes. They discovered that for each cigarette smoked, 25 mg of Vitamin C (about the equivalent found in an orange) got depleted from our body.

- Vitamin D - The sunshine vitamin plays a huge role on our health and can help with everything from bone strength, mood, diabetes, blood pressure while inhibiting cancer cells. Smokers tend to have 50% lower levels than their non-smoking counterparts.

- Vitamin E - This vitamin is a major antioxidant that inhibits fatty deposits on the inner walls of the arteries. Smoking, on the other hand can harden your arteries which can play a big role in heart-related illnesses.

Cigarettes literally suck the life out of you and wrecks havoc on your body from the inside-out. Fortunately, there are many options for quitting smoking from Smoker's Cleanses, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture, Champix and Zyban. Consider your health and the health of the people in your life to help you take the big step to finally butting out.