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Smoking, as everyone knows by now, takes a serious toll on health. So when you decide to quit smoking, it can be a great time to think about making changes to your diet. One of the payoffs of smoking is enhancement to your senses of taste and smell, which can make food more pleasurable than it was when you were smoking, but to avoid weight gain and substitute addictions to food or drink, a healthy diet is essential.

A diet containing the full requirements of vitamins and minerals is essential for health, but may be more important during the period of recovery after smoking, as the body repairs the damage done. Research indicates smokers have lower vitamin C levels than non-smokers and ex-smokers, yet this vitamin is also needed to repair the damage caused by cigarettes. There is also speculative and anecodotal evidence that vitamin B3 or niacin is particularly helpful in reducing the cravings and irritability associated with quitting smoking, so you may want to increase foods containing this vitamin while quitting.

Check with your doctor that you can do this safely, and remember, too much can also be harmful, so don’t overdo any particular nutrient though diet, supplements or both. Excessive amounts of niacin can cause liver damage, and excessive amounts of vitamin C can cause diarrhea or loose stools.

Foods Rich in Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Adults need about 14-16mg of niacin per day in a regular diet, and you should not take more than 35 mg per day, including dietary and supplemental intake. Examples of foods commonly cited as being a rich source of niacin are given below, showing the amount of niacin per 100grams. This allows you to compare the amount of niacin across foods, but bear in mind, a typical serving of one food, such as chicken, may be a different size from a typical serving of another food, such as sesame seeds.

Niacin is found in poultry, fish, and lean meats. Some authors also cite dairy products and eggs as sources of niacin, but if you look up the actual amounts contained in different foods, for example, on NutritionData.com, the amounts are negligible compared to meats sources.

• Chicken: 14.8mg/100grams
• Canned tuna: 13.3mg/100grams
• Turkey: 9.1mg/100grams
• Steak: 4.2mg/100grams
• Cheese: 0.1mg/100grams
• Egg: 0.1mg/100grams

Vegans and Vegetarians

Vegans and vegetarians can get their supply of niacin through nuts and legumes. As with non-vegetarian foods, there is wide variation among the foods that are cited as containing niacin. Enriched breads and cereals are also a potential source of niacin.

• Bran flakes: 70mg/100grams
• Cheerios: 69mg/100grams
• Corn flakes: 66.7mg/100 grams
• Peanuts: 13.5mg/100grams
• Sesame seeds: 4.5mg/100grams
• Almonds: 3.7mg/100grams
• Soymilk: 3mg/100grams
• Split peas: 3mg/100grams
• Lentils: 2.6mg/100grams

A variety of processed meat substitutes contain high amounts of niacin – check the nutritional information label on the packaging for specific amounts.

Although beer also contains niacin, among other nutrients, it only contains about 1.8 mg per 12 oz serving, so you would be risking alcohol-related problems if you attempted to obtain sufficient niacin through beer-drinking. Alcohol-reduced beer is an option, but again, you would have to drink a lot of it to get your daily niacin requirements.

Foods Rich in Vitamin C

Adults need about 75-90mg of vitamin C per day in a regular diet, and you should not take more than 1800 to 2000mg per day, including dietary and supplemental intake.

The main sources of vitamin C are non-problematic for most people, as fruit and vegetable are rich in this important nutrient. But as with other nutrients, the actual amount you get can vary greatly. Here are some examples:

A Vitamin-Rich Diet While Quitting Smoking originally appeared on About.com Addictions on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 01:26:58.

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