We have written many articles about the harms of smoking... In this article, we will discuss how smoking increases bone loss and how it drags us into dangers by disrupting our body's vitamin balance, and we are sure that you will really want to quit smoking after this article...
Clinical studies for smoking, where new harms are discovered every day, are on bone loss and vitamins, and let's learn step by step what smoking does for these two conditions respectively...
Smoking increases bone loss and reduces calcium absorption from the intestine
The results of a study conducted to understand whether smoking is a risk factor for bone mineral density loss or not were published in the following article on The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in 2009. The study was a 3-year placebo-controlled study and examined bone mineral density change rates and intestinal calcium absorption in the femoral neck, spine and whole body of 32 smokers and 370 non-smokers in a group of 402 elderly men and women. In the light of the data obtained as a result of measurements made on the subject groups at certain times, the following important points were obtained;
The results obtained in the study strengthen the evidence that smoking increases the rate of bone loss in elderly men and women.
It is observed that there is more bone loss, especially in men who smoke more than one pack of cigarettes a day.
Lower calcium absorption has been observed in smokers, and this is seen as one of the factors affecting the rate of bone loss.
>To summarize, this study found that smoking is a risk factor for accelerated bone loss in older men and women. One contributing factor appears to be decreased intestinal calcium absorption efficiency, but more research is needed to fully understand the biological mechanisms that lead to greater bone loss among smokers.
Above You can read the scientific test results of the data we summarized in the article we referenced.
As a result, smoking increases bone loss and reduces calcium absorption…
Now let's take a look at the relationship between vitamins and smoking, which is another topic of our article…
How Does Smoking Deplete Your Body of Vitamins?
The cigarette smoke produced after every cigarette is lit is a mixture of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that puts almost all of our internal organs at risk. It creates plenty of free radicals that can cause cellular damage and deplete essential vitamins and minerals in our body. Now let's take a closer look at these situations...
Vitamin Depletion
Every time we smoke, the production of free radicals in our body accelerates. These free radicals are cell-damaging structures that can lead to cancer and other diseases. Even if you never smoke, our bodies are exposed every day to free radicals produced by both toxins in our environment and the normal metabolic processes used to digest the food we eat.
Vitamins act as a defense against free radicals. sees. They help neutralize free radicals to prevent or minimize damage. Smoking depletes these shields, making it easier for free radicals to damage the body.
Taken together, the combination of the increased free radicals caused by smoking and the decreased vitamin supply from smoking creates a double whammy against us. . Let's look at what free radicals do to our bodies, the process of smoking depleting essential vitamins, and how this combination leaves your body vulnerable to damage.
Free radicals
Free radicals, in odd numbers are atoms or molecules that have electrons. Molecules don't like to be in this state (they're much happier when they have a pair of electrons), making them very unstable. These unhappy free radicals travel around the body grabbing electrons from other molecules to balance their energy.
Depending on where they find the electron they need, they can damage healthy tissue. When they interfere with collagen, they cause the infamous “smoker's wrinkles” They cause “. When they encounter blood vessels, they can damage the blood vessel lining, setting the stage for a heart attack.
And damage (gene mutations) can occur when the source is DNA in cells in our body. It is this accumulation of gene mutations that is responsible for the formation of a cancer cell.
Antioxidants
The body's defense system uses antioxidants to combat the damage caused by free radicals. Antioxidants are molecules that can donate electrons to free radicals without losing their molecular integrity. In this way, they can slow down the destructive effect of free radicals on the body.
Studies have identified more than 4,000 antioxidants, some of which are naturally produced in the human body. Others come from the foods we eat.
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Two important antioxidant champions are vitamin C and vitamin E. They help fight inflammation and toxins in the body and are critical for a healthy immune system.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, the body cannot store water-soluble vitamins and must obtain them daily from the foods we eat.
A protein responsible for the growth and repair of cells in our bodies that produce everything from skin to muscle, from ligaments to blood vessels. Vitamin C is required to make collagen. It helps keep our immune system strong and lower blood sugar. It also has the unique quality of being able to help replenish other antioxidants such as vitamin E.
Studies have found that the amount of vitamin C in the bodies of smokers and those exposed to second-hand smoke decreases. It is thought that smokers should get 35 mg more vitamin C per day than non-smokers.
Unfortunately, simply taking a supplement is not the answer, at least when it comes to heart disease. People taking vitamin C supplements continued to see problems with blood vessel damage that occur with low vitamin C levels, although there is no clear information yet as to why…
Vitamin C ta There has been controversy that supplements do not reduce the risk of cancer and this may be confusing. Overloading the body (taking more than you need) probably won't help. But even a minor vitamin C deficiency can put you at greater risk. And since vitamin C levels are lower in people who smoke, this appears to be the case.
A 2017 study found that a diet high in vitamin C reduced the risk of lung cancer in women who smoke by 26%.
What should we do after all that information?
If you smoke or are exposed to second-hand smoke, it is extremely important to get enough vitamin C in your diet. Despite this, if you want to continue smoking, this may hinder any benefits you will receive, but the surest solution is to quit smoking.
Food Sources of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is found in all fruits and vegetables. Excellent sources of vitamin C are;
Melon
Watermelon
Citrus Fruits
Blueberries, cranberries, strawberries. , raspberry
Cranberry
Strawberries
Raspberry
Tomato
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Potatoes (sweet and white)
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is fat-soluble and stored in the liver and fat stores in the body. This means you don't necessarily need to get vitamin E in your diet every day, but getting vitamin E in your diet is important for your body to maintain its supply. Vitamin E is an important nutrient that helps us create red blood cells and strengthens the immune system to fight viruses and bacteria.
Researchers also suggest that vitamin E plays a role in protecting us from cancer, heart disease, and aging. They are thinking. Vitamin E is one of the first lines of defense against free radical damage to the lungs when we breathe in air pollution and cigarette smoke. Vitamin E is an antioxidant powerhouse.
Like vitamin C, smoking appears to increase vitamin E needs
Unfortunately, studies have shown that vitamin E supplements can actually cause cancer. i has not been able to confirm that it helps prevent heart disease or symptoms of aging.
There is debate that a particular form of vitamin E is important, but at present it is best to get vitamin E through a sensible diet.
Healthy Sources of Vitamin E
Nuts such as hazelnuts, peanuts and almonds
Vegetables such as safflower, wheat germ, corn and sunflower fats
Green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli
Seeds such as sunflower seeds
Breakfast cereals enriched with vitamin E
Free radicals
p>While scientists still have a lot to learn about the composition of cigarette smoke, we do know that there are links between smoking and vitamin depletion, and that this compromises our body's ability to manage the toxins in cigarette smoke. This can predispose us to diseases that follow tobacco use.
Cigarette smoke is a highly toxic mixture of more than 7,000 chemical compounds. Some of the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke include:
Benzene (used in pesticides and gasoline)
Formaldehyde (used as embalming fluid)
Hydrogen cyanide (gasification agent used in Nazi Germany )
Carbon monoxide (in car exhaust and deadly in large amounts)
Arsenic (used in rat poison)
Cigarette smoke contains radioactive compounds that produce free radicals as part of their decomposition.
Cigarette smoke is dangerous whether inhaled firsthand from a burning cigarette (mainstream smoke) or secondhand from smoke remaining in the air.
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In summary:
Above, we talked about the decrease in calcium absorption caused by smoking and the resulting loss of bone mineral density. Later, we learned that the increased free radicals caused by smoking unnecessarily consume the antioxidants we have and cause other diseases due to these missing vitamins and minerals. We learned that if we do not take adequate vitamin supplements, our job will be very difficult because the mechanisms to fight free radicals will not be sufficient…
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