Are you getting your recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables? The Australian dietary Guidelines from Nutrition Australia recommend 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit each day. In addition to protein and fat consumption these recommendations are set to ensure you get enough anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals to sustain a healthy life.
Those anti-oxidants present in fruit and vegetables have also been found to potentially protect the lung from damage and prevent COPD which smokers have a high risk of developing.
A recent study assessed more than 44 000 middle aged Swedish men who completed detailed health and dietary questionnaires and followed them over an average of 13 years.
There was found to be a significantly reduced incidence of COPD in current and ex-smokers who ate a higher amount of fruit and vegetables. Each one serving per day increment in total fruit and veg decreased the risk of COPD significantly by 8% in current smokers, and 4% in ex-smokers.
Those who ate five or more servings were up to 35% less likely to develop COPD than those who ate two or less.
There was no benefit seen for those who never smoked however the risk for developing COPD overall is much higher in smokers than non-smokers.
If you are having trouble giving up smoking, then you should at least try and consume as many fruits and vegetables as possible and although the study only looked at males, it is likely the benefits would apply to women as well !
References
http://press.psprings.co.uk/thx/february/thx207851.pdf
