Studies have shown that foods which have an alkaline effect on the body can aid smokers in breaking the habit. Foods with an acid effect can make it harder. Items below are arranged from the most helpful to smokers down to the least helpful from a quitting standpoint:

Dr. Smith told us, 'The real results are when you change people's diets to produce an alkaline balance.'

He explained to us why he feels that way: 'In general there are two problems that smokers face. One problem is that they want to lose their smoking habit, and the other is that they often find they are gaining weight when they stop smoking. If you consume a diet that mainly consists of vegetable foods, you produce a less acid urine and thus achieve the same thing as the sodium bicarbonate. Coincidentally, vegetables are foods which are not calorically dense. And this is where vegetables are good, because they do things which might make stopping smoking easier, but at the same time will not contribute to the weight problem. Fruits in general, excluding plums, prunes and black currants – which acidify the urine, are also good.' Dr. Fix told us that the strongest alkalizers are spinach and beet greens. Dr. Smith adds that certain acidifying foods should be avoided: 'Meat, that's the first thing that jumps out at you.

'And I use the word 'meat' loosely, to include red meats, liver, organ meats.' Dr. Fix says studies show that people avoiding meat also tend to avoid cigarettes. 'It's interesting to look at the smokers who also happen to be vegetarians. That's a small group, you know, but the best information is that 98 per cent of those people who are both smokers and vegetarians eventually stop smoking.

'Now, psychologists argue that anybody who cares that much about his or her health, to become a vegetarian, would be likely to change other unhealthy aspects of his life as well. On the other hand, it may be that people eating a vegetarian diet have an easier time giving up smoking because of their diet.'

Meat is not the only thing a smoker who wants to stop should stay away from, Dr. Fix says. 'The other thing that's really a potent acidifier of the urine is alcohol. It's incredible how many people trying to quit fail when they take a drink, and suddenly get the urge to smoke. Alcohol also lowers the willpower, which makes it hard to stop.' – Incidentally, smokers taking vitamin C can avoid the acidifying effects of ascorbic acid by taking C in the sodium ascorbate form. Sodium ascorbate is alkaline, and has been recommended by people like Linus Pauling as a way to avoid other possible acid side effects of ascorbic acid in sensitive individuals. Drs. Fix and Smith both stressed to us that the results of their experiment were far from definitive. But everyone we spoke to agreed that their work implies a new way out for beleaguered smokers. 'If it works,' Dr. Silverstein commented, 'many people are going to be very happy. It's exciting, if it works.'

Reprinted from Prevention Magazine