Medical Reports: Healthcast: Quit Smoking Diet

WSVN -- Donna Grissom is a firefighter and a police officer, and even though she spends her time making sure everyone else is safe, each day she was putting her own life at risk

Donna Grissom: "I was probably right at two packs a day. Especially when I was driving, patrolling, I was in the habit of taking the cigarette out of my pocket and lighting it up."

Now she's cigarette free, and says what she eats impacts her urge to smoke.

Donna Grissom: "Especially a rich meal, a heavy meal. I was always looking for that cigarette."

Not surprising to psychologist Joe McClernon. He believes smoking and eating go hand in hand.

Joe McClernon: "Foods and beverages can enhance the taste of cigarettes."

A Duke University study found that milk, cheese, yogurt, water, fruits and vegetables worsens the taste of cigarettes.

While alcohol, coffee, soda and meat makes smoker's enjoy the taste.

Joe McClernon: "There could be some type of chemical reaction between something in dairy products and the 4,000 chemicals that make up tobacco smoke."

Although researchers know which foods have an effect, they still need to figure out why.

Joe McClernon: "A real silver bullet would be, take this pill, and for the rest of your life, cigarettes taste so bad that you never want to smoke again."

Donna has no intention of smoking ever again. The only fires she'll be putting out will be on the job.

Christine Cruz: "And while the quit smoking diet works for most people, smokers of menthol cigarettes are less likely to find the taste of tobacco affected by what they eat."

Marilyn Berzin, M.D.
DC Derm Docs
1828 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 822-9591
http://www.dcdermdocs.com