Smoking and Oxidative Stress
By Sandra Bright

Some people come in to stop smoking before showing any signs or symptoms of illness. Some come in after a cardiac event or two or after they have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or cancer anywhere in the body from the mouth to the stomach.  The lucky ones come in with only periodontal disease.

I see a progression of disease in my clients that starts with lack of energy or morning cough. Then, they notice that they are coughing during the day. Most have stopped exercising and doing all the active, fun things they loved doing, like hiking, bicycling, swimming or playing golf or tennis. They think they are just getting old at 30 or 40 years of age! Gee, some people remain generally active into their late 80’s while others still compete in senior games until they are in their 90’s. Of course these are not smokers.

The problem with smoking is that we don’t see and can not feel the damage at first. This allows us to think (sub-consciously) “I am ok, I will stop smoking soon. After this or that happens.” We fear that we can’t do without cigarettes. The problem with thinking “I can quit anytime I want to,” is that it allows us to procrastinate for years, some clients for 40 years or more. All the while, our bodies are becoming more and more oxidized, also known as poisoned.

Most people have heard of antioxidants. Let’s break that word apart. We know that “anti” means against, or opposite. Now, oxidant is for oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. We can see oxidation happening in a banana after we take the skin off or an apple after we slice it, but we cannot see oxidation in our bodies, even though it is indeed happening. Oxidation causes free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells. Air pollution, water pollution, pesticides, stress and not getting enough fruits & vegetables all contribute to oxidation in the body.

Cigarette smoke contains large amounts of free radicals, which, in combination with a lower intake of antioxidant vitamins in smokers than in nonsmokers, lead to increased prooxidant stress in smokers. In addition, stress is higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Even though they think that smoking calms them, it actually causes the heart to beat 10-20 times per minute faster; the arteries constrict and the blood pressure goes up. So are we relaxed? Not actually.

People say they smoke because of stress, but it’s not like they smoke twice as much on a stressful day and forget to smoke when they are on vacation or on a peaceful day. So if you are a person who has a lot of stress in your life because, lets be honest, everyone has a lot of stress in their day, what is the best way to cope with that stress? Is it to stimulate your stress hormones with more coffee and more and more cigarettes? Or would it be better to stop poisoning yourself with cigarettes, exercise to squeeze the stress hormones out of the body, get some quality sleep, drink a lot of water to flush the toxins out, eat 5-9 fruits and vegetables per day, take anti-oxidant vitamins and minerals and omega-3 fatty acids to get the cholesterol out of the body? We have much more control of our health than we want to think. We all say that we want to be healthy and happy,  so….what is going to make your body healthier and your life more peaceful and happy?