Smoking Depletes Vitamin E Levels

Attention, Lucky Strikers, smoking depletes your body's vitamin E levels, leaving you even more vulnerable to disease.

A study conducted by Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute determined that the amount of E in smokers' bloodstreams is quickly depleted by the need to clean free radicals out of their lungs and extinguish inflammation throughout their bodies. In one test, a vitamin E marker stayed 10 hours longer in the non-smokers' blood.

Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that protects tissue against free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that usually contain oxygen and can interaction with DNA and other molecules leading to an impaired cell function. Vitamin E, one of the chemical compounds that prevents oxygen from reacting with other compounds, neutralizes free radicals, and is, therefore, one of the body’s natural defenses against cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Vitamin E is also important in the formation of red blood cells and helps the body use vitamin K. Vitamin E improves circulation, is necessary in the repair of tissue, promotes normal blood clotting and healing, and can reduce scarring, too.

Ensure your daily diet contains at least 5mg of vitamin E by eating a handful of sunflower seeds in the morning and a handful of almonds in the afternoon.