Can Bananas Help Change Your Smoking Habits?

While some people have used bananas as a cheap and nutritious way to reduce cravings, there isn’t much research to back this up.

There are many reasons to quit smoking and a number of ways to achieve your goal. Eating bananas may be one strategy to help you quit, but there is very little research that links bananas with smoking cessation.

Bananas may help you quit smoking because they can give you something to do with your hands and mouth instead of smoking or vaping. They are also packed with nutritional benefits, which can help your overall health and replace missing vitamins and nutrients that smoking can diminish.

Can bananas help you quit smoking?

There isn’t much research to support that bananas can help you quit smoking. However, a 2020 study involved participants with mental health conditions who were trying to quit smoking. The study found that eating bananas could reduce cravings. The study also cited other oral stimulation methods like chewing gum.

A 2017 study also found that eating bananas, apples, and tomatoes could help reduce lung function decline, particularly among people who quit smoking. Researchers cited the antioxidants in these fruits as contributors to healthy lung function.

Maintaining good lung function is important to prevent chronic lung conditions that can lead to a lower quality of life and can even be fatal.

Bananas can be a nutritious stand-alone snack, and eating them can help distract you from smoking by giving your hands and mouth something else to do. You may find that peeling and eating a banana reduces your craving for smoking. Other benefits include:

• They are part of a balanced, nutritious diet, which can increase the nutrients in your diet.
• They contain vitamins and minerals like vitamin C , which nicotine prevents your body from absorbing.
• They also contain antioxidants , potassium , and magnesium , which all contribute to your body’s well-being.
• They each contain about 100 calories and a good amount of fiber . This helps you feel full and maintain your weight.

Want to get involved?

If you want to help researchers learn if bananas or other pantry staples could help you quit smoking, you can check out ClinicalTrials.gov to look for open studies and surveys.

Can bananas help remove nicotine from the body?

There is no research that suggests that bananas remove nicotine from the body.

Drinking water, exercising, and eating foods with antioxidants can improve your body’s metabolism and flush nicotine out of the body faster. Nicotine is a highly volatile chemical and will typically not stay in your body’s systems for more than a day or two.

What are the best snacks to quit smoking?

You may want to lean on other snacks as well when you are quitting smoking. They can provide oral stimulation and boost your overall health. Here are some ideas for snacks when you are in the process of quitting:

• Fruits and vegetables can add vitamins and minerals back into your body that your body could not absorb when you smoked regularly. Plus, fruits and vegetables contain fewer calories than many other snack foods, and that helps with weight management .
• Protein-rich foods , such as whole wheat, lean meat , fish, dairy products, beans, and nuts, can help regulate your blood sugar. Smoking disrupts your usual blood glucose functioning, and these foods can help regulate it again.
• Chewing gum or using mints may also help reduce smoking cravings without adding calories to your daily food intake.

Tips and resources to help quit smoking

Quitting smoking has many benefits, including:

• raising your life expectancy
• lowering your risk of many serious health conditions like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among others
• improving your overall health and even your symptoms if you experience smoking-related conditions

Quitting smoking is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. You may need to incorporate several strategies to quit, and there are many methods available.

Strategies and resources for quitting smoking include:

• following a personalized plan to quit smoking
• reducing your smoking habit little by little
• quitting smoking abruptly (“ cold turkey ”)
• taking over-the-counter and prescription medications to quit smoking
• throwing out smoking instruments like cigarettes, pipes, vapes, and tobacco
• lining up healthy snacks and other oral stimulation products like chewing gum to deal with cravings
• avoiding situations where you may be tempted to smoke
• taking up a new hobby
• exercising alone or with others who are quitting
• allowing yourself to experience smoking cravings without giving in to them
• talking with family, friends, or a support group about the challenges of quitting
• keeping a journal or using an app
• trying alternative therapies like meditation or acupuncture

For more information and free resources, you can check out the CDC’s Stop Smoking campaign .

Takeaway

Eating bananas may help you curb smoking cravings, but there are few scientific studies linking them to quitting smoking. They are a nutritious food that might replace the act of smoking by requiring the use of our hands and mouth.

Additionally, bananas are full of vitamins and minerals, which your body needs to operate optimally.

There are many other methods you can try to quit smoking. Talk with your doctor about medications and other strategies that might help you quit smoking.