Cigarette smoking is known to lead to many different kinds of cardiovascular diseases. What can be done to prevent this? Quitting smoking is best, but a study shows that drinking noni juice may reduce the risk of this top killer among smokers.
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. People who smoke cigarettes may die from complications in their respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Smokers may also develop lung cancer or tuberculosis.
In the United States, government data show that cigarette smoking causes around one in every five deaths each year, resulting in more than 480,000 deaths annually including those from secondhand smoke.
While the dangers of cigarette smoking can’t be entirely alleviated, let’s look back at a 2012 study on how drinking noni juice may be helpful in reducing the risk factors for cardiovascular disease among smokers.
Noni Juice Reduces Cholesterol
Cigarette smoke can significantly increase the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels of smokers, causing systemic inflammation and dyslipidemia, which reflects an abnormal amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the body.
To find out whether this risk can be reduced, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine investigated the effects of fruit antioxidants such as noni juice (Morinda citrifolia) on smokers. For the study, 132 adult smokers were divided into three groups.
One group received 29.5 milliliters (mL) of noni juice all at once in the morning on an empty stomach. Participants in the other two groups drank 118 mL of noni juice daily—59 ml in the morning on an empty stomach and 59 ml before bedtime. This continued for 30 days.
The smoking habits of the participants didn’t change, as they continued to smoke the same way as before. Chemical analyses were made on the lipid profiles of the participants.
According to the study, “The blood lipid profiles of heavy smokers were improved after 4 weeks of noni juice ingestion, even when compared to a fruit juice placebo … The antioxidant activity of iridoids in noni and the lack of iridoids in the placebo suggest that they are responsible for at least some of the protective or adaptive effects of noni juice observed in this trial.”
In the end, drinking noni juice significantly reduced the cholesterol levels of participants in the study. In both noni juice groups, reductions in mean cholesterol, triglyceride level, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were observed. After the trial, the test group had levels that were significantly lower than before the trial, and than the placebo group.
In the noni juice groups, average total cholesterol, triglycerides, and hs-CRP dropped by 20.3–25.6 percent, 29.4–41.2 percent, and 15.2 percent, respectively.
The Brutal Effects of Smoking
According to a report from Health Physics, cigarette smoking has led to “443,000 deaths and 5.1 million years of potential life lost among the U.S. population each year from 2000 through 2004,” while the collective radiation dose from cigarette smoke is 36 times more toxic than that from nuclear power plants.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained that smoking damages a person’s blood vessels by making them narrow and thick. This causes high blood pressure and can lead to a stroke.
According to a study, smoking only about one cigarette a day translates to a much higher risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke than expected, around half that of individuals who smoke 20 per day. Essentially there is no safe level of smoking for cardiovascular disease.
If you decide to quit smoking, it is important stay fit and well. Leading a healthy lifestyle will be a sound and necessary move during smoking cessation. One of the ways to stay healthy is to eat the types of food that are good for your heart and lungs, including noni juice.
Other types of antioxidant-rich foods can also be beneficial. For instance, a 2017 report published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity found a link between pomegranate juice and a reduction in the incidence of lung cancer among animal subjects that were exposed to cigarette smoke.
Other Perks From Drinking Noni Juice
Noni juice comes from an evergreen tree that grows in tropical regions around the world. Researchers of the featured study explained that noni fruit has a significant use both as food and medicine among those in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Some of the other benefits of drinking noni juice include lowering blood pressure, reducing risk of cancer, and having a protective effect against memory impairment.
For more information, review a 206-abstract database on smoking, or read collected noni juice research abstracts at GreedMedinfo.com.
The GMI Research Group is dedicated to investigating the most important health and environmental issues of the day. Special emphasis will be placed on environmental health. Our focused and deep research will explore the many ways in which the present condition of the human body directly reflects the true state of the ambient environment. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Sign up for the newsletter.
