DIETARY CHANGE AFTER SMOKING CESSATION - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

A population sample of 375 men and women cigarette smokers were recrui ted to take part in a prospective study of smoking cessation to test t he hypothesis that stopping smoking is associated with an increased co nsumption of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid, which explains th e concomitant reduction in risk of coronary heart disease. Diet was as sessed using a 10 d weighed record in 301 smokers at baseline, 153 at 4-month follow-up, of whom twenty-six had quit smoking, and 122 at 1-y ear follow-up, of whom twenty had quit. Compared with continuing smoke rs, those who had quit at the 4-month follow-up (mean 10 and 13 weeks for men and women respectively) had statistically significant increase s in body weight (5%), energy intake (13%), total dietary fat (24%), a ll specific types of dietary fat (26% polyunsaturated fat, 26% linolei c acid, 30% eicosapentaenoic acid, 23% monounsaturated fat and 22% sat urated fat) and vitamin E intake (19%). The foods which appeared to co ntribute to increases in energy and fat intakes at the 4-month follow- up were vegetable oils and polyunsaturated margarines, processed meats and meat pies. By follow-up at 1 year (mean time since quitting 31 an d 41 weeks for men and women respectively) there were no detectable di fferences in energy and total fat intakes. However, intakes of eicosap entaenoic acid and pteroylglutamate (folate) were statistically signif icantly higher in the quitters compared with the continuing smokers (3 7% for eicosapentaenoic acid and 16% for folate). We conclude that the short-term increase in dietary intake of linoleic acid, which is not sustained by 1 year, cannot explain the reduction in risk of coronary disease following smoking cessation.