A Duke University study reveals eating fruits, vegetables, cheese, water and milk worsened the taste of cigarettes. Food items that made the taste of...

A Duke University study reveals eating fruits, vegetables, cheese, water and milk worsened the taste of cigarettes. Food items that made the taste of cigarettes more appealing were alcohol, coffee, soda and milk, all foods traditionally thought of as bad for one's diet.

So, smokers are getting two vices for the price of one. Identifying why certain foods make the taste of smoke more appealing could pave the way for a gum or lozenge as part of a smoking cessation treatment.

"The conventional wisdom is that cigarette addiction is all about the nicotine," study author Joe McClernon said. " But we are learning more and more that it is also about sensory effects like the taste and the smell and the visual experience and the habitual routines of smoking. The taste effects are important".

Menthol cigarette smokers were far less likely to report any foods or beverages changing the taste of their cigarettes. Researchers attributed this finding to the weakening or deadening of taste from menthol cigarettes.

Study authors said not only do menthol cigarettes cover the taste of smoke, but may also cover all other taste as well. By having little or no variation in taste deadening or enhancing, researchers say you are more likely to be addicted.

Study authors said although deterrents, like changing one's diet, can be helpful, they aren't foolproof.

"Every treatment requires willpower," co-investigator Jed E. Rose said. "This approach alone will not work. It may make cigarettes less pleasurable, but ultimately, if a person is craving a cigarette, he will start smoking again."

He recommends smokers trying to kick the habit use diet modifications in combination with traditional methods such as nicotine gum or nicotine patches. These methods help with withdrawal symptoms.

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