Quitting Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol: People Who Recently Quit Smoking Let Go Of Drinking Alcohol Too

New research in England has found that people who have recently quit smoking are also drinking less alcohol in the process. The research surveyed over 30,000 people, where over 6,000 were smokers between March 2014 and September 2015. A total of 144 people had attempted to quit smoking a week before they were surveyed.

"These results go against the commonly held view that people who stop smoking tend to drink more to compensate. It's possible that they are heeding advice to try to avoid alcohol because of its link to relapse," said lead author Jamie Brown, as per Science Daily. Brown is from University College London 

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Quitters Of Smoking Drank Less Alcohol

The study's respondents filled up the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test consumption questionnaire (Audit-C). Medical News Today reported that their answers allowed the researchers to compare how much alcohol those who recently attempted to quit smoking drank compared to people who did not attempt to quit smoking in the past week.

Individuals who had tried to quit smoking within the past week before they were surveyed reportedly said they drank lower levels of alcohol, engaged in lower levels of binge drinking, and more likely light drinkers. This is when compared to those people who did share their attempt to quit smoking recently.

Smoking And Alcohol Study Purely Observational

According to a Daily Mail report, Brown pointed out that theirs was an observational study. Thus, the researchers could not come to a conclusion whether quitting smoking caused individuals to drink less alcohol or whether it was actually lower alcohol intake that encouraged smokers to quit.

Brown reportedly said that smokers who are attempting to quit may lower their alcohol consumption in a bid to successfully shake off smoking. The study on quitting smoking and alcohol intake was published in BMC Public Health.