IF quitting is next to impossible, smokers should take the right multivitamins their body needs to counter the nicotine and other addictive substances in tobacco.

Smoking 15 to 20 sticks of cigarettes a day needs an extra dose of vitamin C because smoking burns up this antioxidant and lowers the vitamin C in their blood.

The new Recommended Dietary Allowance calls for smokers to get extra vitamin C to help maintain the crucial levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants.

To meet the new RDA requirements for smokers, women need a multi with about 150 percent of Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C and men needs about 200 percent of the DV for vitamin C. Great food sources of vitamin C are juicy oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits, luscious berries, and melons.

What if they take instead beta-carotene to supplement the vitamin C levels? In two major studies, high doses of beta-carotene actually raised lung cancer risks for smokers instead of lowering them. Beta-carotene is a precursor of vitamin A.

If you have loaded your body with too much beta-carotene as you smoke, the remedy now is to stop smoking, and limit beta-carotene supplements to 5 mg/day or less. Because the beta-carotene supplements are risky at high levels. They should also avoid too much dose of vitamin C.