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In part 1 of this article, we discussed real chemical addiction and how stopping cold-turkey can be life threatening. We also pointed out that although a smoker claims, “I’m dying for a cigarette,” no one has actually died because they didn’t get a smoke.

The reason it is important to understand that cigarette smoking is a psychological addiction rather than a physical one, is to facilitate effective protocols to remove cigarettes from a smoker’s life. In this article, we are going to discuss examples that demonstrate that nicotine is not physically addictive but that cigarette smoking is psychologically addictive.

What is Nicotine

Talk about a substance that has gotten a bad reputation. Nicotine is presented as the ultimate evil and the culprit that makes quitting cigarettes difficult or for some, impossible. However, just what is nicotine?

According to medical researcher Dr. David G. Williams, nicotine is a chemical substance found in cigarette smoke that stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is needed to facilitate the transmission of nerve impulses.

There’s one thing though, there is another chemical called nicotinic acid that is a close cousin of nicotine that also stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. What is this almost identical substance? It is called Vitamin B3!

Could smokers be getting Vitamin B3 from their cigarettes? If so, it’s not a healthy way to do it but look at the symptoms of Vitamin B3 deficiency:

Impaired recent memory
Depression
Hyper irritability
Apprehension
Emotional instability

These are many of the reasons that people give for smoking! It improves their memory, lifts their spirits, calms them down, etc. Since many people don’t have good nutrition, perhaps one of the things that fuels the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is a B3 deficiency. After all, these are water soluble vitamins or chemicals, if you will. They are not stored in the body and must be replaced constantly.

The bottom line here is that people don’t get addicted to vitamins! This is just another indicator that the thing that keeps people smoking is not an addiction to nicotine. Let’s look at some of the other things associated with smoking that do not follow the physical addiction mechanism.

If Cigarettes were Addictive

In the previous article in this series, we discussed a case of accidental addiction to pain medicine. As you recall, when the patient discovered they weren’t getting the same results from the standard dose of medicine, they increased the dose which did, for a time give them relief. It wasn’t long before they had to increase the dose again, and again.

This is what happens with chemical addiction, the body views the chemical as throwing it out of balance (homeostasis) and it creates a counter force. It matches each increase with an increase in counter force.

If nicotine was a truly addictive chemical, the smoker would have to keep increasing intake to achieve the same effects that are claimed for cigarettes just as in our drug example. The consumption of cigarettes would increase over time. However, this doesn’t happen.

Let me give you a real life example. My grandfather was a cigarette smoker. He smoked his entire life starting in his early childhood years. He smoked less than a pack of cigarettes per day. The amount smoked never varied. He had a set amount that he unconsciously metered and for over 70 years maintained this level. The fact that he smoked less than a pack per day was to his benefit and delayed the health issues associated with cigarette smoke. But you can’t avoid it forever and he did eventually develop health problems that years of cigarette smoking produced.

A clear indicator that cigarettes are psychologically addictive and not physically addictive is that the smoker settles into a pattern and stays there for years. You have your half a pack a day person, your pack a day person, your 1.5 pack a day person, your 2 pack a day person and in extreme cases, the three pack a day person. This volume is established pretty early and stays that way. There may be daily fluctuations but they all average out. There is a mental meter that regulates the amount of cigarettes smoked! That’s the Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

If cigarettes were physically addictive, the smoker would be adding more and more cigarettes to achieve whatever claimed benefit they provided. This doesn’t happen. This is a clear indicator that that cigarette consumption is regulated by the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and not the chemicals in the cigarette.

If Nicotine was a Chemical Addiction

There is a whole category of smoking cessation treatment protocols that operate under the idea that providing nicotine will take the place of smoking. The thinking behind this category is that supplying nicotine through vehicles such as patches or gum will eliminate the desire to smoke because the hypothetical nicotine demand is being met. Then by reducing the nicotine over time, just like drug rehab, the compulsion to smoke will be eliminated. Sounds great doesn’t it? If nicotine were the culprit, nicotine patches, gum and lozenges would be 100% successful. After all, they are giving the body the chemical that it theoretically craves which is the supposed mechanism behind the compulsion to smoke.

Nicotine patches are powerful products that give the body a steady supply of nicotine. Let’s look at their effectiveness. Since the smoker is getting generous amounts of nicotine which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective. However, some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), that only 19% of people on patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and that it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.

The results for the gum is about the same. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.

These smokers were getting all the nicotine they supposedly needed. In reality, they were probably getting a great deal more nicotine than the cigarettes they smoked provided. Yet, most of them continued to smoke along WITH the patches or gum. If nicotine doesn’t compel the smoker to smoke, what does? It’s the Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

Another Indicator that It Isn’t Nicotine

With a chemical addiction, more is better for the addict. With nicotine patches, the smoker is getting a great deal of nicotine. They should be satisfied right? Well as mentioned in the last section, only 9% actually stop smoking with the patch. However, putting all that nicotine in a smokers system with patches does have an effect on the smoker. According to the American Lung Association, side effects with the nicotine patch are:

Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on the skin
Diarrhea

Yes, nicotine does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the things that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce these effects. This is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.

Smokers Resume Smoking after Extended Periods

Another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke is the tendency for ex-smokers to resume smoking after a long period of time. Obviously, after an extended period of time, all the nicotine would be out of their system. As has been stated, nicotine is the cousin of Vitamin B3, a water soluble vitamin. These substances are either rapidly used or excess flushed from the body daily. No matter how heavy a smoker, it won’t take very long for all nicotine to be out of their system.

Also, from a strictly habit perspective, a few weeks or months without smoking should have put an end to the habit; the habit of reaching for a cigarette is broken. However, an ex-smoker can pick up a cigarette and resume smoking like they never stopped whether it is weeks, months or even years.

This is because the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is still operating. There is no nicotine in the system, the habit has been abandoned for weeks, months or some time years, yet, cigarette smoking can resume.

Conclusion

The effects of nicotine do not follow the chemical addiction mechanism. Nicotine is similar to Vitamin B3, a water soluble vitamin. It must be replenished daily. It is possible that the smoker has a deficiency of Vitamin B3. Each cigarette provides a small amount of nicotine which is similar to Vitamin B3.

A smoker falls into a pattern of cigarette consumption which doesn’t vary over decades. Whether it is the half pack a day, one pack a day, one and a half pack per day or the extreme of three packs per day, this amount doesn’t vary. Although there may be daily fluctuations, it averages out over time to whatever pattern the smoker follows.

Cigarette consumption is regulated by the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. The only way to remove cigarettes from your life is to remove this mechanism. If the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is not removed, the person quitting cigarettes will continue to be a smoker who doesn’t happen to be smoking right now. When the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is gone, so is smoking because the person has become a NONsmoker!

(c) Copyright 2009, R. Michael Stone

R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor
Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System tm
The easy 28 day program that helps you become, not an ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker
FREE Reports: ==> Unlearn Smoking
Other Products ==> for self-improvement. Contributed Creativity CD Program to: Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind Thinking Write Book

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The Stop smoking treatment with DETOX is the easiest way to stop smoking.The therapy treatments will take care of the physical aspects of the addiction – there are no cravings for a cigarette. It’s time to quit smoking, just get started. Today! Don’t worry if you don’t have all the information or if the time isn’t perfect or if you don’t think you can quit. Just give it your best shot! There never will be the perfect conditions for you to quit. Face it! Time waits for no one, as they say, so quit today or face the consequences tomorrow. Keep these thoughts in mind as you begin to quit. Dr.Dana is specialist of DETOX treatment in his surgerys in Marbella and Calpe.

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The laser treatment that can help you quit smoking is still a relatively new thing to many people. It is something that many people have actually found a lot of success with when they used it in conjunction with smoking education and some personal therapies or consultations. Apparently, when all of these things are used together, great results will emerge. Could this be true? Is there really a laser treatment that can make you no longer want to smoke? Apparently, there is such a thing.

However, just how exactly does the laser treatment to stop smoking work? The laser that is used will stimulate the endorphins. This pulsating light with absorbed with the patients skin and into the cells at certain acupressure points. It is said that this form of treatment will not just eliminate any urges to smoke but it will also speed up the metabolism and it will help relieve a lot of stress in the patients who get it done.

So, is the laser treatment to stop smoking something that you think you might get results from? If you are interested in trying new things than it could always be something to look into. Just make sure that you are doing as suggested and look into support groups or a therapy that you can get involved in. The more you are doing to stop your habit of smoking, the better success rate you are bound to have. Just keep focused, keep trying, and before you know it you will find yourself a non-smoker and you will love that feeling!

Ever wondered how the process of quit smoking laser treatment works? If you are a hardcore smoker and would like to quit smoking fast and effectively, you should consider using quit smoking laser treatment. This treatment is relatively new method and works almost the same as acupuncture which is to apply pressure to certain energy point to reduce your addiction of smoking.

Quit smoking laser treatment works by applying laser to the center of nerves system that will reduce or permanently stop your smoking addiction. This is very important because many people who really want to stop smoking are having difficulties to stop their bad addiction. If the addiction is less, then you have taken the first step to finally quit smoking.

You cannot rely on quit smoking laser treatment so much because like mentioned earlier, it will not totally remove your smoking habit but rather than reduce your addiction. However, you can take other necessary steps to quit smoking much easier once you have run through the process of treatment. You should consider to use quit smoking patches and join a community who wish to quit their smoking habit to further achieve a good result. You can also ask your doctor some advice on how to stop smoking as well and nobody can deny a doctor’s advice.

Study has shown that quit smoking laser treatment may not help you that much to because most people do not have a strong desire to stop smoking in the first place. It is up to you to really obtain the good result. The technology is there only to help you by making it a lot easier. Smoking is a very bad habit and bad habit usually die hard.

Several factors you need to consider before going with the quit smoking laser treatment. The cost is slightly expensive than any other method and the result is not guaranteed. However, some health insurance will cover the cost of your treatment so you better check out with your insurance company to reduce your cost. Also, you need to combine whatever method to help you quit smoking with the treatment so you can get a much positive result.

After learning about all this, what is stopping you from quit smoking? You should take some action right away and not just dream about it. Using quit smoking laser treatment is one of the first step you need to take to get rid of your bad habit.

Quit smoking treatment is simple if you have the determination to do so. But like most smokers, breaking a habit is the hardest thing to do.  Smoking starts at the stage of identity crisis. Teenagers wanting to be accepted by the world around them or just wanting to look powerful, starts smoking until the nicotine overpowers their system.

Furthermore, They will start to think that their life would not be complete without smoking. Quitting smoking would be like suicide to them and sometimes it is true to smokers who deprive their body of its frequent absorption of nicotine. Fortunately, there are many treatments available to help you quit smoking. Through these treatments, you will be able to take control of your cravings gradually. But the real problem is, are you ready to stop?

Many people discover ways to quit smoking. One way is through psychological treatments; with the help of rehabilitation centers, the urge to smoke is overcome simply through sheer will. Smokers are asked to write down at least five most important reasons why they want to quit smoking. These will be viewed and reviewed by the smoker until he finally realizes that those reasons are more important than their smoking habit.

Other people create diet plans that helps stabilize nicotine craving of the body. Honey, for example, contains vitamins, enzymes, proteins and amino acids that help stop nicotine cravings by the body. Researches have proven that fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods make cigarettes taste terrible. On the other hand, meat, coffee, and beverages make cigarettes tastier.

This quit smoking treatment suggests that less intake of caffeine and alcohol, and more intake of vegetables and fruits will increase the possibility of quitting smoking because of the bad taste it gives when smoking.

Desperate people seek medical technology. These are easy, if not fast, ways to quit smoking. An example of this quit smoking treatment utilizes nicotine gum to mimic the taste and sensation given by smoking a cigarette.  Nicotine patches or nicotine gum provide a better way of avoiding smoking-related diseases. These patches or gum are smoke-free and prevent bad breath.

Another quit smoking treatment uses laser therapy treatment. How do this happen? The pulsating light emanating from the laser is absorbed by the skin and cells and stimulates endorphins. This quit smoking treatment reduce the urge to smoke, increase fat-burning metabolism, and reduces stress.

Quit smoking treatments will only be effective if a smoker is determined to stop. Certain treatments must be done regularly to see and tell the difference.  Lastly, support from your family and friends are essential to encourage you to quit smoking and be healthy.

Natural medicines are always the best healing terms for smokers. They are quite simple in usage and do not cause any side effects to smokers.

These are some of the best remedies being followed by most of the smokers. They help in lessening the cravings of smokers.

Some of good natural herbs are

Safflower powder
Lobelia inflata

Safflower powder acts a good medicine for smokers. When smokers quit from habit of smoking in earlier stages after quitting they face problems like tingling in hands and foot, restlessness, nervousness and some kind of other stress in the body.

They become more common for a smoker in the initial stages. Safflower powder helps to reduce all those symptoms which a patient gets, so that he will forget the habit of smoking soon.

Lobelia inflata is another category of natural herbs. This herb is also called as Indian tobacco.

When people make their mind to quit the habit of smoking they face many problems like dizziness, head ache, restlessness etc.  this is because they are addicted to a drug present in cigarette.

Nicotine is one kind of drug which is quite harmful for human body. Its excess content creates problems like asthma and bronchitis. Nicotine goes into the lungs and reduces the flow of fresh air into them.

Not only that but it increases carbon monoxide level in the body, which can lead to carbo oxy hemoglobin problem.

Carbo oxy hemoglobin problem is nothing but carbon monoxide mixes with oxygen forming this product. Which blocks oxygen from mixing in the blood, thus it gives a chance of heart attacks.

So Lobelia Inflata when used for smokers, if first reduces the nicotine content in the body. This herb is mainly developed in some eastern parts of USA. It has a famous ingredient called lobeline which cleans the lungs and makes air passage into it easy.

Though it gives a feel of pleasure like nicotine, it fights against nicotine. So when  next time a user smokes cigarette this herb generates a kind of bad taste and makes a smoker quite smoking.

This product also contains other good ingredient called isolebelanine which is effective and helps in relaxing nerves.

With these two powerful ingredients Lobelia Inflata stands out to be the best herb in the market. It cures a person to maximum extent.

Using natural herbs is always safe and secure and there are chances of quitting smoking easily.

Before we discuss whether nicocure can help people stop smoking, you should first ask yourself a few questions.

Do I have will power? Can I make up my mind to quit smoking?

These two are important questions, if the answer for both of them is yes, than Nicocure works for them 100%. If any one of the answer is no, they wont be able to cure the habit of smoking life long.

Nicocure is one such product which is designed for people who made their mind to quit smoking.

Most people who have the answer as no in their mind for this two questions think nicotine as a scam. Without having a proper will power, no one can quit smoking no matter which stop smoking product they use.

Nicocure is one such product which if used and taken properly into the body reduces the urge to smoke. Most smokers often use stop smoking gums and patches. They feel using patches and gums can reduce their habit of smoking.

Patches and gums are useful only to make smoking nicotine content less on that particular day. But they don’t give a permanent solution.

Though they reduce the content of nicotine or give our body less nicotine content, it does not find an answer to make a person quit smoking.

Nicocure has a dramatic response on a smoker. It acts the same like gums and patches which reduces nicotine content, and also acts smartly for reducing smoking habit.

Nicocure used Lobelia Inflata, Indian tobacco which is know for reducing nicotine in body.

Nicocure also gives a smoker an unpleasant taste when he/she lights a cigarette, thus reducing the smoking habit. This makes you more likely to quit smoking permanently.

When natural tobacco is take from cigarettes, it produces some harmful chemicals into the body which make his nervous system weak.

But Nicocure contains extracts of ginger, coral calcium, passion flower etc. these things give the same feel to nervous system but is less harmful.

Of course you want to stop smoking. You want to quit smoking more than anything else, and you should! But, you just don’t know where to turn! If your like most, you may have tried patches, gum, Chantix, Zyban and/or hypnosis only to find yourself right back in the clutches of nicotine addiction! You know that your behavior is unhealthy, but you’re afraid to give up your crutch because if you do your emotional distress will worsen, and you just don’t know if you can cope without it! You know that it’s unhealthy to smoke, but you just can’t seem to stop! Unfortunately, smoking cessation programs not only fail to address the root cause of nicotine addiction, but they also fail in excess of ninety percent of the time! But, I’m here to tell you that there is a better solution for overcoming your nicotine addiction; one that doesn’t include patches, gum, hypnosis, psychoactive drugs or nonsense!

WHY YOU SMOKE

As with every type of habitual behavior, I believe smoking is a choice. I also believe that this choice can be broken down into the following two categories

Individuals who occasionally enjoy a cigar or cigarette socially
Individuals that smoke to alleviate their emotional distress and anxiety

Although there is health risks to consider when smoking, individuals that fall respectively into the first category are generally capable of walking away from it without any difficulty whatsoever. Comparatively speaking, this parallels individuals who drink occasionally and or socially. The second category represents individuals who have become dependent on smoking to alleviate there emotional distress and anxiety, whereby making it extremely difficult to achieve smoking cessation, unless they remove the root cause. I am vehemently opposed to labeling anyone since I believe that we are all created equal, but for the purpose of greater understanding these people would fall into the medical community’s definition of a nicotine addict. As we discussed earlier, most physicians, therapist, hypnotists, counselors and smoking cessation experts would have you believe that smoking is caused by a chemical co-dependence and/or that it is a learned behavior. Well, I have a different take on those theories, and I have proven over and over again in my Addiction Recovery Coaching practice that the root cause of addiction is the need to mask emotional distress. These emotional issues are often rooted in the negative patterns of family dysfunction, and smoking is no exception to the rule. Although when it comes to a smoking addiction, the primary type of emotional distress involved is anxiety. In many ways, smoking is used as a coping mechanism for those of us that are nervous, fearful, or anxious about our family, job, relationship, or financial well being. This frantic effort to control life often leads to smoking or a nicotine addiction. In essence, smoking is a crutch! But, why do some people react to the unknown with anxiety while others face it calmly with the belief that things always works out? I believe the answer to this question is twofold. First, some people naturally possess a higher level of coping skills, and second, some people have learned to conquer their fears, insecurities and most important their anxieties!

THE PSYCHOACTIVE EFFECTS OF NICOTINE

As nicotine enters the body, it is distributed quickly through the blood stream and can cross the blood brain barrier in approximately seven seconds. The life of nicotine in the body is around two hours. The amount of nicotine absorbed by the body from smoking depends on many factors, including the type of tobacco, whether the smoke is inhaled, and whether a filter is used. Nicotine’s mood-altering effects vary by report. Initially, it causes a release of glucose from the liver and adrenaline from the adrenal gland, which produces a stimulating effect. However, users report feelings of relaxation, sharpness, calmness, and even alertness. When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within seven seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many chemical messengers such as epinephrine (adrenaline) and dopamine a neurotransmitter, which results in enhanced pleasure, decreased anxiety, and a state of alert relaxation. However, as the body adapts it requires increased amounts of nicotine to produce the same effect, whereby creating a trap!

WITHDRAWAL

Many of the proponents of the chemical dependence model believe that when you stop smoking, your body reacts very quickly to the lack of nicotine in your system. They claim that over the course of three to five days, you are likely to experience a number of the following physical symptoms as the toxins are flushed from your body:

Increased irritability, frustration, or anger
Anxiety, tension or nervousness
Restlessness
Difficulty concentrating
Fatigue
Headaches
Trouble sleeping
Increased appetite and weight gain

However, I have seen no empirical evidence to conclusively prove that most people experience the above-mentioned symptoms because of the lack of nicotine. I believe that most of these symptoms exist prior to smoking. Therefore, once you stop smoking the anxiety, restlessness, lack of focus, fatigue, and sleeplessness resurface. The nicotine was merely a masking agent! In essence, smoking is a means by which to alleviate ones anxiety and emotional distress. Think about it for a moment, and ask yourself the following questions:

When you smoke does it calm your nerves and relieve your anxiety?

Do you find it difficult to manage your anxiety without the crutch of smoking?

What has caused your anxiety? What dysfunctional patterns have you learned in the past that have damaged your self- esteem, confidence, or willingness to trust?
Do you find it difficult to avoid worry and to trust the flow of life?

Are you fearful about negative outcomes concerning your relationship, job, or financial situation?

Once you explore these questions, you may begin to discover the vehicle that is driving your smoking addiction!

Overcoming your nicotine addiction is really all about removing the source of your emotional distress, isn’t it? If you could remove the anxiety, nervousness, and emotional distress you wouldn’t need to alleviate it with the psychoactive substance called (nicotine?) Smoking is a symptom of underlying emotional distress and anxiety. Therefore, when you fix the root of the problem smoking becomes repulsive.

Learn how to make your urges to smoke dissolve on the spot! Learn how to make smoking become repulsive to you! Learn how to crush your last pack of cigarettes and walk away forever!

Regards,

David Roppo

The Addiction Freedom Coach

For more information about How to Stop Smoking in 60 Days click on the link below…..

http://www.5stepstoaddictionfreedom.com/products2.html

Nicotine is the main component in cigarettes that makes chemo receptors in brain release dopamine, another chemical in the brain that elevates your mood when you inhale cigarette smoke. When you quit smoking abruptly, the sharp dopamine decrease causes abstinence symptoms: headaches, unrest, failure to concentrate, nausea/vomiting, and so on.

You may find yourself missing more than nicotine when you finally snub out your last butt. Cigarettes are designed to manipulate your taste buds too, and research shows that tobacco?s flavors, both natural and added, can hold extra sway for many people struggling to quit.

Your risks increase greatly if you smoke and have a family history of heart disease. Smoking also creates a higher risk for peripheral artery disease and aortic aneurysm.

Strong and consistent evidence shows that nicotine replacement products can help people quit smoking. These products are available in five forms—patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, and inhaler.

For smokers, to Stop Smoking is really a tough action to take. Majority of smokers want to quit smoking, but find it difficult to do so as nicotine is very addictive and hard to get rid off.

An additional obstacle to quitting is the many daily behavior patterns that smokers may not even realize they have, such as morning or before-bed cigarette routines, or smoking with friends, co-workers or spouses. Each person’s smoking behavior is different, but these established patterns link smoking to many activities of daily life.

Any intelligent smoker who amicably has all the good intention in the world to become an ex-smoker will never walk away from nicotine addiction if they approach it thinking that to quit smoking means that the smoker has to make a sacrifice of some sort, or even pathetically worse, is sacrificing something in their lives that they thought actually helped them get through it. life) This approach is suicide and guaranteed 200% to be nothing but an imminent failure.

To avoid this, many doctors and quit smoking experts suggest that you stop smoking completely but continue to use a nicotine substitute to help you manage any withdrawal symptoms or cravings. You can use tobacco substitutes containing nicotine to help you quit smoking.

Smoking also causes heart disease, stroke, lung disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema), hip fractures, and cataracts. Smokers are at higher risk of developing pneumonia and other airway infections.

According to a recent survey, around 15 million smokers try to quit smoking each day. However, less than 3% of these people stop smoking successfully for 3 to 12 months.

Millions of Americans have health problems caused by smoking. Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause an estimated average of 438,000 premature deaths each year in the United States.

Every so often someone comes into the Smoking Cessation Forum who lost their quit after years of not smoking. On the surface, it is frightening for those who are working hard to beat nicotine addiction.

CAN’T GO IT ALONE: Study authors say although deterrents, like changing one’s diet, can be helpful, they aren’t foolproof. “Every treatment requires willpower,” co-investigator Jed E. Rose, Ph.D., 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.” Dr. Rose 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.

Those who have smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer, and suddenly stop using tobacco or greatly reduce the amount smoked, will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later when most of the nicotine and its by-products are out of the body.

The methods used to help a person quit smoking are as varied as smokers themselves. Some people find that they can quit smoking just by will power alone, going cold turkey and butting out forever. Others may find that in order to stop smoking they may have to enlist the help of others in the form of a support group or other network. Others turn to methods such as the patch or some types of chewing gum. As cultures begin to merge, however, there are more and more medical practices that have previously been unknown to Western science that may have many benefits to those who wish to stop smoking. Some of these alternative methods are discussed in this article.

Acupuncture: Acupuncture originated in China. It is the practice of inserting long, thin needles into various acupuncture points on the body, which is said to restore mental health and well being. As with many Far East ideas, acupuncture is concerned with restoring balance as a whole, rather than applying the health theories of the West to any one assigned area. The piercing points are areas which help to shock the body back into a healthy balance. Acupuncture is highly debated in medical circles, and studies have never conclusively proven that it is an effective treatment for anything at all. However, many patients who have undergone this treatment sweat by its results, and thus it may indeed be an effective tool when it comes to the battle to quit smoking. Addiction, after all, is in part a mental affliction, and thus if a patient believes that a treatment is working then it is possible that it is doing so. Additionally, acupuncture has been demonstrated to assist in the release of endorphins, the full effects of which on the body as a whole are still unknown to some degree.

Hypnosis: Another method that many smokers try to use when attempting to quit is hypnosis. It is vital that hypnosis be understood in its rightful context, rather than the societal myth. Hypnosis works along the same lines as subliminal messaging; by applying the power of suggestion to a subject who is concentrating on another matter, it is possible to affect the thinking processes of the brain. In this way, hypnosis can be used to curb the cravings that come with nicotine addiction and often lead the smoker to relapse.

There are also several changes to lifestyle that can be made in order to increase the amounts of dopamine found within the body. Dopamine is the active ingredient in Zyban, and levels of dopamine can be increased through a higher protein intake, stress reduction, and by taking vitamins and herbs such as Indian ginseng and magnesium.

Despite these methods and there levels of success, however, it is important to note that the key ingredient when it comes to smoking cessation is will power. No matter which other method you choose to assist you in ending the cravings and lessening the physical symptoms of withdrawal, sooner or later it is going to come down to your ability to say no to a cigarette that will ensure the end of the habit’s hold on your life.