7 Natural Ways To Kill Nicotine Cravings For Anyone Who Is Trying To Quit Smoking

There are many compelling reasons for quitting smoking. Among those reasons, smokers have an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and various other cancers.

There are 1.1 billion tobacco users in the world, and tobacco kills up to 50% of them. The CDC reports that smoking causes 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and women. Smoking also cuts about 25 years off a person’s life expectancy.

Nicotine is the drug in tobacco, which makes people addicted to smoking. The nicotine causes mood-altering changes in the brain that are temporarily pleasing, and as a result, people want to smoke it often.

In addition to nicotine, tobacco is also contaminated with about 70 other chemicals, including arsenic, butane, carbon monoxide, and the highly-addictive and carcinogenic radioisotope polonium-210.

What are the effects of smoking on your health?

Inhaling these chemicals does not just lead to lung related illnesses such as lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It can also lead to heart diseases, like heart attacks or congestive heart failure, by damaging heart and blood vessel integrity due to increased plaque deposits.

Nicotine also elevates cortisol, but chronically elevated cortisol will also suppress your immune system. Smoking also contributes to hormone imbalance, osteoporosis, infertility, gastrointestinal issues, blood sugar issues, and insomnia.

Nicotine withdraws symptoms

Experts believe that smoking is one of the hardest habits to break. After all, smoking will boost your mood and temporarily reduce depression, appetite, and irritability. Smoking also enhances short-term memory and concentration and produces a certain sense of well-being.

When a person addicted to nicotine tries to stops smoking, they will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that make quitting more difficult. Withdrawal is a set of physical symptoms that occur when you stop using addictive substances.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms will begin within 30 minutes of using tobacco. How long you have used tobacco, and how much tobacco you use daily will impact symptom severity.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms will likely peak within a two to three-day period. These symptoms will often disappear after two weeks, but some may experience nicotine withdrawal for several months. The following are symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal:

• Intense nicotine cravings
• Tingling in feet and hands
• Sweating
• Nausea and intestinal cramping
• Headaches
• Sore throat and coughing
• Insomnia
• Anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating
• Depression
• Weight gain

7 natural ways to quit smoking

Acupuncture

Some studies show that acupuncture can help people quit smoking. For instance, a 2010 study published in Neurological Research found that acupuncture significantly reduced withdrawal symptoms from smoking.

Hypnotherapy

Defined as an altered state of consciousness where a person can bypass certain aspects of reality and feel compelled to follow cues from an outside source, hypnosis can help smokers associate cigarettes with unpleasant stimuli (e.g. dry mouth, poor health outcomes) and the belief they will lose the desire to smoke. Studies have shown it can accelerate the process of quitting but contributes less to long-term smoking cessation.

Exercise

Five minutes of moderate-intensity exercise is associated with a short-term reduction in the desire to smoke and tobacco withdrawal symptoms, so brief bouts of exercise may aid in smoking cessation.

Magnesium

Magnesium helps decrease nicotine addiction by antagonizing NMDA receptors, which are responsible for the dopamine release. Magnesium may also decrease nicotine’s effect on NMDA receptors by enhancing GABA (our relaxing neurotransmitter) synthesis. Simply put, this mineral will lower the user’s satisfaction from smoking.

Lime

Fresh lime appears to help those attempting to quit smoking. A study published in the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand in 2012 concluded that fresh lime can effectively be used as a smoking cessation aid to reduce nicotine cravings. The vitamin C in lime is important since one cigarette will destroy 100 milligrams of vitamin C.

Lobelia

Lobelia is made from Indian tobacco. It is used for smoking withdrawal, especially when the person has asthma, emphysema, a weak stomach, indigestion, vomiting, intense nausea, vertigo, cold sweats, and a lot of saliva. The person is also a hypochondriac, and fear leads to shortness of breath.

Mindfulness

Practicing to ‘sit’ through difficult scenarios, such as cravings or withdrawal symptoms, elicited beneficial outcomes on its own and is the strategy most likely to help users sustainably quit smoking.