Smoking is a detrimental habit that provokes 90% of lung cancer deaths. There are around 1.1 billion people worldwide who smoke tobacco, and smoking kills almost half of them. What makes the tobacco intake so detrimental is the inhalation of more than 7,000 toxic ingredients, such as carbon monoxide, arsenic, butane, and tiny glass particles that cut up the lungs in order to improve the delivery of nicotine. The inhalation of these toxic ingredients causes COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases), cancer, and deposits of plaque that can provoke heart issues, such as congestive heart dysfunction or heart attacks.
Smoking also contributes to:
- Infertility
- Insomnia
- Hormone imbalance
- Blood sugar issues
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Osteoporosis
Nicotine becomes addictive very easily, and therefore irritability and edginess are the commonest withdrawal signs that appear quickly after you had extinguished your cigarette. So, you immediately reach for a new one. It crosses the brain-blood barrier and releases dopamine, which generates pleasant feelings. Nicotine addiction is even more powerful than the addiction of heroin or cocaine. According to some, it’s harder to give up on smoking than heroin or cocaine.
A lot of the negative effects of smoking are caused by the depletion of vital antioxidants, including vitamin E and C, beta-carotene, ubiquinol, glutathione, and alpha-lipoic acid that gather all of the free radicals that result from smoking. Moreover, the negative effects of smoking can’t be eliminated by the intake of supplements, which means that the best way to provide your body with the needed essential nutrients is through healthy food consumption.
There are a few methods that can actually help you to give up on smoking and reduce the withdrawal symptoms, as well. These are the most effective 6 ones:
Magnesium
It lowers the addiction to nicotine by antagonizing NMDA receptors, that promote dopamine release. In addition, magnesium lowers the nicotine effects on the NMDA receptors and by so doing, they improve GABA synthesis.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis, an altered consciousness state in which a person bypasses some particular aspects of reality and follows some cues from an external source. This can help to relate the smoking habit to some unpleasant stimuli, thus promoting the quitting process.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture helps people who want to quit smoking. Needles insertion on particular body parts which are linked to the lungs, mouth, and airways, lowers significantly the tobacco cravings.
Exercise
According to studies, doing a 5-minute workout with moderate intensity can cause a short-term smoking reduction.
Nicotine patch
People who had already tried nicotine patches claim they were pretty much helpful. The patches were even more effective when they were combined with drugs such as bupropion and varenicline. The doses were specified by the number of cigarettes a person smokes on a daily basis and their frequency of smoking.
Lime
Chewing the skin of a lime slice when the cravings occur is going to help you to reduce them because they are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C.
Mindfulness
According to studies, the practice of ‘sitting’ in difficult situations and scenarios, such as withdrawal symptoms or cravings, will help smokers to quit smoking more easily.