Smoking is not just a bad habit, it is a habit that can kill you! And yet, millions of people around the globe are addicted to cigarettes and find it impossible to quit. However, with these home remedies to quit smoking, parting ways with your killer will be way easier for you.
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In the U.S., smoking causes the highest number of preventable deaths. Moreover, according to the American Lung Association, the stick causes one-third of all cancer associated deaths and one-fourth of the deaths caused by fatal cardiac arrests.
Reasons why people smoke
The first question non-smokers ask smokers is, “But why do you smoke?” Here are a few answers to that:
- Peer pressure
- The need to be cool
- To be social
- As a status symbol
- Media influences
- As a way to handle stress
- Handling anxiety
Once you start smoking, your body starts craving for nicotine, which is the addictive component in cigarettes, and that’s why people find it difficult to quit.
The health problems caused by nicotine and the smoke one inhales while smoking include,
- Asthma and other respiratory problems
- Increase in blood pressure
- Increased heart rate
- Weak immune system
- Reduced fertility in women
- Low sperm count in men
- Irregular menstrual cycles
- Untimely menopause
- Lung cancer
- Throat cancer
- Mouth cancer
Smokers also affect the health of the non-smokers who are around them when they smoke, because of a phenomenon called passive smoking.
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Non-smokers are also believed to develop diseases from breathing in cigarette smoke, known as passive smoking.
To even a mad person it should be clear by now how harmful smoking is and how essential it is for someone to quit smoking. Yes, quitting is not easy. At the start, you will go through the usual withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, frustration, difficulty in concentrating, increase in appetite, an increased blood pressure, acute to chronic headaches, and the constant urge to light a cigarette.
To overcome these cravings and to quit smoking completely, try these natural treatments. You can take these in addition to the professional help you should seek.
Home remedies to quit smoking
Here are 10 herbal therapies you need to follow to quit smoking. We suggest you take this only under the supervision of your doctor or your health care provider.
1. Lobelia
Lobelia helps reduce the addictive effect nicotine has on the body because it contains lobeline, which is an active ingredient. It reduces the secretion of dopamine, which in turn, helps smokers quit smoking.
You can but lobelia from a food store. It is available in the form of vinegar. The usual dosage is 20 to 40 drops of the tincture thrice a day, but before taking it, we suggest you consult a doctor for the correct dosage, and also because lobelia is highly toxic.
According to health care providers, the dosage should be increased only gradually.
If you have a heart disease or are taking medications for hypertension, it is suggested you avoid Lobelia. Also women who his drug are expecting or are nursing moms should avoid the herb too.
2. Licorice
Licorice helps quit smoking owing to its expectorating and demulcent qualities. Also since licorice is sweet, it kills the impulse to smoke.
Licorice also provides relied from smoker’s cough. It is an adrenal tonic that balances cortisol levels. It improves the energy levels of the body and so reduces fatigue.
To use it as a remedy to quit smoking, take a small stick of licorice wash it and then chew on it. You can also prepare a cup of licorice tea and drink it two times a day for desired results.
A word of caution: If you have high blood sugar or hypertension, then you should not take licorice. Also, people with adrenal diseases and/or reduced functioning of kidney or liver, should avoid the herb.
3. Cayenne Pepper
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The third natural treatment that will help you quit smoking involves cayenne pepper. It desensitizes your lungs and the rest of the respiratory system to tobacco. It also dulls you to the smoke so there is no urge to smoke.
Cayenne pepper is also an effective antioxidant which helps soothe lung membranes.
To use it as a remedy for smoking, you can take the pepper in fresh form or grind it into a fine powder and add a pinch to your tea and drink.
The best way is to add two pinch of ground cayenne pepper to a glass of lukewarm water and drink once every day until you stop craving a cigarette.
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4. Green Oats
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The next remedy on our list today is green oats. These are also called avena sativa and wild oats. A very effective treatment to quit smoking, green oats had to be on this list.
According to a study conducted in the early 70s, green oats lower a person’s urge to smoke by reducing the body’s desire for nicotine. Green oats also help with the withdrawal symptoms, so that is a bonus. Also after all the nicotine your body has already absorbed, you need a detox, right? Green oats will provide that too.
Also green oats act as tonic which sedates our nervous system, helping us quit smoking.
You can buy some green outs from your food store and take 300 mg of it every day. However, do consult a doctor for the correct dosage for you.
5. Ginseng
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The next remedy is ginseng, which will efficiently lower your cravings for nicotine. It acts as a tonic and sedates the adrenal glands. This in turn, helps enhance the cortisol levels in your blood.
When one quits smoking, she or he is, in most cases, likely to go through emotional as well as physical stress. Ginseng helps manage both. It also improves one’s concentration levels and reduces anxiety.
To use it as a remedy, add half a tablespoon of ginseng to your bowl of cereals that you take for breakfast. You may even chew some dried ginseng. Swallowing the juice of dried ginseng helps lessen the craving for smoking.
If you have high blood sugar or suffer from any heart disease, then avoid ginseng. Ginseng is also not suitable for people with an auto-immune disease or a hormone-sensitive condition. Schizophrenic patients should also duck this remedy.
6. Valerian
To help you quit smoking, you need something that helps deal with anxiety which is sure to haunt you as a withdrawal symptom. Valerian does just that. Valerian is a flowering plat that sedates the body and senses mildly and works as an anti-anxiety remedy.
The GABA receptors in the brain come under the influence of the herb, and so you do not feel like smoking.
Apart from anxiety, valerian also helps with other withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, feeling of restlessness and depression.
The American Cancer Society holds that the wonder herb, valerian can also cure insomnia and induce proper sleep patterns.
You can take the herb as supplements, but do consult a doctor for the correct dosage. Do not self-medicate.
7. Acupuncture
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Acupuncture can help you quit smoking. For those who don’t know, acupuncture is a technique where fine needles are inserted into 5 puncture points on the ears. This traditional technique can help you quit smoking, by lowering your craving for nicotine.
The technique of acupuncture is known to introduce a sense of calm, which is essential for a person going through withdrawal symptoms.
According to the Quit Smoking Community,
“Acupuncture, in general, is a technique that can work on virtually any addiction and not only tobacco addiction but when acupuncture is meant to quit smoking, there are some procedures that are tailored for it. Addiction can take several forms including mental, emotional and physical and thus the addiction has to be fought on all fronts. One of the most common acupuncture techniques, called auricular acupuncture, involves inserting fine needles into acupuncture points in the ear. These pressure points are shen men, liver, lung, kidney and sympathetic points. Sometimes, tiny beads are held in place with tape around these points in the ear as a way of self-medication. When these points are stimulated, they can lead to reduced cravings and reduction of other withdrawal symptoms.”
For the first month, it is recommended you sign up for as frequent sessions of acupuncture as are possible. Then, you can slowly reduce the number of sittings.
8. Ear Massage
Believe it or not, one of the best ways to stop craving a cigarette is ear massages. The acupuncture points around the ear when massaged reduce the longing to smoke. Every day give yourself an ear massage that lasts for about two minutes. This will help you quit smoking.
All the home remedies to quit smoking enlisted here are highly effective, but what is more important is your willpower. Only your willpower will decide if you are ready to break that bad habit or not.
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Once you succeed in quitting smoking you need to ensure you develop a proper diet plan and then stick to it, to repair the damage you have already caused to your body by smoking all these days.
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Featured image source: Google, copyright-free image, under Creative Commons License
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