Smoking Is Bad For Your Health
Smoking is never going to be good for your health. At least half of life long smokers will die due to their smoking habit. Why is it that anyone would wittingly risk their life for a life style choice? What starts off as a life style choice rapidly became an addiction to the drug, nicotine. Nicotine in tobacco is the reason that people continue to smoke. Some smokers think otherwise. They say that smoking helps them to think or gives them something to do with their hands. Smokers smoke because they are addicted to nicotine; they only delude themselves if they are unwilling to acknowledge this truth. Nicotine is an extremely addictive chemical and cigarettes are highly engineered systems for its effective delivery.
Quit Smoking Cold Turkey
At least 70% of existing smokers have tried to quit at some stage. So the question to be asked is: How to quit smoking tobacco? There are numerous ways available to quit smoking. The most popular method for quitting is cold turkey. Its clear advantage over other techniques is that not only do you save money, otherwise spent on cigarettes, but also there is no expenditure on quit aids and programs. This approach will appeal to those sick of paying for the spiralling cost of a pack of cigarettes. However, if you are going to judge a quit method by its success rate then quitting cold turkey is a down right failure. The sad truth is that only 5% of smokers will quit this way on any given attempt. This bald statistic drives home the difficulty experienced by smokers attempting to quit and graphically illustrates how addictive nicotine really is. Nicotine is the most addictive drug known and is even more addictive than morphine and its derivative, heroin. People find this hard to believe; firstly, because it is legal and secondly because there is no drug high. The reason that tobacco is legal is historical; would tobacco be legal if it was discovered today?
Quit Smoking is Hard
Quitting smoking is not going to be easy and smokers contemplating the quit process should not underestimate the task ahead. If you are considering quitting cold turkey then it is a good idea to have a plan and most importantly a set quit date. A well thought out quit date always helps. This date should be set in stone. Be strong and make no excuse. Many fail before they begin. On the big day get rid of any tobacco and associated items; spare nothing. This is critical because once the pangs of nicotine withdrawal take a hold you will be susceptible to exquisite temptation. Quitting smoking is tough enough so don’t make the job harder than it has to be. The regular smoker is likely to experience the pangs of nicotine withdrawal fairly soon after their last smoke. Not everyone experiences the same degree of symptoms but all will suffer the inevitable cravings for nicotine. Chewing no doubt helps, whether it is gum, or some other food; munch on a veggie stick for a healthy option.
Nicotine’s Hold
There are some so called experts that think nicotine cravings will stop on day four of quitting. It is certainly the case that nicotine and its metabolites are removed from the body after three days. Nicotine does not let go this easily. In reality it takes quite a while before the smoker’s brains readjusts to a normal non-smoker status. To make the transition from a smoker to an ex- smoker is likely to take many months. You will become normal once again, but not in the near future. Those that are totally committed to quitting will one day realise that they have finally become smoke free.
Quit Smoking by Any Method is Hard
Quitting by cold turkey is hard and most who attempt this method will fail. Don’t be disillusioned if you can’t quit on the first try. Those who finally master their addiction quitting this way usually have had several abortive attempts. Quitting smoking, by whatever method, is going to be hard. In the final analysis, there are no easily solutions or quick fixes to nicotine addiction. Effort and determination are still required to master this deadly habit.
