When you decide to stop smoking, you may want to avoid using yet another harmful substance, like a nicotine replacement, to help you. After all – you’ve abused your heart, lungs, brain and liver for years with smoking, so now it’s time to get natural.
The best way to do
this is to look at herbal remedies that take the edge off of your cravings with
something that’s all-natural and safe. One herbal element that seems to be
used in many parts of the world to curb the desire for smoking is to chew on
licorice sticks.
This may have
started in the West Indies, where people also chewed sugar cane. Using licorice
sticks is also a good substitute for the oral gratification of having something
in your mouth.
Another
way to curb interest in smoking is with an aversion approach. When the urge hits, dip the tip of your
tongue in salt. Aversion therapy is when
you learn to associate the habit of smoking with something unpleasant.
Salt
is one way to do it, but there are other aversion therapies you can use, such
as popping a rubber band on your wrist whenever you get the urge to take a
puff. The minor pain inflicted will help
your subconscious link smoking to something unpleasant.
A combination of
Fenugreek and Thyme, an age-old remedy for respiratory ailments, is also useful
to reduce interest in smoking. Since smokers have respiratory problems from the
irritation of their bronchial tubes, this can be a powerful double benefit.
Improving
your diet is good for the body and great for smoking cessation. Eat foods that are highly alkaline - such as
spinach, beets, greens, lima beans, raisins and figs. You also need to reduce
or eliminate refined sugar, white flour, commercial baked goods and refined
foods.
That’s good advice
for improving health even after you quit
smoking! A popular herbal remedy in
China is to grate a fresh radish and mix that with two teaspoons of honey in
small amount of water and drink the mixture.
A Japanese study found that certain smells
reduce the urge to smoke - particularly peppermint, cypress and lemon. You can find these in sprays or buy small
vials of essential oils and keep them at your desk or in your pocket or purse.
If you feel the urge to smoke, take out the essential oil and get a good sniff
to curb your cravings.
Vitamin
C takes a beating trying to combat the free radicals in your body that are
caused by smoking. Even people exposed
to secondhand smoke have serious depletion of Vitamin C.
As you quit
smoking, add more Vitamin C - at least 95 milligrams a day for women and 110
milligrams for men. Don’t just depend on
a vitamin capsule, either. The best
Vitamin C you can give your body comes from fresh fruits and vegetables.
Aside from
oranges, also eat more of these foods:
·
Green and red peppers
·
Broccoli
·
Tomatoes
·
Collard greens
·
Strawberries
· Potatoes
Another
pleasant way to curb smoking sensations is with a steamy hot cup of herbal
tea. Your best choices are raspberry,
blueberry, persimmon and sassafras teas.
An old fashioned herbal tea used for smokers, called lobelia, may work
well - but can become as addictive for some people as the cigarettes they’re
trying to eliminiate.
Note: If
you’re taking any medications, discuss these alternative therapies with your
doctor. Depending on strength and type, some herbal teas don’t mix well with
prescription drugs.
More articles coming up, so stay tuned!
You can do it!
cheers,
Bobby