Quit Smoking Advisory

Can herbs be a potential way to help you to stop smoking? According to some people, they can be of great benefit. There are 2 ways of using herbs to help you to quit.

Smoking And Inhaling Herbs

The first way is to swap cigarettes for something else. Many people feel that they can’t just stop smoking immediately and they fear the consequences. Maybe by smoking something that isn’t addictive and doesn’t contain nicotine then this will get them off cigarettes.

Beadies are a type of herbal cigarette that are made from an Indian herb that is then wrapped up in a leaf which is stitched together. My roommate once bought some of these and tried one in front of me. Within a couple of puffs, I saw gooey black tar pouring out of the seams! In my opinion, you should stay away from these as they are not worth it! However, other herbs like siena or menthol can also be smoked instead.

Tinctures

Tinctures are a very popular herbal method to quit smoking - you simply put a few drops of an extract onto your tongue. The Ayurvedic herbalist, Anand, tried giving oat tincture to people to help them quit and versus a control group, it was shown to be effective at the 2 month after stopping mark. Other tinctures that people have tried are hops, skullcap, slippery elm and valerian.

Teas

Another method of ingesting herbs to help to stop smoking is to take it in a tea. Echinacea is said to reduce cravings whereas peppermint has a soothing and relaxing effect which counteracts stress from using willpower to quit. Mimosa tea is made from the bark of a South American bush and has a natural anti-depressant effect.

Benefits Of Herbs vs. Modern Medicine

Herbs, if they are effective, are preferable to modern drugs which tend to be only somewhat effective and have a wide range of side effects. Especially when it comes to smoking cessation drugs, the commonly available ones such as patches, pills and injections only have a temporary effect that is lost when treatment stops. The same can be argued with herbs although they are generally safer to take for longer periods.

The major problem with both types of treatment is that they only treat the symptoms of stopping smoking but do not address the cause of why people get symptoms when they are trying to get rid of an addiction.

The Better Way To Stop Smoking

In my opinion, there is only one good way to stop smoking and that is by understanding your addiction. You can try to escape your addiction but your mind will always have a desire to smoke, even 20 years after stopping. There are numerous tales of people who have stopped for years but then start again.

I stopped smoking 8 years ago and I did not have a single craving for a cigarette when I quit. It sounds too good to be true and sometimes even I wonder how it is possible. But I realise that it is because I truly understood my addiction that I was able to conquer it, once and for all. If you want to know more about how I quit smoking, click here.