10 Tips On How To Curb Smoking

 

1. Stay Hydrated

When the urge to smoke strikes while you’re at home or in the office, pour yourself a glass of water and gulp it down. If you know you are going to be on the go, pack a bottle of the life-giving fluid. Staying well-hydrated boosts your metabolism and reduces the urge to smoke. Drinking lots of water will also help to flush out the nicotine in our bloodstreams.

2. Exercise

Couch potatoes would protest, but exercise is a simpler and more economical way to cope with nicotine withdrawal. “Exercise helps limit weight gain and in dealing with cravings for a cigarette,” affirms Norman H Edelman, senior medical advisor of the American Lung Association. Furthermore, the desire to smoke is suppressed during exercise and up 50 minutes afterwards. Schedule some exercise time throughout the day: some calisthenics before you head to the office, a quick run at lunchtime, and a game of tennis after work. When the urge strikes beyond these times, go for a brisk walk around the neighbourhood.

3. Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Nicotine causes you to be physically dependent on cigarettes, so you are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms throughout the day. The American Cancer Society advises that “70% to 90% of smokers say it is their only reason for not giving up cigarettes.” NRT, which comes in varying strengths and forms (patch, gum, inhaler, nasal spray, and lozenge), can help you get over these urges. Consider using a long-acting form such as a patch early in the day, then use a short-acting form such as gum or lozenge when you feel a craving coming on.

4. Eat Small Meals To Keep Blood Sugar Level Steady

It’s important to eat small, healthy, and regular meals throughout the day so as to keep your blood sugar level steady. When people are hungry, they get cranky and tend to reach for a cigarette to calm themselves. When you feel the munchies coming on, go for a piece of fruit, a cup of yoghurt, or some crackers. Avoid fried, oily and spicy food: These foods help the poisonous ball of nicotine flame to further deplete the yin in the body and allow toxins to build up.

5. Acupuncture

Thanks to its ability to reduce cravings and alleviate withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and lack of concentration, acupuncture is one of the rehabilitation treatments recommended by the American justice system for drug addicts. It reduces discomfort and cravings during your course of quitting, and boosts your determination to continue on. So book a smoking cessation acupuncture session to relieve your desire to smoke.

6. Ear Acupressure

Ear Pressure: The ear is a location rich in addiction-related acupuncture points. Using a seed from Vaccaria plant, the seeds are placed on specific points on the ears. When the seeds are pressed, the pressure is triggered to achieve a healing response. By pressing the seed on your ear, it helps to curb the desire to smoke. Massage these points for one to two minutes throughout the day, especially when you feel desperate for a fag.

7. Sip Herbal Tea Throughout The Day

Consume lung nourishing food such as water chestnut, pear, white fungus, mulberry leaves, loquat, lily bulbs and winter melon. Avoid spicy, greasy and overly sweet food.

8. Meditate or Imagine You Are In A Happy Place

Meditation helps to reduce anxiety, cravings, and restlessness from the withdrawal symptoms. One other mental trick to try when the urge to smoke strikes is to take a couple of deep breaths with your eyes closed and picture in your mind a place where you feel comfortable and relaxed — it doesn’t even have to be a real location. Do this exercise for three to five minutes .

9. Calculate Cost Savings

Because your habit is probably costing you an arm and a leg, another mental trick to try when the cravings attack is to calculate how much you would be saving if you gave up smoking, and what you could be spending that amount on . Before you know it, the urge would have passed.

10. Keep Hands Occupied

When your hands are idle, they tend to reach for a ciggie when the urge to smoke hits. So start or revive a hobby that’s portable, such as knitting, crocheting, and doing puzzles. Otherwise, keep a stress ball, pen, straw, or rubber band handy, then fiddle with them when a craving descends upon you .

 

BONUS TIP: Food Therapy

Consume lung nourishing food such as water chestnut, pear, white fungus, mulberry leaves, loquat, lily bulbs and winter melon. Avoid spicy, greasy and overly sweet food.

Lung Nourishing Recipe
Ingredients:
• White fungus 30g
• Lily bulb 10g
• Wolfberries 20g

Preparation:
• Boil the white fungus until it is half soften, add in the lily bulb.
• Continue to cook until the white fungus softens. Add in wolfberries.
• Serve warm and add honey to taste.

This dessert will help to replenish the depleted yin, and relieve dryness of the mouth, throat and skin. It is calming to the stomach and mind too.

 

---

References:

¹ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/
² http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette.html
³ http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette.html
⁴ http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette.html
⁵ http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco
⁶ http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco
⁷ http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco
⁸ http://maciociaonline.blogspot.sg/2009/02/view-of-tobacco-in-chinese-medicine.html
⁹ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-01/13/content_17232285.htm
¹⁰ http://bestwaytoquitsmoking.com/how-much-damage-can-be-reversed-when-i-quit-smoking
¹¹ http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html