In our last column we focused on the need for people to make one important lifestyle change: stop tobacco use. We presented a summary of the gruesome statistics related to tobacco use:  smoking causes lung and other cancers, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 

Compared to people who have never smoked, smokers lose about 10 years of their life. Most smokers are well aware of these statistics, which have been broadcast for years in order for people to quit smoking. The problem lies in the fact that tobacco is addictive. Nicotine is the main addictive substance in tobacco. 

When a person uses tobacco, many parts of the body get used to having nicotine in them. When a person quits tobacco, they also quit nicotine and will likely have withdrawal symptoms from it. This is because the body has to get used to not having nicotine. Nicotine binds to the nicotine receptors in the brain, which leads to the release of dopamine, the feel good hormone. Typically, dopamine increases in response to natural rewards such as food, music and sex. But with nicotine or cocaine, dopamine increases are exaggerated, making the users chemically dependent on it. 

The good news is that most tobacco users want to quit and 2/3 want to quit completely. But only 5 per cent of these (those who want to quit) will be able to quit without assistance. The vast majority will resume smoking within a month. The American author Mark Twain once exclaimed: ‘Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it at least ten times!’ So, how do you quit smoking? Observations show that people, who give up cigarettes, do so on their own and on their own time. No nagging spouse or co-worker will entice a smoker to quit. 

The single most important factor for people who successfully quit smoking was their belief and confidence that they could do it. Perhaps an article they read or a picture they saw triggered a response, which made them say: ‘I can do it!’ Talking of motivating pictures, one of the most successful antismoking campaigns was conducted in California by the Department of Health Services. It dressed up an actor like the Marlboro Man in full cowboy regalia, and put his photograph on billboards and in magazines everywhere with a limp cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The large headline was IMPOTENCE, not a warning about lung cancer, heart disease or emphysema… Indeed, nicotine makes your arteries constrict – which reduces blood flow to your sexual organs, causing impotence… 

Nevertheless, most people who eventually quit smoking were not able to do so the first time. If that happens to you, remember we all fell down many times before we finally learned to walk! And so, try again! Quitting smoking is a process, not a one-time event. Smokers begin to experience withdrawal symptoms several times an hour, so it is especially challenging to quit. Therefore it is not simply a matter of willpower: it helps to find other ways to assist you. 

Here are some to consider: As we have explained in previous columns, if wanting to adopt the whole foods plant based (WFPB) diet it makes it easier if you find a friend (we call it a Good Samaritan) to join you in the effort. The same goes for quitting smoking: find someone, who will quit smoking with you. Quitting smoking and adopting the WFPB diet at the same time is another tactic. Keep plenty of raw fruits and vegetables handy to munch on: remember eating releases dopamine that makes you feel good after a meal. 

Introduce the other lifestyle changes we wrote about in previous columns: one of them is regular exercise, walking about 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. Avoid alcohol, as it diminishes self-control. Control your stress by meditation focused on the breath as we explained earlier. When starting your quit smoking exercise, announce this to your family, friends or co-workers and ask them for their support and for them not to offer cigarettes. 

Give yourself a treat or a reward each day. (E.g. for the ‘happy hour’, treat yourself to a glass of tomato juice and a handful of nuts!) Light smokers might be successful in quitting smoking by making use of the above additional supports. In the case of heavy smokers (those that smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day), nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is recommended to be successful in their attempts to quit smoking. 

This form of treatment gives you nicotine – in the form of gum or patches (that are locally available) – but not the other harmful chemicals in tobacco. These gums or patches release minimal amounts of nicotine and allow the smoker to get over the withdrawal symptoms. Users are to follow the clear guidelines on the products and gradually over time use gums or patches with decreasing amounts of nicotine. By using these, it can help relieve some of the physical withdrawal symptoms so that one can focus on the other support systems mentioned to help quit smoking. 

Many studies have shown that by using NRT one can nearly double the chances of quitting smoking. In the meantime, we invite you to visit METI’s Healthy Living Clinic at House No. 51 at Motootua (across from the Kokobanana Restaurant) and become acquainted with METI’s whole food plant based diet and Lifestyle Change program. Or call us at 30550. Learning how to follow these Programs might be your ‘game changer’!