Reduce Nicotine Cravings

When considering the occasion of past Great American SmokeOuts, my thoughts turn to the challenges of quitting smoking and my heart goes out to those who struggle with nicotine withdrawal and freedom from smoking. I know because I quit smoking a thousand times.

By now we all know there are personal health reasons to stop, and about the dangers of second hand smoke.

Sometimes it helps to look past the personal, to see ourselves and our actions in a larger context. Here are a few facts that go beyond the nasty pictures of scarred lungs, that may give even the most dedicated smoker pause to consider stop smoking alternatives and their choices otherwise. For example:

Not Smoking Alone: Think smoking is on the way out? The World Health Organization says there are 1 billion smokers in the world. The tobacco industry is thriving despite efforts to regulate it.

Suffering Farmers: In addition to the health hazards for smokers, there are substantial health risks for tobacco farm workers, from inhalation of pesticides and tobacco dust and from "Green Tobacco Sickness" caused by handling the plant's wet leaves.

Crime Spree: Cigarettes are the world’s most widely smuggled legal consumer product. In 2006, about 600 billion smuggled cigarettes were sold.

Emitting Pesticides: As much as ten percent of the pesticide applied to the tobacco crop can appear in the secondhand smoke and side stream smoke. The tobacco industry uses some 25 million pounds of pesticides a year. This means over 2 million pounds of pesticides in the air around us.

How Much Is That Professor in the Window? Tobacco companies fund university and lab researchers to study the effects of everything from stop smoking products to tobacco advertising to cancer drugs. Do you feel comfortable that results will be unaffected by the hand signing the check?

Hard on the Land: Pesticide and fertilizer runoff contaminate water resources, and the curing of tobacco leaf with wood fuel leads to massive deforestation. An often-cited, in-depth study shows that an estimated 200,000 hectares (about 772 square miles) of forest/woodland is lost to tobacco farming each year.

They Want Our Kids: Advertisers use Hollywood movies to target children and youth around the world to glamorize smoking, forget any quit smoking images you would like to see.

Women Are Being Used! Doctor Thomas Glynn of the American Cancer Society notes the targeting of women by tobacco companies in an interview with Voice of America: "As an example, in China, about 4… 5… 6 percent of women across China are using tobacco," he says. "But yet in places like Shanghai where tobacco companies are focusing, we are starting to see figures like 20 or 25 percent."

You Wanna Smoke or Eat? Tobacco replaces potential food production on almost 4 million hectares of the world’s agricultural land, equal to all of the world’s orange groves or banana plantations.

Quitting smoking is tough, but by rejecting an industry that is harming people and planet in the name of profit, you will be contributing to a healthier you and to a healthier world.  Good luck to all the potential ex-smokers out there….you can do it! Whether you quit smoking or cut back on the amount of cigarettes you smoke …. the effort is worth the fight.

There is more to dark chocolate than meets the eye of the health concious smoker looking for ways improve health and lower the danger of smoking.

This luscious dark chocolate pie is guaranteed to add some sweet heat and tantric appeal to a romantic meal. I don't know if it a smoking alternative but if you want to beat the urge to smoke give this treat a try and you might find it is a best stop smoking aid.

Of its six ingredients, four of them are thought to be aphrodisiacal: Chocolate, almonds, ginger and chile. Powers of attraction aside, this recipe for Chocolate Tantric Pie is unusual and delicious, and is as easy as pie to prepare.

This is a sweet chocolate pie with the spicy bite of ginger and cayenne pepper and no nicotine withdrawl!!!

It’s guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth, internally warm your belly, and give you that unmistakable tantric glow. There is very little work to creating this dessert. For a gluten-free version, omit the pie shell for a no-bake flourless torte. You can also pour the pie mixture into a baking dish, just cool before cutting into squares and serve like fudge.

INGREDIENTS
1½ cups organic half-and-half or whipping cream
3 cups semisweet organic chocolate chips
1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup chopped candied ginger
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
9-inch pie crust

1. Over medium heat, bring half-and half or whipping cream to a simmer in a 1-quart saucepan, stirring to prevent scorching on the bottom.

2. Whisk as you slowly pour the chocolate chips into the cream and continue to stir until the chocolate has melted. Stir in half the almonds and half the ginger. Stir in cayenne if using.

3. Pour mixture into a pre-baked 9-inch pie shell. Sprinkle and remaining almonds and ginger on top. Cool until firm, slice, and serve.

Serves 8

New clinical trials can provide data on the safety profile of transdermal nicotine in never-smokers, the study leaders caution that patients should not introduce nicotine into their treatment regimen without the explicit recommendation of their doctor. The benefits of transdermal nicotine for PD have not yet been conclusively proven, and its safety for use in people who have never smoked remains unestablished. Trial participants will be closely monitored for any adverse health effects that may occur as a result of nicotine treatment.

The commercialization of a therapy capable of retarding or stopping the progression of Parkinson's disease — rather than merely masking symptoms while the underlying disease continues to worsen — would be a transformative event in the lives of the estimated 5 million Parkinson's patients worldwide. Transdermal nicotine holds the additional advantages of wide availability and relatively low cost.

Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that he is struggling to stop smokiing.

The Shutter Island actor admitted that he has tried using nicotine replacement  patches, but they have caused him severe sleep problems as part of way to overcome the urge to smoke.

"When I use  nicotine replacement patches I have blood curdling nightmares of murder. Mass murders," Contactmusic quotes his as saying.

"I wake up in the middle of the night and have to take them off. I don't really remember my dreams that much apart from then. I don't know what that means about me from a psychological point of view but that's the truth."

DiCaprio recently revealed that he spends time with his friends as "therapy" to find freedom from smoking.

Shutter Island opens in the US on February 19 and in UK cinemas on March 12.

... but I'm still addicted to nicotine

Are you worried about the possible nicotine side effects from your addiction?

Surprisingly you may be addicted to a recognizable brand name nicotine replacement chewing gum.

That addiction may be harder to give up than when you were physically smoking cigarettes.

Are you desperate to give it up before the dangers of nicotine does any further damage to your health?

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) can be somewhat of a mixed blessing.

Perhaps someone you know who has quit smoking by chewing nicotine gum has encouraged or even badgered you to try NRT...maybe even your doctor.

How easy it seems, but if it is so easy why are so many ex smokers chewing nicotine gum ... some for over Ten (10) years since they stopped smoking cigarettes.

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. It doesn't take people long to feel the biological effects. The brain receptors respond to substances such as nicotine and they very quickly want more.

It is one of the most addictive substances and we know that nicotine side effects are not only a danger of smoking. 

But how many smokers that quit smoking have actually swapped one nicotine addiction for another?

If you are looking for effective way to stop cravings, the urge to smoke and withdrawal symptoms from tobacco-delivered nicotine-dependence yu will be happy to know that there are some terrific nicotine free non addictive products available. Many of these products made from natural ingredients.

Some of these alternatives to NRT’s even contain dark chocolate which has been proven in clinical studies to increase cardiac function and arterial blood flow in smokers.

Take your time and look for what will work for you to take away your addiction.

Seems like you always want a smoke when you are where can’t have one. So it makes sense to tell yourself you better make sure you can do something in those times that will allow you to get past those ugly situations. You want your cravings for a cigarette taken care of.  

Smoking should be about whenever or wherever you want, but it’s not. It's become more like them being forced to committ to quit smoking today!t. You know you when and where you won’t be able to smoke in your friend’s homes, in public places, inside of buildings, or anywhere where the craving is hardest to control.

Smokerzchoice is the answer. Use it anywhere, anytime, in any social smoking situation, any time that you want to smoke but can’t. You may be wondering how this is possible. The answer is quite easy. All you have to do is make sure you have Smokerzchoice on hand. This great tasting natural alternative to nicotine and tobacco products puts you back in control and gives you the ability to overcome the urge to smoke whenever you choose.

Perhaps someone you care about smokes and they are not ready to quit. If this bothers you are and you can’t seem to get them to control their cravings then you will want to think about purchasing the Smokerzchoice for them as well. This will allow them to relax, reduce nervous tension and curb that craving for a cigarette whatever or wherever the urge strikes.

And since they aren’t smoking no one will know because the smells and stains that regular smoker experience will be gone. And best of all no stinky cigarette bad breath.

Smokerzchoice may also be a great way to get ready to quit smoking if that is your choice.

Once you try Smokerzchoice you will they see all the benefits. Share Smokerzchoice with others you care about and they see for themselves as well.

It won’t be so hard to get around the urge to smoke and continue smoking and who knows quitting may not be as hard as you think with Smokerzchoice.

So as you have read there are lot of benefits for choosing and trying Smokerzchoice. Whether you smoke, want to cut down or just plain qui. and buy it for yourself. Smokerzchoice provides you the smoker with a way to overcome those cravings while other smokers are suffering and aren’t able to take care of their craving.

You will make them all jealous as they have to sit back and watch you relax without nervous tension or stress

You won’t have to worry about going outside for a smoke when the weather is bad, the plane is delayed or the food and company is just too good.

With Smokerzchoice you will be in control all of the time.

Do you know why you still smoke?

Good, Bad, or Indifferent the Social Smoking and Economic Costs associated with smoking effect everyone’s smoking or quitting decisions.

One of life’s little indulgences, it could be, think about it? Nicotine could be just that! We know that in moderation tobacco provides relaxation and improves cognitive function.

Smoking is and should remain a matter of choice and that choice is not necessarily Freedom From Smoking for one group as long as adverse consequence of doesn’t impose health risk on others.

Whatever the reasons it is more and more apparent that admissions by smokers about why they smoke is changing. And it has little or nothing to do with the consequence of smoking. Truth be told this is the likely a backlash against all the stop smoking no smoking quit smoking regulations. Today many smokers today simply smoke for psychological and emotional reasons. There motivation to quit smoking may not be what it once was. This Truth may even eclipse the scientific support for nicotine addiction being the sole reason that people smoke and don’t want to quit. Physical addiction is one thing,  but many smokers don’t want to quit and presumably they understand why, when and where they smoke, and are very willing to challenge some of the old school smoking cessation thinking that goes along with quitting or continuing to smoke.

Workplace, travel and other no-smoking restrictions have turned smokers not ready to quit into pseudo criminals as they “sneak one in’. This “criminal activity” has become a smoker's challenge in light of, or in spite of the controversy over stopping smoking.

Second hand smoke may have been the mantra of those attempting to prohibit and form of smoking. However, with restrictions in place it is no longer valid.

The natural fact is that many smokers started smoking cigarettes in high school when it was “cool”. Nowadays, (even though it is politically incorrect to admit to it) many smokers enjoy a cigarette.

Oh my God shame on them! Isn’t it crazy that smokers have become condemned to the worst of the worst environments to takes that five-minute their smoke breaks?

Baby its cold outside! And really, does spewing carbon monoxide into the environment as you drive to work instead of using public transit so you can smoke in the privacy of your car really provide any kind of green or ecological sound advantage?

It's tough to be a hard-core chain-smoker these days. And it's not necessarily the dangers of smoking or secondhand smoke that are leading that charge

Half of the U.S. population could care less about the consequences of smoking but are more interested in when and where they can light up because they live in areas where smoking is banned in workplaces, bars and restaurants.

More than 70% of Americans don't allow smoking in their homes, including about half of current smokers.

So forget your urge to smoke, that nicotine withdrawal, or quit smoking cravings the rules for finding your freedom from smoking have changed.

A Decade of Broken Promises: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Ten Years Later

This report, issued by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, reviews the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement and concludes that most states have failed to keep their promise to spend a significant portion of the settlement funds on programs as smoking alternatives to protect kids from tobacco and nicotine addiction and help smokers quit smoking.

...and the government and big Pharma took it away!
 

Several years ago, I developed a smoking cessation program and offered it for FREE to the American Lung Association because I felt that we are all in smoking cessation for the same reasons. My incorporated these same goals as American Lung Association’s.  It was based on the idea that smokers trying to quit smoking were informed and prepared for the challenge and had a concrete plan of action were successful. 

Was I ever wrong? The American Lung Association was in bed with and getting big donations from Big Pharmaceutical who basically wanted NO OTHER COMPANIES competing with them regardless of the public health mandate. It didn’t matter that they owned 90% market share for smoking cessation/stop smoking products. If you owned 1% and were helping people to quit smoking they wanted that 1% to buy their products,

Let’s face it smoking and quitting smoking is deeply ingrained in people’s daily activities. It’s hard for people to stop smoking. The physical withdrawal of the nicotine is hard for the smokers to deal with once nicotine withdrawal accompanies the urge to smoke. A smoker has to deal with the multitude of behaviors they associated with the smoking habit and nicotine addiction. 

Smokers trying to quit smoking have to learn what to do with their hands, what to do during breaks at work, how to fill the time at home when they usually smoked and how to handle social situations with friends.

The quitting process is difficult and that’s why the statistics show that it takes most smokers several tries before they are able to quit for good.

However the successful participants seemed to share several key factors:

• They were in the class for themselves vs. being there at the request of a family member.
• They could envision themselves as non-smokers.
• They stuck to the plan.
• They had the support of others to quit.  

My advice …

… Take your time and make sure your ready to quit smoking. Evaluate all products when deciding what might work for you. Don’t just pick the one advertised on TV. There are plenty of natural products available that work just as well as those Rx and OTC brands.

Quitting is a process just stick with it.

OK so you’re smoking again.

It’s the same tired old ritual. You quit smoking then you start smoking again. Your last attempt at quitting smoking lasted a few days.

Stop telling yourself over and over again: “I want to stop smoking forever!”. That is quite a goal. Forever is a long time!

You have lots of company and they haven’t made it yet either.

Don’t take on a task bigger than you are. Why don’t you just try and cut down? Take it one step at a time and you might be surprised at the resluts.

Why not try a FREE SAMPLE of  product like all dark chocolate Smokerzchoice. SmokerZchoice helps take away those temporary nicotine cravings while reducing nervous tension... and the dark chocolate formula may also improve arterial blood flow as some clinical studies have shown.

Next time your craving a smoke and railroading your goals ... reach for a product like smokerZchoice (www.smokerZchoice.com) that gets you through those times when you have that urge to smoke.

Did you crave a cigarette in church on Sunday? That urge to smoke doesn't make it a sin!

You don't have to smoke like your going to hell before you get to church. Nicotine Side effects and nicotine withdrawal? Why go through it just because there is so much pressure from the choir.

How sin free do you think they can be as they preach the virtues of freedom from smoking?

 

Lobelia is one of several herbs with a traditional reputation for helping people quit smoking. Lobeline is an active alkaloid contained in Lobelia. This powerful herb helps to calm the mind and relax the body. It has helped many people to control their cravings for nicotine. Lobelia is also reputed to have the effect of making cigarettes taste very bad.

These herbs exert varying effects that will ease the process of smoking cessation. Lobelia extracts have been combined with other natural extracts like theobrominium and cacao in order to improve arterial blood flow and enhance the ability to ward off tobacco and cigarette cravings during times of nicotine withdrawal.

If you ask any former smoker about “quitting smoking” they will probably tell you that it stopping smoking was one of the hardest things they have ever done because of the effects of nicotine  withdrawal.  November 19, 2009 marks the 34th American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout – a day for smokers to practice what life would be like without cigarettes.

The Great American Smokeout was developed to encourage smokers to stop using tobacco for one day, in hope that they would be inspired to quit altogether. 

The goal is to remind people that “tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.”  And that that they can reduce tobacco's harm by quitting smoking or even cutting back on the amount of cigarettes they smoke, and as smokers find freedom from smoking they can increase their life expectancy dramatically.  This fact is even more relevant today as the government debates about health care reform and encourages Americans to live a healthier lifestyle.

The Cancer Society also recognizes the addictive nature of the nicotine in tobacco, and there are many alternatice products to quit smoking. New natural products including dark chocolate based products can help smokers develop a plan that will help them to deal with smoking, cutting back on tobacco products or just plain putting their cigarettes away forever.

Remember when smoking was everywhere? There were blue plumes of cigarette smoke curling up inside movie theaters and over lunch counters. Remember restaurants where your parents would no more leave without having coffee and a cigarette to quelch that momentary nicotine withdrawal than slip out without a tip?

Remember how it felt to hold a cigarette? How it fit between your fingers just right? This made me think of when my father would take us to the woods to shoot his gun, to show us the right way to handle firearms and make sure we respected what they could do. I remember the way the gun felt in my hands, Smoking was cool and hip intensely powerful, seductive with no thought given to the consequences of smoking.

Today it is terrifying when you factor in the danger of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Today it is easy to join the crowd and become one of those annoying anti-smokers. The world has become annoyingly anti-smoking, too demanding our participation as "Freedom From Smoking Fighters. Once quit smoking cravings permeated our brains and inhaling secondhand smoke was a pleasure that couldn't hurt you. Today maybe it is more about being forced to live with other peoples mandates and not all about personal choice.

New laws forced office smokers to huddle under overhangs in the rain and banished restaurant smokers to patios, not that we anti-smokers didn't sigh about them, too. You could see patients standing outside hospitals hooked to IVs, getting their nicotine fixes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while smoking rates have stayed steady in recent years — about 20 percent of us still puff away — states with smoke-free laws have the lowest rate of adult smokers. So maybe it's working. Me, I'm glad it's no longer a smoker's world and that we chide even the president for it, and not just because it leaves the rest of us with stinking clothes and hair.

Because here's the trick for the anti-smoker: How do you keep from sounding like you know what's best for the rest of the world? How do you explain that you might actually understand how tight the grip, how powerful the seduction, how personal the choice?

Do you want to quit for a moment? ...  or forever? If you haven't made up your mind give smokerzchoice a try. Right now you can get a sample for FREE. Go to www.smokerzchoice.com.

Flavanol-rich dark chocolate and cocoa drinks helps maths performance

Chocolate makers seeking to leverage sales through health-positioned products could find a fresh direction with new research from the UK suggesting cocoa drinks rich in flavanols could help consumers do maths.  Following a small study, researchers at the UK's Northumbria university found the high level of cacao anchored in chocolate improved cognitive performance in arithmatic tests.

These studies follow on the heels of other studies about dark chocolate's relationship to nicotine side effects and improvement of arterial blood flow in smokers.

"Dark chocolate and drinks rich in cocoa flavanols significantly improved aspects of cognitive performance and levels of fatigue during this mentally demanding task," said Crystal Haskell at the Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research centre at Northumbria university.

This latest research builds on a plethora of studies in recent years that have probed the area of cocoa flavanols and their potential positive impact on health, from heart disease to depression and improvement in smokers health. Even though dark chocolate may not be a product classified as a product to quit smoking it would appear to lessen some of  those nicotine side effects contributing to many consequences of smoking.

Flavanols, the building blocks for proanthocyanidins, are a class of flavonoids that exist naturally in cacao. They have attracted increasing attention from the scientific community, and the food industry, due to their potent antioxidant properties and the role they could potentially play in combating the rising incidence of smoking related cardiovascular disease in today's society.

Consumers have become passionate about looking and feeling good with food and drink products neatly slotting into this trend, and new product development from food makers squarely positioned to piggy-back the emerging health and wellness trend.

But in terms of chocolate, the functional dark chocolate trend is still at the beginning of the curve and only a handful of makers to date, such as Mars' CocaVia and Barry Callebaut's Acticoa, have rolled out products that directly target this area.

However, the double-digit growth seen in the functional category does make for compelling figures and an understandable motivation to drive new product development further down the functional chocolate path. Market analyst Euromonitor reports that in the past four years the functional market has grown on average by 15 per cent a year.

And one in four Western consumers are interested in chocolate with physical or emotional health benefits, according to data gathered on behalf of Barry Callebaut in Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, the UK and the US.

UK cocoa drink study uses high levels - 520 mg and 993mg - of cocoa flavonols

“Foods containing high levels of cocoa flavanols, found in dark chocolate, have been shown to increase cerebral blood flow, and it has also been proven that consumption of plants that have these properties improves performance on mentally demanding tasks. We wanted to discover whether cocoa flavanols produced the same effect,” commented Haskell.

For this study, 30 adults consumed cocoa drinks on different days containing 520 mg of cocoa flavanols, 993 mg of cocoa flavanols or a control drink.

The participants were given a number of mentally demanding tasks to complete, such as counting backwards from 999 in threes.

On the days the participants drank the beverages containing 520mg or 993mg of cocoa flavanols "they performed significantly better at the arithmetic task", report the researchers.

Further, the participants recorded they were also less mentally tired during the task after drinking the cocoa-flavanol rich beverage.

Commenting on the findings Professor David Kennedy from Northumbria university added: “The results presented in the symposium show that medicinal herbal extracts and plant-derived chemical compounds from common foodstuffs can also improve cognitive performance and mood.”

The findings were presented as part of a symposium highlighting the potential of plant-based treatments presented this week at the British Psychological Society annual conference in Brighton, UK.

Based on an original article  by Lindsey Partos, 07-Apr-2009

New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress was just published in “Metabolic Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Energy, Gut Microbiota, and Stress-Related Metabolism in Free-Living Subjects.”

The study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed. The study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed.The daily dose also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. And that’s not all…Sunil Kochhar, and colleagues note growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions. Although studies in the past have suggested that chocolate may ease emotional stress, there was little evidence until now from research in humans on exactly how chocolate might have those stress-busting effects.

In the study, scientists identified reductions in stress hormones and other stress-related biochemical changes in volunteers who rated themselves as highly stressed and ate dark chocolate for two weeks. “The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” the scientists say.

This great news for smokers and those smokers that want to quit smoking with a natural stop smoking alternative. No nicotine side effects or those nasty quit smoking cravings.

When you have the urge to smoke look for some of the new dark chocolate products to feel good and reduce the nicotine withdrawal.