Stop Smoking Plan: Controlling Cravings
While the above diet aims to reduce the strength of nicotine cravings, it's possible they will occur. This is partly because nicotine is incredibly addictive, and so there may be some effects on your body even with the dampening effects of the diet, but there's also a psychological element to cigarette cravings.
Many of us use smoking to tackle emotions. If you're stressed, bored, tired or need to focus, and it has become a natural reaction to reach for a cigarette at these points, when you encounter these feelings as you stop smoking your natural instinct will be to smoke again. But don't give in. Instead, when you feel a craving, if you know why it's happening use the specific craving controller below that suits your true feelings.
If you don't know why your craving has been triggered, use the general craving controllers. And remember one thing: according to doctors at the F Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Washington, USA, if you can get through the first 24 hours without a cigarette you increase the chance of giving up successfully tenfold. Just focus on one day at a time.
Specific craving controllers
Stress. Many smokers think that cigarettes calm them down, but studies by New York psychiatrist Professor Jeffrey Grant Johnson actually showed the opposite. This doesn't make you feel any better, however, if you're getting wound up but can't reach for a cigarette to help. In this case, inhaling oil of lavender is the fastest way to reduce symptoms.
To clear your head. If you used to smoke in order to help you think, try sniffing peppermint oil or, if you prefer, drinking peppermint tea instead. Studies at the University of Cincinnati, USA, found this helped people think more clearly; in fact, testers scored 28 per cent higher on accuracy tests when using it.
Needing something to do with your hands. This is quite simple - do something else. Doodle, play computer games, squeeze stress balls - anything that keeps your hands occupied. Low energy. If you're used to smoking to lift your energy when your blood-sugar levels get low, you'll need to prevent this. Try eating little and often, or snack on fruit as that will give your energy a rapid lift without a subsequent fall.
The ideal smoker's snack is a satsuma. This is because the segments will help feed the hand-to-mouth action you're used to, while the citrus scent energizes the mind. Ginger tea and the supplement ginseng can also provide a fast lift.
Smoking chair. If you find yourself wanting to smoke in a particular chair or when you watch a particular TV programme, try inhaling some frankincense oil at this point. This is used to help break ties with the past: the Bach flower remedy Honeysuckle has similar effects.
General craving controllers
Black pepper oil. Add three drops to a tissue and inhale if you feel a craving coming on. Studies in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence showed that it cut nicotine cravings, possibly because it causes the same feeling in the back of the throat. Nicotiana. This essence from the family of American Flower Essences is made from the leaves of a flowering tobacco plant.
Take a few drops on your tongue each day to reduce cravings, or use it when one hits. Lobelia. This herb has actions similar to those of nicotine in the body, and can therefore be used if your cravings are very bad. It is, however, an incredibly powerful herb and therefore you should never use it without being under the strict supervision of a herbalist.
Curled tongue breaths. This yoga technique is said to reduce tobacco cravings possibly because it mimics the action of smoking. To do this, sit upright and breathe normally. Now stick your tongue out and curl it up at the sides to form a tube. Next, inhale slowly through the tube. Put your tongue in and breathe normally for a few seconds. Then repeat the whole process for as long as the craving lasts. (If you find you can't roll your tongue, go back to using one of the other general controllers.)