Supplements for Stopping Smoking: Quit smoking once and for all!

We give you information on a range supplements to stopping smoking with the potential to help you kick the habit once and for all and improve your health.

Smoking is one of the most harmful health practices currently in widespread use.

Motives to quit smoking

The motives for give up smoking, no matter how hard it sounds, cannot be imposed by anyone. They must come from yourself.

Quitting smoking is always a good idea for people’s health, but it is also a hard and difficult process that will test you.

The first step is reasoning why you should stop smoking.

Start by asking yourself:

Keep looking for motives to quit:

Quitting smoking results in considerable savings, taking into account the average number of cigarettes consumed by a moderate smoker is 10 a day and that each pack costs around €5 in mainland Spain, the savings are more than £75 a month.

Does continuing to smoke really pay for your investment in time, money and health?

Benefits of stopping smoking

Every single person that stops smoking benefits from doing so.

The effects on your health, according to the information offered by the WHO,are:

Dangers of tobacco

Approximately half of the people who do not stop smoking will die from complications of a smoking-related illness.

Chronic exposure to smoke increases the risk of suffering:

Risk of death ratio by age group and difference in risk of death between smokers and non-smokers

Herbs for quitting smoking

There are currently very few approved treatments for quitting smoking, most of which are based on psychostimulants that supplement the action of nicotine on the brain.

In fact, one of the most widely used methods of stopping smoking is through nicotine replacement therapy using chewing gum, patches, vaporisers or other intake means.

We have a range of herbs that have been traditionally used to stop smoking, such as Ashwagandha Extract.

Which supplements can help you quit smoking?

Many of the food supplements that can have an effect on stopping smoking are based on their dopaminergic mechanisms, which can address the core symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

Effects and interrelations between the 3 main neurotransmitters (Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Serotonin).

Some food supplements whose use is also often recommended during when stopping are”

Effects of Ashwagandha vs Placebo on various markers of anxiety.

Again, if you are determined to stop smoking, contact your doctor for information on the options available to help you achieve your goal.

Why do people put on weight when stopping smoking?

One of the main undesirable effects of stopping smoking is weight gain.

The average weight gain associated with stopping smoking tobacco is 4.1kg.

Forest plot showing the negative effect of give up smoking on body weight gain.

Tobacco is not the only cause of staying slim.

While nicotine has a clear anorectic effect and may slightly increase energy expenditure (basal metabolic rate), weight gain is due to increased caloriceintake to replace the dopaminergic effects of nicotine.

Graphic representation of (neuro-)hormones that regulate appetite homeostasis.

The subject is complex, but to simplify it:

Factors conditioning the palatability and enjoyment of food.

This causes our calorie intake to increase significantly, mainly because most of the foods we want to eat are those with higher calorie density, higher in sugars and fats, which produce a more intense brain response due to their great taste.

Benefits of exercise for quitting smoking

Physical exercise is one of the most effective behavioural therapies currently available to reduce the symptoms of stopping tobacco.

Changes in anxiety sensitivity rates between physical exercise and sedentary life.

Physical exercise is able to increase arousal, addressing anxiety sensitivity and psycho-emotional behaviours that can lead to relapse.

Benefits of exercise for quitting smoking.

Bibliographic References

1. Broman-Fulks, J. J., & Storey, K. M. (2008). Evaluation of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 21(2), 117–128.
2. Chandrasekhar, K., Kapoor, J., & Anishetty, S. (2012). A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of Ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 34(3), 255–262.
3. Leas, E. C., Pierce, J. P., Benmarhnia, T., White, M. M., Noble, M. L., Trinidad, D. R., & Strong, D. R. (2018). Effectiveness of pharmaceutical smoking cessation AIDS in a nationally representative cohort of American smokers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 110(6), 581–587.
4. Liu, Y., Zhao, J., & Guo, W. (2018). Emotional roles of mono-aminergic neurotransmitters in major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(NOV), 2201.
5. McDonough, M. (2015). Update on medicines for smoking cessation. Australian Prescriber, 38(4), 106–110.
6. Nakano, K., Kyutoku, Y., Sawa, M., Matsumura, S., Dan, I., & Fushiki, T. (2013). Analyzing comprehensive palatability of cheese products by multivariate regression to its subdomains. Food Science and Nutrition, 1(5), 369–376.
7. Nieoullon, A. (2002). Dopamine and the regulation of cognition and attention. Progress in Neurobiology, 67(1), 53–83.
8. Smits, J. A. J., Zvolensky, M. J., Davis, M. L., Rosenfield, D., Marcus, B. H., Church, T. S., … Baird, S. O. (2016). The efficacy of vigorous-intensity exercise as an aid to smoking cessation in adults with high anxiety sensitivity: A randomized controlled trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(3), 354–364.
9. Thun, M. J., Carter, B. D., Feskanich, D., Freedman, N. D., Prentice, R., Lopez, A. D., … Gapstur, S. M. (2013). 50-Year Trends in Smoking-Related Mortality in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(4), 351–364.
10. Tian, J., Venn, A., Otahal, P., & Gall, S. (2015). The association between quitting smoking and weight gain: A systemic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Obesity Reviews, 16(10), 883–901.
11. Volkow, N. D., Wang, G. J., & Baler, R. D. (2011). Reward, dopamine and the control of food intake: Implications for obesity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 37–46.
12. Yang, J. J., Yu, D., Wen, W., Shu, X. O., Saito, E., Rahman, S., … Zheng, W. (2019). Tobacco Smoking and Mortality in Asia: A Pooled Meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open, 2(3), e191474.

Related Entries

• If you’re still a smoker, you might be interested in finding out the supplements that can improve your quality of life. Visit this link.
• What is the relationship between Nicotine and weight loss? We tell you here.
• Everything you need to know about Ashwagandha in the following article.