Weight, Mood, Social Life, Repeat Relapses. How to Better Deal with Quitting Smoking?
There are numerous reasons to want to quit smoking: the health consequences for oneself and one's surroundings, the cost, the discomfort created by addiction, a serious illness, surgery, or even pregnancy. Whatever the reason, quitting smoking is good news for health and well-being. However, this "resolution" often proves easier to state than to implement and adhere to in the long term. Even though relapses are extremely common, it's better to try multiple times than to do nothing at all!
Quitting smoking is based on two pillars:
1. Physical Dependence on Cigarettes: Nicotine is a substance naturally found in tobacco. This substance acts as a drug by creating psychological addiction: nicotine acts on certain receptors in the brain, stimulating the production of dopamine, for example. This dependence can then become physical: when the body does not receive sufficient amounts of nicotine, this is noticeable through physical manifestations (irritability, tremors, sleep disturbances, etc.). Today, it is known that nicotine is not solely responsible for this addiction. Many other molecules present in tobacco blends act together and create new addictions (acting not only on dopamine but also on serotonin, for example).
2. Willpower: Without a real desire to quit smoking, any attempt remains futile. Some reasons for quitting smoking, such as pregnancy, for example, are sufficiently motivating to not falter and to not let one's willpower weaken. Most behavioral methods to quit smoking are based on becoming aware of the addiction and, consequently, implementing a psychological strategy to not falter and to show willpower.
How to Quit Smoking?
Every situation and every individual are different: personality, environment, personal history, duration of smoking, etc. Thus, many "methods" exist to provoke or soften the cessation of smoking.
1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy: Gums, patches, inhalers, and vaporizers, or even electronic cigarettes, allow for decreasing nicotine doses by stopping the smoker's gesture. The individual goes through a transition period during which they get rid of the smoker's gestures and ritual while continuing to absorb decreasing doses of nicotine. The only downside to this method is not being able to subsequently quit these substitutes.
2. Medications: Some drug molecules (bupropion, varenicline) would have the effect of quitting smoking by acting on the brain receptors that have become dependent on nicotine. However, many significant side effects have been noted (insomnia, depression, behavioral disorders), and this costly alternative medication, which is not suitable for everyone, is far from harmless.
3. Alternative Medicines: Alternative medicines such as hypnosis or acupuncture can work for some people depending on each individual's receptiveness.
4. Coaching: Some healthcare practitioners or coaches practice coaching to motivate and follow their client's smoking cessation journey over the medium term. The perspective of an external and objective person is much more motivating than that of the surrounding environment.
How to Better Deal with Quitting Smoking?
Quitting smoking often rhymes with stress, anxiety attacks, weight gain, and lack of self-confidence. These inconveniences can be addressed to not be considered as obstacles to quitting smoking.
Stress, Irritability, Sleep Disorders:
The withdrawal period has consequences on emotional balance. It is necessary to anticipate this discomfort; plan, and stick to it, the practice of (additional) physical activity, which will "decompress," clear the mind, and relieve tension. This will also facilitate falling asleep while limiting weight gain following smoking cessation.
Increase magnesium intake, a famous anti-stress agent (eat almonds, drink magnesium-rich water, take a magnesium-rich supplement), and omega-3 fatty acids, for their long-term action on emotional balance. Omega-3s are found in fatty fish (sardines, anchovies, wild salmon), seafood, and crustaceans, in certain vegetable oils (flaxseed, camelina, perilla, soybean, rapeseed oil, etc.), by consuming eggs and meat from the blue-white-heart sector, and by supplementing with omega-3s.
Prevent insomnia and mild depression problems: phytotherapy offers many solutions such as valerian, passionflower, St. John's wort, Kudzu. Furthermore, valerian has the particularity of making the taste of tobacco unpleasant, an additional element to favor its cessation.
Weight Gain:
Quitting smoking is often associated with weight gain. Indeed, the body will naturally seek an alternative to the pleasure provided by cigarettes. This alternative may lie in taking larger food portions or experiencing binge eating due to anxiety attacks. Many people resume smoking to avoid gaining weight, but this is not a serious alternative! Willpower and implementing a strategy allow for not gaining weight and quitting smoking simultaneously.
Prevent weight gain by using natural appetite suppressants such as mint and/or peppermint (in essential oil or as a tea), fucus, fibers (pectin square, apple), green tea, etc. Resume or intensify the practice of a sport (jogging, cycling, swimming, etc.) or physical activity (daily walking). Do not succumb to snacking during the withdrawal period by eliminating any temptation from one's environment.