How to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

The term cold turkey refers to giving up a bad habit without any medications or other so-called crutches. If you want to quit smoking cold turkey, proper planning is required. Cigarettes are extremely hard to give up, just ask anyone who has quit or tried to quit. The nicotine they contain is extremely addictive, even for the strongest will. Quitting cold turkey can challenge even the most determined of those trying to kick the habit. However, it can be done, and there are advantages.

Why smoking habit is so addictive?

Your brain quickly adapts to nicotine and develops a tolerance for it, meaning you need to smoke more to get the same rush you used to get with just one cigarette. And when you develop a tolerance to a drug, you're usually addicted.

Chemicals from the cigarette make the brain release chemicals called norepinephrine and dopamine. If the brain releases too much of these two chemicals, the brain chemistry gets imbalanced and releases its own "anti-nicotine" chemicals when you smoke. These "anti-nicotine" chemicals would make you feel down, depressed, and tired if you were not smoking.

For example, cold turkey takes away the nicotine altogether. Unlike nicotine replacement therapy like nicotine patches and gums, you aren't stringing your body along on nicotine through a different source. It only takes 72 hours for your body to get the nicotine out, so if you can wait that long your body will be clean. It is your brain that is a formidable enemy in the fight against smoking.

Withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking cessation include extreme cravings, irritation, agitation, anger, nausea, headache, trembling and insomnia. And, when you're in the midst of it, you feel like the discomfort will never subside. The good news is that it will, whether in weeks or months, but it will. Eventually you will have no desire for cigarettes if you go without them long enough.

Focusing on the benefits is good for cold turkey quitters. Remind yourself that after that last cigarette your body started healing and will continue to do so for over a decade. In about 15 years your lungs may be as clear as a non-smoker's. It's never too late to quit, no matter how old you are you can enjoy the advantages of more oxygen in your blood, a better sense of taste and smell, and the pride that comes with being a non-smoker.

Another way to help yourself quit smoking cold turkey is to soothe your cravings with healthy snacks like carrot sticks or celery. Try lollipops and sugarless gum also. There are even fake cigarettes that do not contain nicotine. You don't light them, but instead go through the motions of smoking, getting a minty or cinnamon taste in your mouth. They look and feel real but are not. Another way to make cold turkey quitting a success is to save the money you used to spend on cigarettes and treat yourself once a week.

6 Tips to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

1.Drink plenty of water, juices and fluids to flush the impurities out of your system and to keep yourself occupied.

2. Understand that the withdrawal symptoms will subside in a while and that you are strong enough to fight it.

3. Chew a sugarless gum or hard candy to keep your mouth busy.

4. Practice yoga exercises, meditation and deep breathing techniques to fight withdrawal symptoms and to keep yourself calm and relaxed.

5.Gather as much support as possible from friends and family.

6.Do not try smoking herbal cigarettes or smokeless cigarettes as an alternative to smoking regular cigarettes. It will only end up in a lost cause.

Success rate quit smoking cold turkey

About 90% of people who try to quit smoking do it without outside support -- no aids, therapy, or medicine. Although many people try to quit this way, it is not the most effective and successful method. Only about 10% of people who try to quit this way succeed on their first try.

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