Stopping smoking - Herbs, supplements and vitamins to help you stop smoking

Green foods - Udo's Choice Beyond Greens

Udo's Choice Beyond Greens is a natural food supplement that I would highly recommend to anyone - expecially smokers. This is a powdered concentrated food made up of all the things we ought to eat, but seldom do. It's full of many of the vitamins and minerals essential for our health and wellbeing. Although it may be more expensive than some other similar brands, I've found Udo's Choice Beyond Greens to be the best.

You may be able to purchase this product in you local health food store or you can click here to get an idea of current prices, or to buy online.

Green foods are full of essential trace minerals and can help to balance your blood sugar to combat sugar cravings.

Udo's Choice Beyond Greens is certainly an acquired taste - but by the end of the jar you might actually enjoy it (in a strange sort of way). Mix it with fruit juice or pureed fruit and enjoy the results (and eventually even the taste - honestly!)

A blend of green foods such as Beyond Greens help to combat over-acidity of the blood and flush out of the body the harmful chemicals and toxins found in tobacco. Smoking makes the blood more acidic and so you must try to bring back the acid-alkaline balance. Udo's Choice Beyond Greens can also help maintain blood sugar stability.

And how about beetroot juice?

Beetroot juice is another natural remedy. It's crammed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It's a wonderful blood cleanser and booster..... And after the polluting effects of smoking, your blood will thank you for this treat. Again the taste may not be the best ever, but the effect on your health is well worth it.

As well as essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, such as iron, potassium, vitamin c and folic acid , beetroot contains valuable natural betacyns. Betacyns support both liver and kidney function. (Betacyns are what give beetroot its violet-red colour). Beetroot also ontributes to healthy blood pressure levels and improved circulation. It may may support spleen, and gall bladder function too.

If you don't like the taste of beetroot juice you can get all of the benefits from concentrated capsules. You should be able to purchase it from your local health food store.

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Passiflora - Passion flower

The herb passion flower (passiflora) is an ‘anxiolytic’. This means that it can soothe nerves, calm anxiety and tension, and reduce tightness and spasm in the muscles. Since passiflora has no side effects it can be used over a long period of time. It can help keep you calm and able to focus on your goal, free from withdrawal symptoms. Passiflora is particularly useful since it works on both physical and mental symptoms simultaneously.

In a double-blind four-week study, passion flower (passiflora) extract was found to be just as good as oxazepam (Serax). a conventional anti-anxiety medication which can cause dizziness, fatigue and slurred speech as undesirable side effects. Taking passiflora is much better than relying on tranquilisers, which can cause a whole range of dangerous side effects including dependency.

I would recommend taking a passiflora tincture or passiflora fluid extract since these are often easier to take and are absorbed more quickly and easily by the body than herbal pills, teas or dried herbs. Passiflora tincture is available in most good health food shops. Click here to see how much you can expect to pay, or to buy online.

Avena

Avena sativa is another name for oats. For hundreds of years oats have been used as a powerful tonic for the nerves. Fresh oats contain high levels of vitamin B, minerals and other nutrients, all of which are essential for our nervous systems to work properly. It also contains the alkaloid gramine which soothes frayed nerves and encourages better sleep.

A little known benefit of Avena (Avena sativa) is that it can help with withdrawal symptoms and ease the transition from a smoker to a non-smoker, making the whole process a lot easier.

As with passiflora I would recommend taking an avena tincture or avena fluid extract since these are often easier to take and are absorbed more quickly and easily by the body than herbal pills, teas or dried herbs. Avena saliva tincture (sometimes called 'oat seed tincture') is stocked in most decent health food shops.

Click here to check out prices for avena tincture, to get more information or to buy online.

Magnesium

Magnesium helps your body cope with stress. Anxiety-related illnesses such as heart disease and high blood pressure often occur along-side magnesium deficiency. When magnesium levels are low, the nervous system can't function properly and the muscles become tense. This can result in inceased nervous tension. Magnesium can also help reduce over acidity of the blood. Interestingly cancer cells can only survive in an overly acidic environment.

(Note that pregnant women should avoid taking extra Vitamin A)

Many multi-vitamin and mineral supplements contain magnesium. Make sure that it includes adequate zinc, vitamins A, C and E and the B vitamins.

Click here to see some of the choices available.  

The B vitamins

The B vitamins help maintain a properly balanced nervous system and are well-known for their stress relieving properties. When you're stressed (mentally, emotionally or physically)your body uses larger than normal amounts of the B vitamins. Smoking depletes your body of these esential vitamins making it essential to replace them daily. A good B vitamin complex should contain vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12 and folic acid.

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) helps the adrenal glands to produce anti-stress hormones. The adrenal glands are your main anti-stress organs.

Vitamin B6 encourages the manufacture of serotonin an important chemical in the brain that plays a large part in mood control. Low levels of serotonin have been linked to depression, violence and tension.

More than 100 enzymes need B6 to work effectively, and 19 out of the 20 amino acids in your body need sufficient B6.

Again the B vitamins can be taken in conjunction with other vitamins and minerals in the form of a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.

Click here to see some of the choices available.

Zinc

A staggering one out of three adults in the UK consumes insufficient zinc in their diet. Zinc is essential to help fight colds and provide a boost to an immune system that's been depleted by smoking.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an antioxidant. This means it can prevent damage to your body cells or repair damage that's already been done. Vitamin C also supports the cardiovascular system.

Unfortunately the chemicals in cigarette smoke destroy vitamin C. In fact, smoking a single cigarette uses up roughly the same amount of vitamin C as you would get from eating an orange. Vitamin C is often combined with zinc.

A new study has found that supplements of vitamin C can help prevent the loss of vitamin E that occurs in smokers. This study is published in 'Free Radical Biology and Medicine' by scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University.

Vitamin C can be taken as part of a multivitamin and mineral supplement, or separately in powder, tablet or liquid form.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E plays an important role in defending lung tissue against the damage caused by cigarette smoke.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays a large part in the health of your lungs. Unfortunately for smokers, cigarette smoke seems to destroy vitamin A so it's well worth supplementing your diet with vitamin A. Pregnant women should always check with their doctor before taking extra vitamin A.

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