12 Natural ways to quit smoking and reverse smoking damage.
Many people smoke cigarettes and vapour devices as a way to lower stress and calm the body.
Tobacco and vape liquids contain nicotine, an addictive substance which makes you feel pleasure by triggering 'happy neurotransmitters' in the brain.
It also opens the bronchial tubes in the lungs, and dilates the arteries temporarily making you feel really good.
Over time however this causes some major damage to the body and can lead to lung diseases, cancer throughout the body, infertility, aging skin, bone loss, liver damage and many more problems.
In today's video we will share with you a list of 10 natural ways to stop smoking and heal the damage caused from toxins in cigarettes.
1. Nutritional Yeast
Many people quit smoking immediately which causes a shock to the nervous system and brain chemistry.
This may cause side effects like high blood pressure and your cravings for nicotine will be very intense.
Before you stop smoking, begin consuming nutritional yeast daily, and continue to take this after you quit.
This is rich in B Vitamins which support the nervous system and are very calming for the mind and body.
2. Broccoli Sprouts
When you smoke, you inhale over 7000 different chemicals and over 70 of these are known to cause cancer.
Toxins from smoking are absorbed into the blood and taken to the liver to be removed. Over time these can build up in the liver and cause some major health problems.
We recommend eating healthy foods rich in sulphoraphane like broccoli sprouts to help remove any stored toxins which will help to reduce cravings and restore your health and vitality.
3. Potassium
When you smoke your parasympathetic nervous system becomes addicted to nicotine to make you feel calm and relaxed.
As you begin to cut out cigarettes and vapes, you will notice yourself feeling tense with powerful urges to smoke.
To reverse the chemical imbalance that causes this, you must consume foods rich in potassium.
We highly recommend consuming kale, broccoli, arugula, beet tops, avocados ad cauliflower to get your potassium. You can also take a supplement of potassium citrate.
The goal is to get at least 3000mg potassium per day into the system to restore proper flow of blood from the heart, balance blood pressure and restore brain chemistry.
4. Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is a fermented vegetable which helps your body to make acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter in the brain.
Smoking disrupts the normal relationship with this chemical in the brain and its receptors, so eating sauerkraut can help bring this back to normal.
Sauerkraut also helps with detoxifying the body of dangerous substances in cigarette smoke and vapour.
5. Low Stress Exercise
When quitting smoking you will need to perform low stress exercise every day for several reasons such as reducing cravings and purifying the lungs.
Long slow walks outside can help your body to get more oxygen into the lungs, blood and brain. This will help to restore your natural brain/body balance and make you feel better.
Low stress exercise also activates calming hormones and neurotransmitters that gets rid of cravings, which is why we recommend walking for at least 1 hour per day when you get started.
You may also perform gentle exercise like yoga and resistance training outdoors to get fresh air into the lungs.
6. Vitamin D3 and K2.
Long walks will also help you to get more sun on your skin which produces vitamin D, an important nutrient needed when you quit smoking.
You can also take a supplement of Vitamin D3 in large amounts along with K2 to help your adrenal glands produce cortisol.
Cortisol is a natural anti-inflammatory hormone which will help to lower the stress on your body from withdrawal.
K2 improves absorption of Vitamin D3 and allows for better blood flow in the arteries and veins.
7. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
This is a therapy which involves laying in a tank and breathing in almost 100 percent pure oxygen.
Gentle pressure forces oxygen into the lungs and blood cells which reach the tissues in the brain.
This is excellent for restoring the body's natural chemistry when quitting smoking and helping to restore the health of the lungs.
8. Ashwagandha
You can take a supplement of ashwagandha daily to help you quit smoking for good. This adaptogenic herb from India helps to keep cravings for cigarettes at bay.
Adaptogen herbs like this help your body to adapt to stress of all kinds, by bringing your physiological processes back to normal.
9. Keto
Before quitting smoking, you can set your body up right by following a healthy ketogenic diet.
This is a diet rich with healthy fats, moderate protein and less than 20g carbs per day.
This floods your body with ketones, a healthy fuel for the body which are antioxidants for healing and restoring the cells.
Following this diet before, during and after quitting will restore the body and balance brain chemistry.
10. Fasting
Intermittent fasting for longer than 18 hours will help your body to trigger a process called autophagy. The body begins to clean out and recycle old dead proteins.
Be sure to take electrolytes and minerals and drink only water when fasting for the best possible effects.
This will help to restore scarred tissue in the lungs caused from smoking damage, by repairing damaged tissue.
A combination of Keto and Fasting has helped many to fight chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which many smokers suffer with.
11. Valerian Root
Many smokers and ex-smokers find it difficult to sleep during the night. This is caused by hormone imbalances and problems with the adrenal glands.
Taking a 450mg Valerian Root capsule each night will help you to drift off and have a deeper more restorative sleep.
Sleeping is very important when it comes to healing the billions of cells in the body and restoring the nervous system.
12. Affirmations
Last but not least we highly recommend performing positive affirmations regularly throughout the day to reprogram the brain and break habits.
Smoking is linked with social habits and the act of holding the cigarette to the mouth. These habits can be hard to break without reprogramming the brain.
Read the following affirmation "I am happier and healthier since I quit smoking and have no need or desire to ever smoke again"
Write this down on a card and read it often throughout the day. Over the period of 31 days, this will reprogram the subconscious and make the process of quitting easier long term.
As you can see there are many natural ways to quit smoking and reverse smoking damage.
Supplying the right nutrients to the body is very important when it comes to quitting long term.
Will power and the decision to make a change is also very important when changing any habits. Remember that it takes at least 31 days to break a habit, so be patient with yourself and take it one day at a time.
Loading up on vegetables and breathing lots of fresh air will rapidly lower cravings as these help to reduce inflammation, promote blood flow and reverse damage from toxins.
In our previous video we took a deeper look into the dangers of smoking and highlighted 16 major problems that smoking can cause.
Be sure to watch this video to help motivate you and instil in your mind why exactly that you are quitting.
1 in 5 deaths are caused by smoking in the USA alone, and this does not account for the many diseases that smoking causes.
Although it makes you feel calm at first, over time the receptors in the brain get desensitised making you need more and more nicotine.
The sooner you find a way to quit smoking, the sooner you can restore your long-term health and live a more enriched, long and happy life.
CONVERSATION