A recent study has shown that cancer-causing substances form very rapidly after smoking a first cigarette. Scientists observed the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on 12 subjects. PAHs are chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Within 15 to 30 minutes of inhalation, the PAHs were transformed by the body into another substances that causes cancer by damaging a person’s DNA! This shows that the destructive process triggered by cigarettes actually begins with the FIRST one smoked! This is all the more reason for smokers to quit as soon as possible, and for non-smokers NEVER to begin in the first place. There may be genetic damage just moments after smoking.

The report, published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, shows that chemicals which cause cancer form rapidly after smoking.

Scientists involved in the small-scale study described the results as a stark warning to people considering smoking.

Anti-smoking charity Ash described the research as “chilling” and as a warning that it is never too early to quit.

The long term impact of smoking, from heart disease to a range of cancers, is well known. This study suggests the damage begins just moments after the first cigarette is smoked. Faster than you might think.

The researchers looked at the level of chemicals linked with cancer, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), in 12 patients after smoking.

A PAH was added to the subject’s cigarettes, which was then modified by the body and turned into another chemical which damages DNA and has been linked with cancer.

The research shows this process only took between 15 and 30 minutes to take place.

Professor Stephen Hecht, from the University of Minnesota, said: “This study is unique, it is the first to investigate human metabolism of a PAH specifically delivered by inhalation in cigarette smoke, without interference by other sources of exposure such as air pollution or the diet.

“The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting to smoke cigarettes.”

Martin Dockrell, director of policy and research at Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), said: “Almost everybody knows that smoking can cause lung cancer.

“The chilling thing about this research is that it shows just how early the very first stages of that process begin – not in 30 years but within 30 minutes of a single cigarette for every subject in the study.

“The process starts early but it is never too late to quit and the sooner you quit the sooner you start to reduce the harm.”

The research was funded by the US National Cancer Institute.

The study found second-hand tobacco smoke kills some 600,000 people worldwide every year.

Passive smoking kills 600,000 a year: study

Second-hand tobacco smoke kills some 600,000 people worldwide every year.

The study found second-hand tobacco smoke kills some 600,000 people worldwide every year. (Reuters: Alexandra Beier, file photo)

Second-hand tobacco smoke kills upward of 600,000 people every year, nearly a third of them children, according to the first global assessment released Friday.

Unlike lifestyle diseases, which stem largely from individual choice, the victims of passive smoking pay the price for the behaviour of others, especially family members.

Among non-smokers worldwide, 40 per cent of children, 35 per cent of women and 33 per cent of men were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, the most recent year for which data was available across the 192 countries examined.

When added to the 5.1 million fatalities attributable to active smoking, the final death toll from tobacco for 2004 was more than 5.7 million people, the study concluded.

Nearly half the passive-smoking deaths occurred in women, with the rest divided almost equally between children and men, said the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Some 60 per cent were caused by heart disease and 30 per cent by lower respiratory infections, followed by asthma and lung cancer.

All told, passive smoking accounted for 1 per cent of worldwide mortality in 2004.

Adult deaths caused by second-hand tobacco were spread evenly across poor and rich nations.

But for children, poverty made things much worse, the study found.

The adult-to-child ratio of fatalities in high-income Europe, for example, was 35,388 to 71.

The ratio in Africa was nearly reversed: 9,514 to 43,375.

“Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke most likely happens at home,” the researchers noted.

“Infectious diseases and tobacco seems to be a deadly combination.”

The tragedy of children felled by others’ smoke is even greater when calculated in years of life lost, rather than lives lost.

One reason twice as many non-smoking women die is simply because they outnumber their male counterparts by 60 per cent.

But they are also, in the developing world, 50 per cent more likely to be exposed to harmful smoke.

Passing and enforcing smoke-free laws for public spaces could significantly reduce passive smoking mortality and health care costs, said lead researcher Annette Pruss-Ustun.

Currently, only 7.4 per cent of the world population lives in areas with serious smoke-free laws, and even in these jurisdictions compliance is spotty.

Where laws are enforced, exposure to second-hand smoke in high-risk settings, such as bars and restaurants, is cut by 90 per cent, earlier research has shown.

- AFP

Denial is a defensive coping mechanism for not facing up to the reality of nicotine drug addiction.
There are over 40 chemicals found in cigarette smoke that are known carcinogens – that’s 40 good reasons to give up smoking now!

Tobacco smoke is more dangerous to health than nicotine. Long-term inhalation of tobacco smoke exposes every cell of your body to powerful chemicals that can cause cancer and cell mutations, and that ultimately cause tobacco-related illnesses.

Tobacco smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes contains over 4,000 chemical compounds and breathable, suspended particles. Some of the chemicals present in tobacco smoke have been proven to cause cancer and increase the risk of birth defects.
These include: ammonia, arsenic, benzene, cadmium, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, lead, mercury, naphthalene, urethane and a variety of nitrosamines (potent human carcinogens). Formaldehyde, ammonia, urethane, and naphthalene are contained in household products with labels telling you to avoid inhaling them.

There are also radioactive chemicals in tobacco smoke, like polonium-210. So far, over 40 chemicals have been found in tobacco smoke that are known human carcinogens. This means that these chemicals have been proven to cause cancer not only in laboratory animals, but also in people.

These chemicals make smoking too high a risk.

So, begin a new life… Quit Now!

Below is a thumbnail of a healthy lung and two thumbnails of diseased lungs.

Healthy Lung (98 kb)	Lung Cancer (133 kb)	Emphysema Lung (77 kb)

To print the full-size images, just click on the image or link text and use the print function of your browser.

Lung Cancer

Smoking is responsible for almost 90% of lung cancers amongst men, and more than 70% amongst women. Worse, when you get lung cancer, you’re very likely to die from lung cancer. It’s 92% fatal among men, and 88% fatal among women. Smokers are 10 times more likely to die from lung cancer than a non-smoker. If you’ve smoked since a teenager, the lung cancer rate zooms to nineteen times higher. And men who smoke more than a pack a day have about 20 times the lung cancer rate of non-smokers. Cigarette smokers also run a much higher risk of being struck by many forms of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus. Cigarette smoking is also associated with higher rates of cancer of the urinary bladder and kidney.

Emphysema

Emphysema is one of several chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. It causes abnormal swelling and destruction of lung tissue. Lungs maimed by emphysema eventually lose their elasticity. Breathing becomes a continuous agonizing struggle. And there’s little hope for a significant recovery once diagnosed. Lung tissue once destroyed by emphysema can never be replaced, turning its victims into respiratory cripples, who spend agonizing years gasping for breath.

Cigarette smoking is also associated with higher rates of peptic ulcers, stomach disorders, and periodontal disease.

According to their figures, it is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide every year.

Heart attack and stroke

UK studies show that smokers in their 30s and 40s are five times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers.

Tobacco contributes to the hardening of the arteries, which can then become blocked and starve the heart of bloodflow, causing the attack. Often, smokers who develop this will require complex and risky heart bypass surgery.

If you smoke for a lifetime, there is a 50% chance that your eventual death will be smoking-related – half of all these deaths will be in middle age. Smoking also increases the risk of having a stroke.

Lung problems

Another primary health risk associated with smoking are lung cancer, which kills more than 20,000 people in the UK every year.

US studies have shown that men who smoke increase their chances of dying from the disease by more than 22 times.

Women who smoke increase this risk by nearly 12 times.

Lung cancer is a difficult cancer to treat – long term survival rates are poor.

Smoking also increases the risk of oral, uterine, liver, kidney, bladder, stomach, and cervical cancers, and leukemia.

Another health problem associated with tobacco is emphysema, which, when combined with chronic bronchitis, produces chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The lung damage which causes emphysema is irreversible, and makes it extremely difficult to breathe.

Harm to children

Smoking in pregnancy greatly increases the risk of miscarriage, is associated with lower birthweight babies, and inhibited child development.

Smoking by parents following the birth is linked to sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death, and higher rates of infant respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia.

Nicotine, an ingredient of tobacco, is listed as an addictive substance by the US authorities.

Although the health risks of smoking are cumulative, giving up can yield health benefits regardless of the age of the patient, or the length of time they have been smoking.

Future impact

By 2020, the World Health organisation expects the worldwide death toll to reach 10 million, causing 17.7% of all deaths in developed countries. There are believed to be 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 800,000 of them in developing countries.

Have you ever seen beef jerky at the super market? You know, that smoked meat that sits on the counter waiting to be bought? How much water do you think is in that meat? Right, not much at all. Well, what do you think you are doing to your body when you smoke it? It is a known fact that smoking causes dehydration. If you don’t believe me, look at someone who has smoked for 50 or 60 years compared with someone who hasn’t, their skin quality is completely different most of the time.

When you become a non-smoker, your body is going to naturally want to re-hydrate the cells that have dehydrated over the years. What this means is that you could gain anywhere from 2 – 5 pounds of water. Now this is not fat, it is not water retention. It is simply the process of your body becoming denser – having each cell weigh slightly more because it is re-hydrated. Expect this. I would rather see you be 2 – 5 pounds heavier and a non-smoker, than 2 – 5 pounds lighter and a smoker. Remember, this is water that your body needs anyway. Which would you rather be?

Some people worry that they are going to crave sweets when they become a non-smoker. That’s because, depending on what cigarette you smoke, each cigarette contains between 8 – 18% sugar! When tobacco is ‘cured,’ it is soaked in sugar water and then dehydrated. This is why some people’s hands shake when they go without a cigarette for a while… it’s called hypoglycemia, and shaking hands is one of the first symptoms of having low blood sugar. Now I can’t tell you what to eat, but if I were going to find another source for sugar I would favor fruit. The natural sugars in fruit will counteract any cravings you may have for the lack of sugar from cigarettes. Would you be willing to accept a suggestion of increased fruit intake?

Finally, let me say this: In the highly unlikely event that you do gain more than 5 pounds, I can almost guarantee it is because you are not making healthy food choices. It is because you have been eating Oreos and chocolate to curb the sugar cravings. So what do you have to do if you have cravings for food?

I would make healthy choices of food if I were you.

If you had tried to quit smoking using will power alone, that often happens using only your conscious mind. Hypnosis gets your unconscious mind on your side and you will substitute healthy habits in the place of cigarettes and over eating.

Smoking cigarettes are a powerful habit and often, without changing your unconscious mind, it will want to substitute another habit of the hand going up to the mouth. What hypnosis does is to help you transfer the satisfaction that you used to get from cigarettes to something more beneficial such as, exercise, drinking more water, taking a deep breath. By doing this it avoids the possibility of putting on weight. 

Most people gain weight because they have a powerful habit of smoking. And when they eliminate the habit of smoking, they put eating in place as a new habit. And if you eat more, you will gain weight. So what hypnosis does is get you to find new healthy habits. Habits that will support you and your health, and not work against you.

The thing that normally stops most people from making a decision to quit cigarettes is that they make excuses and reasons.

Stress

The biggest excuse that most of them use is probably that they smoke because of stress. It is usually the stress of their job, family, kids, and life. Stress used to be my friends excuse.

One of my friends used to smoke about eight years ago. They had a job that was really stressful and they used to smoke because they said they were stressed. And that is when I simply pointed out to my friend. Do you smoke on the weekends? My friend said yes, I still smoke on the weekend. I asked my friend if he still smokes when on vacation. And my friend said yes he is still smoking on vacation. Then I said to my friend, if you still smoke on the weekends, and when you’re on vacation. How can you say that you smoke because of stress? Isn’t this stress of the job gone when you’re on vacation and on the weekends?

He smoked the same amount day in and day out. And it is not like on a really stressful day he had 80 cigarettes and the following non-stressful day he had five cigarettes. On the weekends, during stress, not stressed he smoked the same amount of cigarettes. So where is the stress? It is a great excuse but that is all it is – an excuse.

To Relax

A lot of smokers tell me that smoking relaxes them.

Now if you know anything about nicotine, you know, it’s impossible to actually relax when you smoke, because nicotine is actually a stimulant.

When you inhale nicotine it goes into your bloodstream and goes everywhere including your heart. Your heart sees nicotine as a poison and it increases your heart rate by about 12 beats per minute trying to get rid of the poison. This is why even when you haven’t smoked a cigarette in a while you may notice heart palpitations or lightheadedness or dizziness, because the nicotine is a stimulant causing your heart and your body to react and try to get rid of it. Your stomach produces extra stomach acid every time you smoke cigarettes, about ½ a cup of extra acid for every 2 packs of cigarettes.

You have a powerful stimulant like nicotine and you also have other carcinogens that are stimulants. And if you add additional stimulants like caffeine or tea or coffee, you have at least three extremely powerful stimulants causing the body to be hyper excited. Is that person relaxed? Not even close. In fact, your body is working overtime trying to get rid of all the poisons and toxins, you just put into it. So it is absolutely impossible to smoke and physiologically relax. Any feeling of relaxation is just an illusion.

Will Power

Actually if you didn’t have any willpower, you wouldn’t ever get out of bed, you wouldn’t go to work, you wouldn’t make payments on a house, if you didn’t have any willpower you wouldn’t do anything. Willpower is what allows you to do the dozens of things that you do every day of your life, maybe even if you don’t want to do them. And you do that because you have to, that’s what willpower is! So actually, you do have lots of willpower. The only question is, are you going to start using it to quit cigarettes? Because I know, under the right set of circumstances you could quit just by using willpower alone. No gum, patches, acupuncture, hypnosis, or anything.

Pleasure

How many of the cigarettes that you smoke, do you actually enjoy?

Most say 4 or 5.

Well, it takes about 4 minutes to smoke a cigarette, so that’s 4 x 4, or 16 minutes of enjoyment.

Now ofcourse it’s decreasing your health, but what is your health when you get 16 minutes of pleasure or enjoyment from smoking a cigarette. And you’re suffering with coughing and shortness of breath, hacking up mucus each morning and not being able to do all the things you want to do. Oh yeah, and it smells but what’s personal hygiene. We get those 16 minutes of enjoyment? And you’re spending thousands of dollars but hey; you got the money you can afford it. And studies show that it can take an average of 14 years off your life but hey, what is 16 minutes of pure enjoyment? I mean, it’s worth it isn’t it?

I am Joking ☺

Quitting smoking is hard, but the truth of the matter is that if you go 48 hours without a cigarette, the nicotine in your body is then gone. After the first 48 hours, if a smoker wants another cigarette, it is possibly for reasons other than a nicotine addiction.

So if you weren’t addicted to nicotine would it be easy for you to quit?

If you are like most, the answer is yes.

Great, so first let’s define addiction. The type of addiction I want to talk about right now is the physical addiction, not the mental. We’ll deal with the mental aspects of addiction in a moment. For now, let’s just address the physical aspects of addiction. Who tells us that cigarettes are addictive? I have an idea…. the media, the government, and the cigarette industry. And have these industry bodies ever lied to you before?

The Tobacco Companies

They are very certain that cigarettes are addictive, but I must share with you – thousands of people quit cigarettes every day, and not one of them experiences any kind of physical withdrawal symptoms that you would see in a normally addicting chemical like cocaine or heroin. Again, by definition, when I refer to addiction, what I’m talking about is the physical malfunction that bodies go through when being deprived of a substance upon which they have become dependent. Noone’s body malfunctions when they stop smoking cigarettes. In fact, think about it, how long can you go without a cigarette?

Do you sleep at night? How many hours? Do you smoke in your sleep? You do it at night don’t you? People who are truly addicted to a chemical like heroin or meth cannot sleep through the night, they have to get up to take a hit, just to go back to sleep. No one does that with cigarettes.

What about a movie? If you go to a really good movie, you can sit through the entire show without a cigarette, yet most people don’t think they can go 2 hours without a cigarette, Doesn’t this make you wonder how addictive cigarettes really are?

Exactly! Now how many crack addicts would say hours or days? How many heroin or meth addicts? For that matter, how many alcoholics? You see, even with just looking at your own life you have demonstrated that cigarettes do not have the same addictive characteristics biologically that truly addictive drugs do.

Now, I’m not into conspiracy theories or anything, but think about it, who benefits most by us thinking that cigarettes are addictive? The cigarette manufacturers! Wouldn’t the best sales pitch in the world for any consumable product be, “If you start using these by age 12, you will smoke them for the rest of your life.” It’s got to make you think, doesn’t it?

In fact, when I talk to people who become non-smokers, the most severe physical problems I’ve ever had people tell me about is headaches – which were more than likely stress related anyway. I also hear about crankiness, sore throats and shaking hands. I’ll address the issue of shaking hands in a moment, but let’s be honest about these so-called “symptoms.” Are they not simply irritations instead? Irritation and malfunction are not the same things. They’re not even in the same ballpark! Those symptoms do not cause malfunction. They just cause discomfort… which is not a word used to describe the addictive withdrawals from any other truly addictive drug.

I don’t know whether you have ever seen anyone on meth but it’s not a pretty sight. For example, the average meth addict if he hasn’t had his regular fix will experience some terrible withdrawal symptoms such as sweats, shakes, heart palpitations, nausea, even hallucinations.

Now when was the last time you saw someone experience anything like that when they tried to quit cigarettes? I mean, they might get a little grumpy, or irritable, but they don’t experience any of the physical symptoms that someone on meth gets do they?

You’ve probably heard about people who contracted lung cancer from breathing in second-hand smoke. Now the nicotine and all the chemicals are strong enough to kill them, but they weren’t strong enough to addict them. For years people breathed in all that nicotine but it doesn’t make them want to smoke.

So if it isn’t a physical addiction, then what is it? It’s a habit. Now it might sound a little trite to say it’s just a habit, but it’s probably one of the most powerful habits that exists.

When you wake up in the morning and you have that first cigarette you are reinforcing the habit of smoking. Then 20 times during the course of the day you are reinforcing the habit of smoking. Every time the hand goes up to the mouth, say about 10 times with each cigarette, so that’s about 200 times a day, you are reinforcing the habit. What else do you do 200 times a day? Nothing, except breathe.

So it’s a very powerfully conditioned habit. And the only reason you are still doing it is because you are still doing it. And the only way to stop is to just stop. Cutting down doesn’t work. That’s like telling an alcoholic to cut down their drinking. They can do it for a while but it soon creeps back. So you have to just quit cigarettes.

Because it’s just a habit then you can break it easily.

You need to decide to quit cigarettes once and for all. When you now decide, then it becomes easy. Because the word decide literally means to kill off. It comes from the Greek, like suicide, genocide, homicide; decide means to kill off one option, so when you decide now to quit cigarettes then it becomes easy.

Then you have things like the patches and the gum. Would you believe that patches and gum provide a massive dose of nicotine, one day’s supply of nicotine patches is equivalent in nicotine terms to about six packs of cigarettes a day. Now that’s standard cigarettes so that’s about 12 packs of low tar cigarettes and about 18 packs of the ultra lights and if that’s the case and it is, how come any body who has tried the patches or gum is getting more nicotine in their blood stream then they’ve ever had in their life.

Why on earth would they still want a cigarette? And yet you did. Why? That doesn’t make any sense that’s like saying you’ve got someone who is a heroin addict who traditionally injects heroin in the right arm and you come along and inject him in the left arm. Now is he still going to need to inject himself in the right arm as well? Well of course not because he’s getting it from somewhere else.

Now if you’ve got a patch on, you’re getting more nicotine in your blood stream then you’ve ever had in your life at one time. Why on earth would you want a cigarette? It’s because it’s not nicotine addiction, if it were the patches would work. Physically they don’t work, according to some of the research that’s been done if you try to quit cigarettes just by using will power about 7% of people will stop, if you quit cigarettes using the gum about 10% of people will stop, an improvement but not much of one, if you quit cigarettes using patches then about 16% of people will stop, again an improvement but not much of one. Because if you look at those figures around the other way, about 84 to 90% of people who try nicotine replacement therapy – fail. Now that means it doesn’t work. If what kept you smoking was purely an addiction to nicotine, and it would stand to reason that patches would work 100% of the time to help people quit cigarettes.

In fact, research shows that while physical addiction does exist, it comprises only 20% of what keeps people smoking while the remaining whopping 80% is a psychological habit. This alarming ratio may explain why chemical aids to quit smoking only reach 7%- 40% success rate at best. Yet the nicotine patch and other chemical drug companies do not usually reveal the complete statistics.

Now, let’s play a game, let’s pretend that I am the world’s most successful hypnotherapist. I have a 100% success ratio…I don’t, but it’s fun to pretend… everyone I work with becomes a nonsmoker with only one session. Do you think you will notice a void in your life?

You most assuredly will. Well, it’s possible that you won’t, but very few people become nonsmokers and completely forget about cigarettes, with no void what so ever. Those are the elite; however, the average person will experience a void.

The funny thing is, when people experience the void in their life, they freak out and give false meaning to the void. They say, “Oh my God! I’m noticing a void. That must mean I want a cigarette.” No, it just means you noticed the void. Don’t give it any more meaning than it deserves. In fact, if you do experience a void THAT MEANS the hypnosis is working! Think about it: If the hypnosis weren’t working, what would you automatically be doing? Right, smoking, but because the hypnosis is working, your unconscious mind now is not reaching for the cigarette and your conscious mind is catching up and wondering what it’s supposed to do.

Another thing that people experience is an increased desire to play with their hands, or they become fidgety. What’s funny is that they link up false meaning to the fidgeting. They say, “Oh my God! I want to do something with my hands. That must mean I want a cigarette.” No, it simply means that you want something to do with your hands again. Don’t give it any more meaning than it deserves.

In fact, if you find yourself getting fidgety, THAT MEANS the hypnosis is working! Think about it: You can probably get a cigarette out of the pack, lit, and in your mouth without even being consciously aware of it, can’t you? Right, so when your unconscious mind no longer wants to smoke, and it stops doing it, you consciously catch up with it and wonder what you are supposed to do with your hands instead. You see, as human beings, we are very nervous creatures, and wanting something to do with your hands is not an exclusive trait to smokers. Nonsmokers like to do it too! So if you notice a void or want something to do with your hands, embrace those desires, but don’t give them false meanings. Simply appreciate how well the hypnosis is working, and find something else to do, okay?

So that means the problem with cigarettes is not the nicotine, the problem with cigarettes is the habit of smoking. Of waking up in the morning and having that first cigarette at the same time then 20 or so times during the day having a cigarette at those times, with a cup of tea, after a meal, driving a car, when the phone rings. All those things become linked together as a mechanism that causes one to trigger another, so it’s just a habit.

If you are trying to kick your cigarette addiction you may consider treating the dominant reason you are still smoking. As with any action you will undertake repeatedly, your body will eventually form a habit and the more this action is repeated the harder it is to break. One extremely effective method to conquer the psychological smoking addiction naturally is through hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). For more information contact the Quit Guru, quitin60minutes@gmail.com

Many people confuse nicotine withdrawal with sugar withdrawal when they quit cigarettes. What people are experiencing in those moments is not nicotine withdrawal at all, but a sugar withdrawal. If you research the process of making cigarettes, you will find that part of the process involves soaking raw tobacco leaves in a vat of sugar water. Why do they do this? To take away the foul bitter taste of the tobacco leaf. So depending on what brand you smoke, 8 to 18% of that cigarette is sugar. This is a significant reason why people will usually pick a brand of cigarette and stick to it. It is because you get used to and accustom to that brands particular ‘flavour’ or ‘smoothness’. This has a lot to do with the sugar content in that brand of cigarettes.

Now if you are smoking 15 cigarettes a day, which is probably what the average smoker has. I am sure you would agree that is going to be keeping your blood sugar level at a reasonably higher rate than if you did not smoke. So if you suddenly stop smoking, your sugar levels are going to drop and you will experience similar things that diabetics will experience when their blood sugar levels fall; irritability, headaches, shaking. This is why people will often replace their cigarette smoking with food.

This is for two reasons; firstly it replaces the hand to mouth action. Secondly, they are subconsciously trying to elevate their blood sugar level. People will then sometimes complain about gaining weight. Well, it is not surprising to experience that when you are eating unhealthy food. Face it, most of us like to eat junk food, but we feel guilty when we do. So we need a good reason to eat it so we do not feel guilty. What better reason could you possibly have for eating junk than quitting cigarettes?

So to prevent sugar withdrawal when quitting cigarettes from happening to you, all you need to ensure is that you eat healthy sugars such as fruit, fruit juice, nuts, grains etc rather than sweets and chocolate. Also, drink plenty of water.

Using hypnosis to quit cigarettes prevents you from having to ‘deal with’ any so called ‘cravings’. When a person attempts to quit cold turkey they may try to get through this time anyway they can, such as eating. But when you use hypnosis, you get to the cause and real reason for smoking, so you will not feel like you are ‘dealing with’ anything. You simply will not feel like having another cigarette. For more information email the Quit Guru, quitin60minutes@gmail.com

Try to keep strong and focus your mind on quitting.
• Keep a diary of times when the cravings are worst
• Try to stay away from smoke-filled places
• Refuse the offer of ‘just this once’ from a friend
• Keep busy so you won’t be constantly thinking about smoking
• Find a picture of lungs that have been blackened by tobacco and keep it nearby
• Try some powerful daily affirmations
• Don’t start biting your fingernails as a substitute
• Sweets will not do as a substitute
• Make up your mind you have to do this for health reasons

Everyone who quits should aim to quit completely.
• Most people who return to smoking “cheat” in the first few weeks. Make the decision to quit and follow through.
• The decision to quit smoking must be made in order to successfully remove this crippling habit from your life. While this may seem like common sense, many people that try to quit smoking only make a half-hearted decision that inevitably leads to a relapse later on down the road.
• Make the decision to quit smoking completely is essential to regain good health and reverse bad effects caused by smoking.

Create a List
Find a reason to stop smoking and write down 10 reasons to quit. In addition to health reasons, the list might include having better smelling hair, clothes, and breath; having fewer wrinkles; enjoying the taste of food; and saving money.
Read the list often during the quitting process to help stay motivated.

Decide on a Specific Quit Date
Some people find it helpful to choose a particular date to quit when little or no stress is anticipated for at least the first 3 days. Women affected by PMS should avoid quitting right before getting their period. It may help to write out a quit contract, putting the date on paper, and getting a friend to sign it. Discard all smoking paraphernalia on the eve before the quit date. It would also be very helpful to have already booked your hypnotherapy session a few weeks in advance so you know the date you will become a non-smoker and never smoke again.

Let the Body and Mind Heal During Withdrawal
• Retreat from the world when cravings become overwhelming. Take naps, warm baths or showers, meditate, or read novels.
• Help your body get rid of nicotine. Drink plenty of water; eat fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber-rich foods. Carrots, apples, and celery are good munching foods.
• When cravings occur, hold your breath as long as possible or take a few deep rhythmic breaths.
• Purchase some good meditation / relaxation cds and music. Use meditation or relaxation and deep breathing exercises. In fact, taking deep breaths when the urge to smoke occurs is a good stopgap measure.
• Get plenty of sleep, 8 hours a night minimum

Get Family and Friends Involved
• Tell all your friends and family that you’ve already quit, so you’ll be embarrassed if they catch you smoking.
• Pay a family member or friend if they catch you smoking. The amount should be large enough ($5 – 20) to be a deterrent, but not so large as to be ridiculous.
• If your partner or friend smokes, try persuading them to quit or, at the very least, not to smoke around you and others.

Exercise
Exercise is one of the best things you can do during the first weeks because it helps to reinforce your commitment to your health. It also helps remove the toxins and nicotine from your body. Studies continue to show that smokers who exercise can greatly increase their ability to quit smoking while reducing their risk for weight gain. Move the muscles when cravings occur. Dance, run, walk, jump up and down, stretch, do push-ups. Yoga is an excellent exercise program for quitting. Older people and anyone with health problems should consult their health care provider before starting such a program.

Maintain a Healthy Diet and prepare for cravings
• Eat plenty of fresh, crunchy fruits and vegetables. Small carrots and celery make a great low calorie snack. This is also a useful way of satisfying oral cravings without adding many calories and gaining excess weight.
• Drink plenty of water and healthy beverages.
• Moderate intake of coffee or tea may be helpful in preventing weight gain. And may also have antidepressant properties. Avoid caffeine in the evening, however, since sleep disturbances can be a problem during withdrawal.
• Drink plenty of water, this will also wash impurities out of your body

Change Daily Habits
• Change your daily schedule, particularly eating times, as much as possible. Eat at different times or eat many small meals instead of three large ones. Sit in a different chair or even a different room.
• If you used to smoke after eating, find other ways to end a meal. Play a tape or CD, eat a piece of fruit, get up and make a phone call, or take a walk (a good distraction that burns calories as well). For example, if you normally would have had a cigarette with coffee, drink tea instead or use a different cup.
• Substitute oral habits by eating celery, chewing sugarless gum, sucking on a cinnamon stick, or carrying worry beads.
• Go to public places and restaurants where smoking is prohibited or restricted.
• Every day put the money normally spent on cigarettes in a jar and buy something pleasurable at the end of a predetermined period of time.
• Find activities that focus the hands and mind but are not taxing or fattening: Computer games, solitaire, knitting, sewing, whittling, and crossword puzzles
• Plan your days ahead of time to stay busy and occupied to fight cravings

See yourself as a non-smoker
The last big tip is to start looking at yourself as a non smoker. Do this even if you are still smoking now. If you aren’t ready to quit smoking today you can still begin to train your mind to think of yourself as a non smoker. The more you do the more your actions will reflect it.

Many people believe that they are the way they are for a reason. The motivation to act or not to act is based on the identity we hold for ourselves. If you start to think of yourself as a non smoker, you will start thinking like a non smoker. That will eventually lead to you acting like a non smoker in order to act in line with your self image.

Enjoy being a happy, permanent, non-smoker for life, breathing fresh air and never having another cigarette again.