Herbs to Help Quit Smoking

Why Herbs

Using herbs to help quit smoking might be just the ticket if you’re looking for an all natural way to quit.

Herbs have been used for millennia all over the globe in the treatment of diseases and medical conditions. Indian ayurvedic medicine has used herbs in the treatment of opium addiction for centuries.

Recently, many people have turned to herbs to help quit smoking because of their all natural appeal.

This makes total sense when you look at the non-herbal medications available to you.

As far as manufactured drugs that can help you quit smoking, you’re looking at either Buproprion or Varenicline. These are knows as Wellbutrin and Chantix, respectively.

Both of these drugs have been shown in clinical tests to increase your chances of quitting smoking. But not everyone feels comfortable taking a highly processed, high-powered chemical when they don’t need to.

Another possibility is NRT (nicotine replacement therapy). This sort of medication has been proven to work, too. What people worry about with NRT is that you’re still ingesting nicotine into your body.

You may not know this, but nicotine is actually poisonous.

Enter herbs to help quit smoking.

Although there have not been any definitive studies actually proving that herbal remedies work, a lot of people report success with them.

So, herbal remedies should be something to look into when learning about how to quit smoking.

If you’ve decided to try herbs to help quit smoking, you don’t need to become an expert in herbs and spend days tramping around the woods trying to find medicinal plants.

There are a number of online businesses that sell herbal preparations specifically designed to help you quit.

(As this website matures, I’ll put some links here for you, but for now just Google “herbal remedies smoking” or something similar.)

Common Herbs Used for Quitting Smoking

To help you understand what you’re looking for, here is some information about the herbs most commonly used to help people quit smoking.

Hypercum (St. John’s Wort): St. John’s Wort is a flowering plant that is used mainly to treat depression. Although it’s not conclusive, there has been some small amount of research done on this herb and it’s benefits for smokers.

I read about two such studies on About.com, where they had about a 20-30% success rate using St. John’s Wort to help people quit.

That’s not a bad rate of success!

Lobelia: This herb is actually found in a lot of anti-smoking products. It is thought that its active ingredient, lobeline, acts like nicotine in the body.

Research has shown that lobelia increases the levels of dopamine in the brain, but no clinical studies have actually proved that lobelia helps people quit smoking.

Ginseng: Ginseng has been used for thousands of years to strengthen the immune system as well as increase energy. Like lobelia, ginseng has been shown to increase levels of dopamine in the brain. There have not been any real studies, however, that have shown ginseng to actually help people get off cigarettes.

Scutelaria: Otherwise known as skullcap, this herb is used to help with muscle cramps, headaches, fibromyalgia, and various seizure disorders. It is sometimes used in tinctures designed to help you quit smoking.

Conclusion

Just because something is “natural” doesn’t mean that it’s safe. Cyanide is commonly found in apple seeds. If you are going to use herbs to help you quit, you should try to find someone knowledgeable, especially if you’re taking other prescription medications.

Most importantly, you need to consult your doctor. Although he or she may not be versed at all in herbal medicine, they would probably know enough about various chemical interactions to help you steer a safe course.

Herbs have not been shown to actually work. Does that mean you should not use them? Not at all.

Remember, by smoking you are poisoning your body every day. Whatever remedy works to get you off cigarettes is going to greatly increase your overall health.

Since herbs are not prescribed by a physician, you need to be careful. Read about what you are thinking about using, and use it according to the directions.

Also, don’t depend on herbs to be your only method for quitting. Just as with drugs like Buproprion and Varenicline, you would probably have more success using drugs along with other, non-medical quit smoking programs.

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