Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable disease worldwide, according to the American Lung Association. Quitting this highly addictive substance requires considerable effort and most smokers go through several attempts before quitting permanently. Medicinal herbs offer a viable option for many in quest of former smoker status.
St. John's Wort
St. John's Wort is an herb that is widely used to alleviate symptoms of depression and recent studies of the effectiveness of St. John's Wort as an aid in smoking cessation have yielded promising results. One study, published in the September 2006 journal, "Complementary Therapies in Medicine" gave participants 450 mg of standardized St. John's Wort extract twice daily along with smoking cessation messages. After 12 weeks the quitting rate was 37.5 percent and the study concluded that St. John's Wort was well tolerated, with few adverse effects and participants did not exhibit significant weight gain as a side effect of quitting. St. John's Wort acts by keeping levels of dopamine and norepinephrine elevated, a similar mechanism of action to the drug Bupropion--an FDA-approved agent for tobacco cessation. And, compared with conventional therapy, St. John's Wort is considerably less expensive. Side effects of St. John's Wort may include diarrhea, insomnia, headaches and light sensitivity.
Ginseng
One of the most widely used herbs in traditional medicine, ginseng is prized for its ability to boost immune function, increase energy and reduce the effects of stress. Ginseng aids in the process of quitting smoking by providing the energy lift of nicotine without its hazardous effects. This herb can also curb withdrawal symptoms by preventing the dopamine elevating effect that nicotine has on the brain, according to the website StopSmokingABC.com. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved with behaviors such as motivation, pleasure and reward seeking and is closely correlated with addiction in some individuals, according to Harvard University. Side effects of ginseng may include headaches, nausea, blood pressure imbalances and, in some cases, insomnia. As with all remedies, consult a qualified health care practitioner to determine the most appropriate course of therapy.
Clove
A study of medicinal herbs published in the 2005 "American Journal of Chinese Medicine" concluded that drinking a tea extract of clove was helpful in alleviating side effects of nicotine withdrawal. The high levels of antioxidant activity of clove speed the liver's ability to break down nicotine and eliminate it from the bloodstream, thereby lessening the effect of nicotine and lessening the withdrawal symptoms during the phase of quitting. Participants in the four-week study reported fewer symptoms compared to a control group that did not receive the clove extract, and 38 percent were successful at quitting, compared to 12 percent in the control group.
References
- National Institutes of Health: A Phase II Study of St. John's Wort for Smoking Cessation
- Harvard Health Publications: Drug Addiction and the Brain: Effects of Copamine on Addiction
- National Institutes of Health: Effects of Medicinal Herb Tea on the Smoking Cessation and Reducing Smoking Withdrawal Symptoms.
