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Stopping smoking the natural way
Can you suggest a herbal or homeopathic method that would help someone give up cigarettes? Both my mother and my brother are keen to relinquish the weed.
There’s lots your mother and brother can do to help support the body through the agony of withdrawing from nicotine - which many doctors argue is even more addictive than heroin.
If they want to take a homepathic remedy, they should consider a consultation with a qualified practitioner who will make what is called a constitutional diagnosis, which will shed light on why they smoked in the first place.
Otherwise, the homeopathic remedy most often recommended to help those who want to stop smoking is Caladium 6c which comes from the American Arum plant and which has been shown to help alleviate tobacco cravings.
Farmacia, London’s first one-stop combined pharmacy and complementary health clinic, runs a Quit Smoking programme which includes a consulation with a qualified herbalist and acupuncture. Penelope Povey, one of the herbalists who works there, suggests anyone trying to stop smoking should also take Avena sativa (oats) which will help support the nervous system. She suggests taking oat juice and switching to a diet high in fruit and vegetables which will help beat cravings by changing the pH of the body making it less acidic, (cigarettes make it more acidic).
Napiers have an excellent formulation called Aim Calm. It contains valerian, vervain, skullcap and hops and does just what the name implies but should be avoided if you are pregnant or suffering from depression. Lobelia is also an effective tool in the battle to stop smoking. It stops cravings by covering the same receptor sites as nicotine and helps restore clean lungs. Lobelia contains a number of powerful herbs, so should only be used under the guidance or recommendation from a practitioner. Large doses will cause nausea so Povey suggest you take it in the form of a cough syrup.
*For a Quit Smoking appointment at Farmacia call 0171-831 0830. Aim Calm by Napiers costs £6.50 for 100 tablets; take 2 three times a day. Schoenenberger oat juice costs £5 for 160ml which is a week’s supply, Take 10ml twice a day. Lobelia cough syrup costs £5 for 10ml. Take 5ml three or four times a day.