The challenges of quitting smoking are legendary. Unfortunately, many failures litter the road to success.

The problems center around two types of cravings. One is physical, the other psychological. Here are a couple ways to address them that can put you (or someone you know) directly on the path to permanent success.

First the physical cravings: Tobacco companies know full well that the nicotine in tobacco is what's physically addicting, and so they see to it that every brand of every tobacco product has a good dose of it. As with any addiction, the person so affected begins withdrawal symptoms in the absence of the substance - in this case nicotine.

Here's how it's addictive, and that holds the key to an effective strategy for dealing with it: Nicotine is very similar in chemical structure to a nutrient nerves need. Nicotine replaces the nutrient, niacin in its 'place' on nerves. That's what leads to the jangly nerves when quitting - the body is getting more and more deficient in niacin but is now conditioned to getting the substitute (nicotine).

So here's the strategy: use the nutrient! But in this case, do not use niacin, because there are often cardiovascular symptoms that come from using it. Instead, use niacinamide, which is free from those problems.

Niacinamide usually comes in tablets that are 500 milligrams. So, get a tablet, break it up into smaller pieces, and when craving a cigartte (or whatever tobacco product you were using), suck on a piece of niacinamide. (The jury is still out as to how much niacinamide it's ok to take in a day, but most experts agree that 1500 milligrams is not a problem. So if you've cut your 500 mgm pill into 5 little chunks, that gives you 15 doses to suck on when experiencing a craving).

And if you end up having the cigarette anyway, be sure you wait at least ten minutes at a minimum before having it. That way the niacinamide has a chance to occupy those sites on the nerve, and when the nicotine comes in, it finds the space already taken. Now you're habituating your body to demand the nutrient instead of the addicting tobacco. Plus you've given your body what it really needs to stop the jangling nerves.

But what about the psychological addiction? That urge to have the product in your hand, to fiddle with it, and all the habits that go along with it? Not to mention that the mind, knowing it cannot have something, mounts an all out war of resistance to demand it.

Happily this is a problem that can be overcome by a simple strategy: don't quit!

What, you say? I thought this was all about quitting!

Yes, it is. To avoid the all-out war the mind mounts, don't quit. Instead, simply delay the next cigarette (or pipe, cigar, etc.)

I've been amazed by how well this strategy works. I've delayed my next cigarette for close to 50 years now!

Good luck!

And, if you don't have a tobacco addiciton, forward this to someone who does You could just save them from a host of horrible conditions, like heart disease, cancer and/ or emphysema.

Pamela Levin is an R.N. and a Teaching & Supervising Transactional Analyst. In private practice 42 years, she has 500 + post-graduate hours in clinical nutrition, herbology and applied kinesiology. These two tips were how she managed to stop smoking over 40 years ago.

Pamela Levin, R.N., T.S.T.A.
September 9, 2013

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