We humans are a rather weird bunch, aren’t we?
We pick one day and call it “New Year”. The day before and the day after feel exactly the same, but no, this day is SPECIAL. OK, maybe we need a fixed point to plan agricultural events. However, we don’t stop there. Oh no. We invest New Year’s Day with some magical, motivating power to make radical changes to our lives.
“These humans are crazy!”
– Obelix, 50 BC
More people decide to give up smoking and alcohol on New Year’s Day than on any other day of the year. How do we know this? Google searches for terms related to these two topics peak on the 1st of January every year.
Let’s talk cigarette addiction for a moment.
Stopping smoking is one of the hardest things to do, as any ex-smoker will attest.
Why?
The usual answer is, “Nicotine is addictive.”
However, when you look for the evidence, none can be found. “Nicotine is addictive” is a myth, an urban legend.
Not a single study has ever found nicotine (as nicotine) to be addictive.
Weird, isn’t it? We could all swear that nicotine was the cause of cigarette addiction. After all, cigarettes without nicotine are not addictive.
It is true that nicotine, if given in an inhaled format (cigarette, vape) creates an addictive response, but nicotine given in any other format does not create an addiction, not even in high doses and not even if taken over long periods of time. For example, nicotine patches are not addictive in the least.
Within three days of not smoking, nicotine has left the building. One of the metabolites of smoking still hangs around for about three more weeks before also fading out of sight. That should be the end of smoking addiction, but it isn’t.
Cigarette addiction is more a psychological and social addiction than it is a biochemical addiction. If you understand this, you’re well on your way to quitting for good.
Vanderbilt University neuroscientist and psychiatrist, Prof Paul Newhouse, has forty years of brain research behind him. His main focus is nicotine’s surprising benefits on memory, mood and brain health.
Yes, brain health.
He found that nicotine can work in two opposite directions at the same time: If you’re agitated, nicotine can calm you down. Conversely, if you’re too calm, nicotine can make you more alert and focused (that first ciggie of the morning, with a cup of coffee).
“Nicotine causes cancer.”
Another popular myth with no basis in truth. Interestingly, even after a century or so of research, no long-term negative health effects of pure nicotine have ever been shown. None. Zilch. Nada. In fact, nicotine is possibly the most potent anticancer drug known for the treatment of glioblastoma, a mostly fatal type of brain cancer.
Smoking increases cancer risk, yes, but it’s not the nicotine that does the dirty work.
What smokers actually crave is the clarity of thought provided by nicotine. In short, nicotine is a nootropic (brain-boosting) drug with a quick onset of action. It also appears that every smoker self-regulates the number of cigarettes per day, based on their brain’s specific need for enhancement.
Nicotine and dementia
There is strong clinical evidence that nicotine is very helpful in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia.
Can nicotine prevent Alzheimer’s disease?
So far, we don’t know for sure. No studies have been done to investigate this. In case-controlled studies with a tobacco industry connection, smoking was associated with a 14% decreased risk for Alzheimer’s dementia, but studies with no tobacco industry affiliation showed an increased risk of Alzheimer’s dementia in smokers (link).
The MIND study (Memory Improvement through Nicotine Dosing) (link) found that nicotine had significant positive effects on attention, fine motor movements, short-term memory and working memory performance. This study used nicotine patches.
Other surprising benefits of nicotine
Nicotine seems to have beneficial effects in the treating the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. However, the benefits are not huge.
In ADHD, nicotine improves some of the impulsive responses that mark this “disorder”. Again, the benefit is on the lower end of the scale, but it does help explain why children with a diagnosis of ADHD are more likely to smoke than their asymptomatic counterparts. They’re likely looking for the brain-calming effect of nicotine.
In patients with depression, nicotine has a clear anti-depressant effect, especially in older patients. This effect was seen at doses of about 7-10 mg nicotine /day. At this dose, there are few side effects.
Anecdotal reports indicate that nicotine is helpful in treating the symptoms of lo-o-ong Covid / long vax, but no trials have been done as yet. For this use, doses as low as 2 mg / day seem to have an effect. The theory is that nicotine displaces the spike protein from its binding sites in the body. If combined with fulvic acid and / or serrapeptase to disarm the spike protein so released, symptoms are soon relieved (if the internet is to be believed).
In a study in children with Tourette’s syndrome, nicotine boosted the effects of the drugs being used. The benefit lasted for days or even longer after nicotine was discontinued (link).
As per popular opinion, nicotine does help with weight loss, but the effect is a lot more limited than what the anecdotes indicate. The weight loss benefit plateaus after about 2-3 kg has been lost. However, if you’re smoking to keep your weight down, then nicotine replacement may help maintain your current weight after you stop smoking.
To recap:
Nicotine is not a poison, but a naturally occurring therapeutic agent. The formulation and the dose is the poison. Most people can only tolerate a little of it at a time. However, at these low, tolerable doses, it provides benefits to the brain without any dangerous side effects (unlike prescription medicaitons). Note: Nicotine is not for pregnant or nursing mothers, since it impacts on the baby’s brain development.
What is the legal status of nicotine in South Africa?
In South Africa, nicotine in vapes is technically a scheduled medicine (S3), meaning it should only be sold by pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription. However, it’s widely sold as a consumer product outside this framework, creating a regulatory gravy area. New legislation (Tobacco Control Bill) aims to strictly regulate them like tobacco products with sales bans, age restrictions (18+), public place bans and new taxes.
Understandably, vapers are pushing back.
The weirdness of allowing cigarettes to be sold anywhere while turning nicotine into a prescription only drug is explained by the massive revenue the South African government earns from taxes on tobacco product sales. They have every incentive to keep people smoking and little incentive to see people quitting.
Let’s be clear: vaping, like smoking, introduces unwanted and potentially dangerous chemicals to the body. Ironically, nicotine is being targeted for the restrictions on vaping, as though a nicotine-free vape would be any safer. While it is definitely possible to use a vape to stop smoking cigarettes, the delivery mechanism ensures the same addictive effects as cigarette smoking. Giving up vaping is hard, too.
After a large detour, let’s get back to quitting smoking (or vaping).
Most smokers enjoy the serenity and clarity of thought that a cigarette brings. Quitting typically means the opposite: irritability, anger outbursts, loss of focus and indecision. This is the first hurdle that must be crossed.
Secondly, the action of holding something in the hands or in the mouth is an important part of the smoking ritual. Some smokers who wish to quit, find themselves walking around with an unlit cigarette in their mouths. This has nothing to do with nicotine (Eat your heart out, Sigmund Freud…).
Similarly, it has been said that quitting smoking is like being on a nudist beach for the first time: You do not know what to do with your hands. The act of holding a cigarette in the hands and lighting it is a ritual with deep psychological roots. Removing it leaves the smoker feeling vulnerable. Lighting a cigarette is the first habit in a stack of habits. Removing it is akin to removing the foundation of a house.
The social act of smoking is another powerful addictive force. When first starting to smoke, oxytocin is released in the brain. Oxytocin can be called the “bonding hormone” and it allows moms and babies to bond deeply during breastfeeding. It makes you feel at peace with the world. This is partially the reason why smokers flock together. Over time, this oxytocin-enhancing effect is blunted, however, but smokers never forget that initial “high” of unity. Unconsciously, they wish to recreate it, but it remains ever elusive.
Non-smokers do not understand any of this. They feel smokers are selfish %&* for polluting the air we all have to breathe. Non-smokers cannot believe that anyone would willingly fill their lungs with heavily polluted air. Why would anyone suck on the exhaust of a car? To non-smokers, quitting is as simple as not lighting up. Thus smokers find more solace among their smoking peers and even less social reason to quit.
Going “cold turkey” on cigarettes is a smoker’s worst nightmare. You might as well take away a toddler’s dummy (thanks, Sigmund, you may leave now). Not only does smoking become a part of a smoker’s identity, but it actually is the pillar that maintains that identity of being a relaxed, composed person, resolutely (sometimes defiantly) facing the world. Many smokers fear losing this when they stop smoking. Measured 10 years after, about 3% of smokers manage to quit smoking by going “cold turkey”. That leaves 97% who relapse within a decade.
In order to successfully overcome these significant hurdles, a bridge has to be built. When identity is at stake, it requires time to acquire and shape that new identity. In this regard, it is helpful to remember the following List of Threes:
- Three hours
- Three days
- Three weeks
- Three months
- Three years
Three hours
After three hours of not smoking, the urge to light up becomes almost unbearable. This is nicotine calling. It says, “This is how you will feel for the coming weeks. It’s terrible, isn’t it? Rather light up than suffer like this.” Strangely, if ignored, the urge goes away and even stays away for a day or two. Don’t give in.
Three days
After three days of not smoking, the nicotine (biochemical) battle has been won. There will be another convulsive effort to light up at this point, but it isn’t as intense or convincing or persistent as the three hour urge.
Three weeks
After three weeks of not smoking, nicotine metabolites are mostly out of the body. From this point forwards, the biochemical addiction no longer figures. Expect an internal struggle to get past this point.
Three months
After three months of not smoking, the psychological habits relating to smoking are mostly broken. At this point, there is often a strong yearning to light up again, but it soon passes if resisted. If not resisted, the powerful “kick” of a fresh cigarette restarts the addiction cycle. This is the point where the new identity is tested.
Three years
Many ex-smokers report how, after about three years of not smoking, they find themselves in a crowd with someone offering them a cigarette. Longing for that social unity can be very tempting at this stage. “It’s only one cigarette. What harm can it do?” The real decision actually is, “What is your true identity? Who are your true friends?” Unless you are clear about your new identity as an ex-smoker, the peer pressure to conform can tip the scales in the wrong direction. Three years marks the last hurdle. For many, it isn’t a hurdle at all, but it is worth noting that it may come – be prepared. Nearly one third of all successful quitters fall at this hurdle.
Current solutions for wannabe quitters
There aren’t many bridges available for those who wish to quit smoking.
* Nicotine chewing gums are hard and taste yucky. They don’t tick any of the boxes, except that they supply nicotine. To some extent, they give the mouth something to do, but it is hardly satisfactory. Success rates are higher than “cold turkey” but lower than patches.
* Nicotine patches deliver a constant, low level of nicotine to the body. The idea is that this underlying “safety net” of nicotine will reduce cravings. This does work, to some extent, but the lack of ritual does not address the psychological withdrawal. With patches, there are no nicotine spikes to lighten up the day. Long-term success rates (at the 10 year mark) indicate that nicotine patches increase the likelihood of quitting for good to 8%.
* Prescription medications: These all have unpleasant, even dangerous side effects. Their success rates are on par with those of nicotine chewing gums.
* Behavioural modification: This is moderately successful in the short term.
Social support is important during this time, but by itself, it does not quite cross the bridge.
Our Solution
In order to help smokers quit, Doc Frank developed a nicotine mouth spray called “Nixo”. We are proud to launch it today!
One spray into the mouth delivers 0.5 mg nicotine (half a cigarette) to the gums, where it is rapidly absorbed (but not so rapidly as to cause addiction). This nicotine spike curbs cravings for a cigarette for several hours and relaxes the inner tension almost instantly. Studies show that the long-term (one year) success rate of nicotine sprays are roughly triple that of going “cold turkey”, at about 16%.
By packaging our product in a solid little glass bottle, Nixo gives the hands something to hold and even fondle (if that’s your thing).
Organic peppermint in our spray means Nixo also acts as a pleasant breath freshener.
Dose
Take one spray in the mouth every time you feel like lighting up. Within seconds, the desire to smoke will subside. This also works for those wishing to quit vaping.
Every 30 ml bottle delivers 250 sprays. This should be enough for 1-2 months.
Anything else that will help with quitting?
Yes, there are a number of other products that may help you with quitting or recovery. If you combine more than one intervention, the chances for success increase significantly.
This remarkable little succulent from the Karoo relieves anxiety in a matter of minutes. Take one capsule for 6-8 hours’ worth of anxiety relief. It is highly effective in all forms of drug withdrawal, without being addictive itself.
One spray below tongue in the morning delivers 1 mg of Naltrexone. This chemical triggers the brain to produce endorphins, which are our laughing hormones. LDN significantly reduces withdrawal effects. Take it with Nixo to improve success rates.
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) supplementation helps reduce anger outbursts and depressed mood during withdrawal. We recommend 3 x 100 mg daily for at least the first month of quitting.
Cancer Bush Plus (Sutherlandia)
This herb helps the body heal faster after the onslaught of tar and other baddies is over. It also helps restore sex hormone levels, which are reduced by smoking.
DMSO, with its unique stinky garlic odour, is not for the faint-hearted. However, by nebulising with it twice daily (about 2 ml at a time), damaged lung tissue is rapidly repaired. For long-term smokers, we recommend using it for at least three months. Bear in mind that it takes about 20 years (after quitting) for the risk of lung cancer to return to near-baseline levels. By using DMSO in nebulised form, this risk, as well as the risk for smoker’s lung (emphysema or COPD) can be drastically reduced or even reversed. It is worth tolerating the stink of DMSO for such a great outcome.
Can non-smokers benefit from Nixo?
Yes, the formulation in Nixo is gentle on non-smokers, too. The nicotine in the spray gives a mildly burning sensation to the gums, but this quickly fades.
Nixo may help people struggling with:
* depression,
* attention deficit,
* mild / early dementia,
* Parkinson’s disease,
* brain fog and
* long Covid / chronic fatigue
For the above indications, one spray, four to six times a day, should be sufficient.
To your (fresh) health!
The Team at Integrow Health
PS: Please remember to review Nixo. Your input helps us improve.
