We’ve all known for years that smoking is bad – and that if you do smoke, there are massive health benefits for stopping that habit. Current research shows that tobacco use kills more than five million people per year. And, that smoking is the world’s single most preventable cause of death.
Researchers at Western University have found recently with their new study that shows great promise in combing exercise with efforts to stop smoking, Their study shows that it’s possible to actively combat cigarette cravings through exercise.
In the study, Amelia Tritter, Lyndsay Fitzgeorge and Harry Prapavessis from Western’s Faculty of Health Sciences showed a sharp decline cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms for a group of 30 hard-core smokers. They combining the use of nicotine lozenges with moderately-intense sessions of exercise during the course of their study.
What they found was that for those study participants using only nicotine lozenges, the users were able to reduce their desire to smoke by 30 per cent. But, for those users that combined nicotine lozenges with exercise – those users reduced their desire to smoke by 45 per cent. (FYI: the findings were published by Psychopharmacology, an international journal that covers the broad topic of how drugs affect behavior.)
Tritter, Fitzgeorge, and Prapavessis set out to prove that combining both exercise with nicotine lozenges would produce results better than the individual therapies would. “We were interested in combining different treatments in an effort to maximize craving relief because we know that it’s the cravings that play such a big role in why someone relapses,” explains Prapavessis, who serves as director of Western’s Exercise and Health Psychology Laboratory.
Prapavessis noted that the recommended intensity of exercise could be done for any able-bodied individual. The duration of exercise would last no more than 10 to 15 minutes. Based on their findings, they highly recommend combining exercise with nicotine lozenges to further maximize a person’s desire to not smoke.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re a long time smoker, you know that the desire to smoke makes it very difficult to “kick the habit”. Yes, you can use nicotine gum, a patch, or as the study used, nicotine lozenges. But – think about it for a minute. Adding a good cardio routine to your efforts to stop smoking is a great way to promote good health. Getting clean oxygen into your lungs during even a light-to-moderate cardio workout makes you feel better – and regular exercise has been shown as a great way to counteract the effects of having toxins in your body (of which cigarette smoke is definitely a toxin). Now this study shows that by incorporating a good cardio routine, whether running on a treadmill, using an elliptical trainer, or riding an exercise bike, can also help reduce your cravings for a smoke – while you improve your overall health with regular exercise!
