Quit smoking forever: Watch ‘The Insider’
Q: I’ve tried twice in the past six weeks to quit smoking. The first time, I went for a week before I blew it. Then I went for four weeks. I thought, “We l l I’m over that,” but I had one cigarette and was immediately hooked again. Help!—Rodney G., Oakland, California
A: You and millions of other Americans made New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking. And like you, many of them found that one slip-up put them back on the tobacco train. But there are currently 50 million EX-smokers in the U.S.—more than the number of folks who currently smoke—and you can join their ranks! (It usually takes using stop-smoking aids for more than three months and substituting another habit, like swimming or knitting, for this one.)
The Challenge: Tobacco companies go to great lengths to make it hard for you to quit! Remember the 1999 movie “The Insider”? Based on a 1996 expose about the tobacco industry published in Vanity Fair, Russell Crowe plays a former “big tobacco” exec who spills the beans to a TV producer, played by Al Pacino, about how cigarettes are designed to get people addicted and keep them hooked.
As for your experience of falling back into the habit with just one cig? A study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research found that at least 61 percent of people who try just one cigarette become regular smokers.
With that one cigarette, you inhale 4,000 additives and chemicals. Many of them are actually transformed once they burn so that they go deeper into your lungs! More than 60 are known to cause cancer.
So, Rodney, watch “The Insider”—it will make you mad, and anger is good fuel to help you quit. And check out the Cleveland Clinic website (Dr. Mike has helped over 3,500 folks quit for good) for effective support to kick your tobacco habit.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen at youdocsdaily@ sharecare.com. (c) 2018 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.