Let a little love help you quit smoking

As you stub out what you hope is your last cigarette at midnight on New Year’s Eve, consider this: conventional methods of support such as nicotine replacement have only a 15-17% success rate after one year. So it’s clear there’s more to it than nicotine withdrawal and willpower!

Quitting smoking hits you hard as your body craves the drug it is used to. Cravings, it has been discovered, are associated with a lack of dopamine in certain areas of the brain. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter - a molecule which allows communication between brain cells and other nervous systems in the body. It keeps your brain alert and active and is crucial for executive functions such as constructive thought, concentration, short term memory and motivation among other things.

Smokers often reach for a cigarette when they are stressed and want to feel more happy and calm. But when they feel happy and calm, their cravings aren’t so apparent and that’s because at these times another important neurotransmitter phenylethylamine (PEA) is being released in the brain.

The Love Connection

PEA has been coined the “love molecule” by scientists because it is released when we experience happiness, joy and calm and is the molecule which flows in abundance when we fall in love. PEA is an important molecule as it directly contributes to increasing the freely circulating dopamine in the brain. So, as well as fostering a happy, calm state, thereby reducing stressful feelings, the higher levels of dopamine also help reduce cravings.

Finding PEA

PEA is found in small amounts in chocolate, but the only food to contain significant amounts is the wild blue-green algae found in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, USA. People taking Klamath algae regularly report that they are "no longer attracted to nicotine". Klamath algae with a high level of PEA can be found in a natural supplement called vitalLIFE which is available in easy-swallow capsules, costing £12.00 for 60 from Simplyvital.com.