The following excerpt is reprinted from Randi Fredricks' book Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health © 2008 and the chapter Nicotine Addiction: Alternative Strategies for Smoking Cessation. It has been edited and footnotes have been removed for readability.

A study at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina reported that smoking impairs muscle, bones and joints health, putting smokers at a much higher risk of developing osteoporosis. The study was based on a literature review of previously reported scientific data on the relationship between smoking and musculo-skeletal disease. The paper highlighted the following findings.

• Oxygen, which is carried by the blood and is necessary for healing, is significantly reduced in smokers. Smokers who break hips, have surgical procedures, or other injuries often take much longer to heal than do non-smokers. For example, the rate of success of spinal fusion surgery is decreased in smokers.
• Many people who have low back pain are smokers. Research suggests that smoker's back pain results from the cardiovascular disease smoking causes. Lumbar discs become malnourished by a poor blood supply caused by smoking, ultimately leading to disc disease.
• Women who smoke have significantly lower bone mass partially due to the inhibition of estrogen caused by nicotine. Women who smoke start menopause an average of 5 years earlier than non-smokers. These two factors put women smokers at a higher risk of osteoporosis and fractures due to weakened bones.
• Male smokers are at significant risk of developing osteoporosis because smoking inhibits the production of bone cells. Just like women smokers, male smokers are have a 2.5 times greater risk of developing osteoporosis compared to non-smokers.

If the risk of heart disease and cancer isn't enough to get you to quit smoking perhaps this study from the Carolinas Medical Center will provide you with the motivation you need.

The following are diet, nutrition, lifestyle, and other complimentary and alternative methods that have been shown in studies to help with nicotine addiction.

Diet and Smoking Cessation

Eating a highly alkaline-forming diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables can reduce cravings for cigarettes. Paradoxically, some studies have shown that smokers are repelled from healthy foods. A Duke University study in 2007 found that whole foods,like fruits and vegetables, actually makes cigarettes taste terrible. The researchers at Duke asked 209 smokers to list foods that worsened or enhanced their smoking experience. The smokers averaged about a pack of cigarettes a day for 21 years. Half were women, and nearly all of them were high-school or college graduates. Almost 70% said meat, coffee, and alcoholic beverages made cigarettes taste better. About 45% said some foods made cigarettes taste worse. These tended to be healthier foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, juice, noncaffeinated beverages, and even water.

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Randi Fredricks' website is www.RandiFredricks.com. To order Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health, click here.