For over 3 decades, thousands of my smoking patients have benefited from my cigarette cessation treatments. First I provide them with some basic facts about the dangers of tobacco and how it greatly increases their risks of cancer and heart and pulmonary diseases. More importantly, I provide them with fundamental and practical knowledge about their brain chemistry so that, unlike the nearly half million smokers in the United States and almost 5 million worldwide who are killed by tobacco every year, they will understand a simple, rational and scientific way to quit.

How is it that so many people are compelled to use nicotine on a regular basis and risk such adverse consequences? Moreover, how is it that smokers who are addicted to nicotine are given prescriptions to the very substance they are hooked on, or are prescribed drugs which can be just as addictive and dangerous? The answer to both of these questions lies in an understanding of the way our brains work. And by the way, so does the answer to the question, “How can I quit smoking or cut down without resorting to using nicotine patches and gum (and other stop-smoking drugs) without incurring further risk?”

Our brain cells, or neurons, communicate with each other by means of small molecules called neurotransmitters, which are manufactured directly from nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. When neurons exchange these molecules with each other, they enable us to stay focused and alert, to be able to deal with stressful situations, and to block out pain, among many other things. When the brain is supplied with sufficient amounts of proper fuel and nutrition, neurons can produce and exchange neurotransmitters in optimal quantities, and we tend to stay on top of things, to remain relaxed and happy, and to get joy and pleasure out of everyday experiences. However, when our brain cells are deprived of proper nutrition and can’t produce enough neurotransmitters to deal with life’s stressors, we become irritable, unable to focus, angry, even depressed and we can crave drugs and junk food.

If neurotransmitter shortages are severe enough and continue indefinitely, most people are compelled to seek ways to offset the discomfort and difficulties. One of those ways is to take up smoking. Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, artificially overcomes some of these neurotransmitter deficiencies, and temporarily improves functioning and mood which had been less than par. We can feel and function “normally” again and of course many are seduced by such “improvements.”

There are two downsides to this process. First of all, once nicotine is detoxified, the original neurotransmitter deficiencies which were at the root of the problems return, compelling the user to quickly light up again. Secondly, your brain is always trying to maintain balance, and it responds to nicotine by decreasing the synthesis of natural neurotransmitters, so the more that nicotine is used, the worse the neurotransmitter depletions get, so more nicotine has to be used simply to function normally and feel OK. This is the core cause of all chemical addictions.

What happens when a smoker realizes that they have a tiger by the tail and they ask for help? Unfortunately, it becomes a process of the blind leading the blind. Although we physicians get a brief training in biochemistry in medical school, we are not taught the practical application of such education. Most of our training is about drug therapies and interest in nutrition is denigrated as “unscientific.” Replenishing the natural neurotransmitters, the only possible “cure” for nicotine addiction, is pooh-poohed in favor of the latest drug fad, so nicotine addicted people are treated with nicotine and/or other addictive and dangerous chemicals.

The so-called “healthcare debate” has brought to the foreground the details of a morally degenerate healthcare system. This is not the practitioners fault as they are only carrying out the orders of their profiteering pharmaceutical masters. Treating addiction by replenishing natural neurotransmitters does not serve our masters well, because a sober patient stops buying drugs and does not return for medical visits to get refills. To sustain profits the consumer must remain dependent on your product, in this case via nicotine delivered in some way other than being inhaled or via some other psychotropic addictive and dangerous drug. Smokers must avoid these land mines and take charge of their destiny.

A nicotine addicted person can only become “un-addicted” when their brain is able to again synthesize adequate amounts of acetylcholine and other neurotransmitters. This is simply the basic truth on which optimal functioning of life is based. Violate this fundamental truth and you can pay a horrendous price. If your brain is forced to compensate for the constant appearance of the poisonous nicotine, it will synthesize less of its natural neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and others, driving cravings and other symptoms.

On the other hand, when the brain receives plenty of choline and vitamin B5 or pantethine so it can synthesize acetylcholine, it is encouraged to drive nicotine out and replace it with its natural neurotransmitter, which it prefers. The same goes for replenishing other nicotine-deplete neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin from other precursor nutrients such as tryptophan and tyrosine and other B vitamins and the minerals.

Please understand that the biochemical laws of neurotransmitter synthesis are mapped into your genes and if you are dealing with an addiction to a drug like nicotine, you can not ignore these regulatory rules without paying a horrendous price. I have proven in outcome studies that precursor therapies along with certain B vitamins and minerals dramatically decreases relapse rates and makes nicotine and smoking cessation relatively painless and easy. But this is like proving that 2 plus 2 equals 4 – of course it works because your brain is designed to work. Feed your brain properly and you will reap the benefits.

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