Curejoy Expert, Claude Butler, Explains:
When you smoke a cigarette, nicotine circulating in the bloodstream gives a kind of high. On an average 6-8 hours is how long the nicotine from a single cigarette lasts.
Most of that nicotine will get eliminated in the urine. 48-72 hours is how long it can take for most of the stored nicotine to be metabolized and leave your body. 20-30 days is how long the nicotine by-product cotinine can continue to circulate in the bloodstream.
Vitamin C is the best known substance for removing nicotine from the bloodstream. It increases metabolism and creates white blood cells.
Fruits and vegetables help your body flush nicotine – they’re good for your health, they contain water and they make cigarettes taste less appealing.
In fact, research shows that if you eat more fruit and vegetables, you may have an easier time staying tobacco-free for longer.
A study, which was published online by University of Buffalo public health researchers, authors from UB’s School of Public Health and Health professions surveyed 1,000 smokers aged 25 and older from across the nation.
Fourteen months after the survey, the authors followed up with the respondents to see if they stayed tobacco-free during the previous month.
What they found was that those who consumed the most fruit and vegetables were 3 times more likely to abstain from tobacco for at least 30 days than those consuming small amounts of fruit and vegetables.
In addition, those consuming more fruit and vegetables smoked less often per day, waited longer before having their first daily cigarette, and scored better on a nicotine-dependent test.
Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables help people to quit smoking due to the following reasons:
- Less nicotine dependence.
- High fiber content makes people feel fuller – since smokers sometimes confuse hunger with smoking urges.
- Unlike meats, alcohol, and caffeinated beverages, fruit and vegetables don’t enhance and may even worsen the taste of tobacco.
- Engaging in a healthier lifestyle could consciously and subconsciously cause smokers to further shift out of an unhealthy lifestyle involving smoking.
Foods To Flush Out Nicotine
1. Water
Nicotine dehydrates the body, so drink water to rehydrate. Keeping up a good supply helps your body sweat the nicotine out of your body.
2. Nettle
This herb is loaded with iron and is a useful disinfectant and great at fighting infection.
3. Vegetables
Eat celery, along with such vegetables as zucchinis, egg-plants, beans, and even cucumbers, which affect cigarette taste. Eating a lot of these vegetables can decrease nicotine dependence.
Do not eat a lot of sweet vegetable, that are high in sugar, because excessive amounts of glucose activate the areas of the brain responsible for pleasure and satisfaction. Thus, glucose can stimulate cravings.
4. Pine needle tea
This tea has been traditionally used to disinfect the mouth and throat, but can also be a helpful aid in lung health.
5. Oranges
Contains high levels of vitamin C to replace vitamin C in your body that smoking reduces. Eating oranges boosts your metabolism to flush nicotine faster and reduces stress.
6. Kiwi fruit
Kiwi helps you eliminate nicotine from the body and replenish Vitamins A, C and E that smoking reduces.
7. Carrot juice
Carrot juice has vitamins A, B, C, K that help eliminate nicotine from the body. Nicotine also damages your skin, and carrot juice is high in vitamins that are good for the skin.
8. Broccoli
Contains high levels of vitamins B5 and C. Replenish vitamin C by eating broccoli and keep your metabolism high. Broccoli contains a substance that protects lungs from toxin-related damage.
9. Spinach
Rich in vitamins and folic acid, so it’s good for your body and especially good in making tobacco taste bad.
Related: Smoking Kills – Experiment, Medical Facts and Statistics
About the author: Claude Butler is an experienced health practitioner, herbalist and educator. As a skilled clinician, he utilizes the techniques of constitutional assessment, pulse and tongue diagnosis
