During conversation with smokers it was found out that many of them would like to quit smoking but they do not even try to do it. All these people are convinced that if their smoking history consists of a two-digit number, then the excretion of nicotine will take years. So the quit smoking seems to be painful and pointless. In fact, many confuse the concepts of  ”elimination of nicotine from the body” and “body cleansing of the effects of smoking”. Therefore, we decide to make it clear.

Can you be without nicotine?
Let us first consider the mechanism of the physiological need nicotine. Everyone knows that nicotine is a poison, but very few know that the substance is vital to our body in small doses and is involved in metabolism. Our liver makes up for this need which produces a small amount of endogenous (natural) nicotine. When a person starts smoking, the permissible dose exceeds the normal rate, and the organism stops production of its own nicotine. Accordingly, if a smoker does not smoke for a long time, and own nicotine is not produced, there is the lack of it and nicotine starvation occurs.
You can feel when the nicotine begins to eliminate from the body, at this time there is a desire to smoke. The less of the substance remains in the body, the stronger the craving for cigarettes. You’ve probably already realized that the half-life period of nicotine is about 2-3 hours.
The body begins to produce its own nicotine in 1-3 days after stopping smoking. Thus, in three days you can already do without cigarettes! That is, if we are talking about “nicotine elimination”, you would not need three or more years.
But the body cleansing of toxins, restoration of normal functioning of organs, in fact, take from 3 to 15 years. Scientists say that the half-life period of some elements which enter the body with cigarette smoke, can take up to 50 years. Nicotine is not the most dangerous substance; the more harmful are tars, amplifiers of burning, various chemical compounds that are formed at high temperatures.
When you stop smoking, it takes about 20 minutes to normalize the pressure. In 8 hours the smoker’s blood becomes fully saturated with oxygen. Lungs clean of tars in about 3 years, and cardiac activity is restored in 5 years. In fact, the smoking history affects this rate. The bigger it is, the more time is needed to recover.

Why do I want to smoke?
You might ask what about “withdrawal pains” which are not limited by 3 days but may last a month, and two? Why do we have a strong desire to smoke after years? Physiological need has nothing to do with it. After the beginning of making the own nicotine body does not need the additional one. Nicotinic receptors of the brain are fault in the origin of “withdrawal syndrome”. When nicotine affects them, a sense of satisfaction and pleasure appears.
The longer a person smokes, the greater nicotinic receptors are, and they require more and more enjoyable substance. Nicotine, which is produced by the body, is not enough to satisfy this need, therefore, there are “withdrawal pains”. Over time, the “unnecessary” receptors die; it happens in a month or two in some people, but in others the brain cells can live for years pending a dose.

How to help the body?
Here are few recommendations:
1. Drink a lot of water to hasten the nicotine elimination.
2. To cleanse the body, use milk and herbal products
3. Take a steam bath, go in for sport if you have a good cardiovascular system
4. Strengthen the body with antioxidants and vitamin complexes for smokers
5. Take drugs that block nicotinic receptors during “withdrawal syndrome”

It is never late to quit smoking. And even if you are an experienced smoker, you can give yourself a healthy life.