Table of Contents
If there is anything that is self-evident about smoking, it is that quitting is hard. Lower-nicotine cigarettes, however, seem to make the urge to smoke easier to fight.
Back in 2007, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco recruited 20 smokers for a study of graduated reduction in nicotine content in cigarettes. Instead of simply switching to a lower-nicotine brand, the smokers smoked cigarettes that had just a little less nicotine every week.
In this study, smokers didn't smoke more cigarettes to make up for the missing nicotine when the reduction in nicotine content was gradual. At the end of a month, five of the participants in the study simply quit smoking, without any urging or treatment.
What about the other 75 percent? In a series of clinical trials after their original study, the University of California researchers found that people who don't want to quit aren't going to quit just because they smoke lower-nicotine cigarettes. However, they don't show signs of nicotine addiction, either. They don't need to smoke more and more cigarettes just to get the buzz from more nicotine. They don't have expose themselves to more and more of all the other dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke. Still, a 25 percent quit rate is as good or better than most other anti-smoking interventions.
What makes the difference in whether someone quits smoking or not? There probably is a genetic predisposition that makes some people "hungrier" for nicotine than others.
Scientists have found that addiction to nicotine is linked to the production of an detoxification enzyme called CYP2A6. If this enzyme is very active, nicotine cravings are higher. If it is not, nicotine cravings are reduced. The more CYP2A6 activity there is in the liver, probably the harder it is to smoke.
In turn, there are many factors that influence how active this enzyme is:
- Antipsychotic medications increase the activity of the enzyme. People with schizophrenia, not surprisingly, tend to be chain smokers.
- Grapefruit juice, bergamot (the citrus fruit used to flavor Earl Grey tea), apples, celery, onions, some kinds of beans and peas, and most green leafy vegetables decrease the activity of the enzyme. Vegan, vegetarians, and plant foods enthusiasts tend not to be smokers.
- One of the most common medications for Parkinson's disease, selegiline, decreases the activity of the enzyme. People with Parkinson's disease tend to have long-lasting responses to nicotine (which tend to be beneficial for them, although they exposure to other chemicals in cigarette smoke is not).
One thing that is sure about smoking cessation is that taking more nicotine, in the form patches, pills, or sprays, is not a good way to overcome a smoking addiction.
Tapering off nicotine or quitting nicotine cold turkey are the only ways to quit. Nicotine replacement therapy may help people who have already conquered their addiction to cigarettes (whether they know it or not). The most effective way to taper off nicotine consumption is to gradually reduce it; ask your doctor about nicotine reduction programs and products that may be what you need to quit.
- Benowitz NL, Hall SM, Stewart S, Wilson M, Dempsey D, Jacob P 3rd. Nicotine and carcinogen exposure with smoking of progressively reduced nicotine content cigarette.Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Nov. 16(11):2479-85.
- Bergen AW, Michel M, Nishita D, Krasnow R, Javitz HS, Conneely KN, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Hops H, Zhu AZ, Baurley JW, McClure JB, Hall SM, Baker TB, Conti DV, Benowitz NL, Lerman C, Tyndale RF, Swan GE
- Transdisciplinary Research in Cancer of the Lung Research Team. Drug Metabolizing Enzyme and Transporter Gene Variation, Nicotine Metabolism, Prospective Abstinence, and Cigarette Consumption. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 1. 10(7):e0126113. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126113. eCollection 2015. PMID: 26132489.
- Photo courtesy of vrysxy69: www.flickr.com/photos/vrysxy69/3230278405
- Photo courtesy of machechy: www.flickr.com/photos/machechy/4137021781
- Photo courtesy of Boby by Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/vrysxy69/3230278405