Gaileen Sutton

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.

Perfectly intelligent and informed smokers are nevertheless somehow compelled to risk their lives by abusing nicotine. What is the cause of this obsession and why do physicians compound the problem by prescribing nicotine through other delivery methods such as nicotine gum and patches? Why are potentially addictive and dangerous alternative drugs prescribed? These puzzling questions can only be answered by having some knowledge about basic brain chemistry, which also leads directly to an understanding of a smoking cessation plan or a plan to decrease cigarette use which does not involve nicotine or risky medication.

The over 100 billion cells in our brain called neurons must have a way of “talking” to each other. They perform this communication by releasing and receiving small molecules called neurotransmitters, and some of these have the function of keeping us alert, joyful, pain- and stress-free. Neurotransmitters are synthesized from basic dietary nutrients such as amino acids, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins, and a steady supply of these must be delivered to the brain to keep us on our A game. You can easily imagine the consequences of nutritional deficiencies, leading to a brain which is incapable of synthesizing these “groovy” neurotransmitters. Memory and mental clarity, mood stability and vocational and social functioning can all suffer. Cravings for drugs and alcohol, irritability and sleep problems can ensue.

What resources does one have to deal with the psychic pain and dysfunctional behaviors caused by neurotransmitter deficiencies? The most obvious one is to substitute a psychotropic (mind altering) toxin to fill the receptor slots that should normally be filled with natural neurotransmitters, and nicotine is one of the most accessible (its legal and does not need a prescription). Nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco, handles neurotransmitter deficiencies, which temporarily improves mood, mental sharpness, energy and function. Nicotine is a trickster. It entices users into believing something beneficial is happening.

The problem is that once the nicotine is used up, our brains are once again unable to produce the neurotransmitters required to feel and function at our best, and we need another cigarette. What is worse, regular use of nicotine discourages the brain cells from even making the amount of neurotransmitters which they had previously synthesized, so more nicotine must be used to make up this worsening deficit, just to stay focused and alert, feel happy and modify stress. Presto! An addiction is born.

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.

You can take advantage of your brain’s preference to operate according to the inviolable laws of biochemistry and neurotransmitter synthesis. Your brain prefers to be nicotine-free, and it will escalate its detoxification abilities to rid itself or nicotine. Your brain prefers the nutrients choline and vitamin B5 to synthesize acetylcholine, as well as tyrosine and tryptophan (over the counter amino acids) to synthesize dopamine and serotonin, two other neurotransmitters depleted by nicotine.

I have demonstrated remarkable outcomes when this is done, even though it is rather silly to prove what is obviously true, like proving that gravity exists. If these laws of brain function are violated, you are far less likely to quit smoking or cut down, regardless of what you try. Your brain chemistry does not give a hoot about the latest drug or quit-smoking fad. However, if these inviolable laws of biochemistry are followed, as thousands of my patients have done over the decades, you will be rewarded.

Find out more about Dr. Gant’s resources attobacco cessation, then visit Charles Gant MD, PhD, Registered Naturopath’s clinical practice site ataddiction treatment for more information.