Why cold turkey doesn't work for most smokers

Chances are, if you are a smoker or snus user, you have heard some statistic that indicates just how difficult it really is to quit smoking. Yet, at the same time, we all know that person who constantly tells you to “just quit” as if going cold turkey is a recipe for success.

Unless you are someone who has amazing willpower or wasn’t very addicted to begin with, trying to quit cold turkey is a recipe for failure. It is hard to fail at quitting and then get the courage to try again. That doesn’t mean most of us who smoke don’t want to quit.

Thankfully, today, your chances of quitting successfully are better than ever. This is because there are so many more helpful aids out there than there once were.

Not only do you have a lot of behavioral modification therapy that has proven successful, but there are also a lot of different nicotine alternatives that are great ways to kick that nasty habit. Studies have shown that using nicotine replacement products can dramatically increase your chances of quitting smoking altogether.

With all these tools out there, there has never been a better time to really give quitting a shot. People who thought they would never truly quit have been successful, so why can’t you?

The benefits of nicotine pouches

Products like nicotine pouches are a great source of nicotine replacement that don’t contain tobacco and its harmful chemicals.

Nicotine pouches contain only, well, nicotine. You can find these pouches in different strengths, which will prove incredibly helpful for your journey to quit smoking. By using something like a nicotine pouch, you are able to work on breaking some of your psychological and behavioral ties to smoking while slowly stepping down the dose of nicotine you need daily.

One of the things that traditional quitting aids like patches get right is the need for the cessation of nicotine to be a gradual process. Your body is physically addicted to tobacco and nicotine and as a result, it is going to be pretty unhappy if you try to take that all away at once.

The withdrawal symptoms are severe and often cause people to pick the habit back up again in a short period of time.

People go about navigating these psychological and behavioral issues in a variety of different ways. Some people will alter their schedules. Others will try changing their environment completely and getting used to not smoking before they try to resume their regular daily schedule.

There are a lot of ways that you can go about this, and there are limitations to our daily obligations and responsibilities that determine how we should go about this part of the process.

It is beyond the scope of our expertise to really delve into that here, but suffice it to say, that there are a ton of resources online that are readily available to help with this part of the quitting journey.

Ease and convenience of nicotine pouches

A lot of people have far greater success starting with nicotine replacement like pouches, as they allow them to soothe those nicotine cravings without the smoke.

When you are starting your journey,  there will be a lot of behavioral and mental things you are going to have to do to break some of the habits that cause you to associate certain activities with smoking, such as smoking after a meal or on a break at work. However, with nicotine pouches, you aren’t also having nicotine withdrawals at the same time.

Pouches are easy and convenient, and they are fast-acting, so if you find yourself in the throes of a really bad nicotine craving, you can easily and discreetly reach for something like a pouch.

You’ll need to think about the number of cigarettes you smoke per day and choose the strength of the pouch that you want to start with accordingly.

Some people might want to go for an immediate reduction in the amount of nicotine they use each day, but it can be more helpful to start out at a level that corresponds with how much you smoke.

Using nicotine pouches effectively

The pouch is placed in the mouth between the gums and the cheek, and you can keep the pouch in your mouth for as long as an hour at a time. It will be quickly delivered to your system through your gums, so the effect is pretty much immediate.

Just like with the patch programme, using nicotine pouches to quit smoking is something you will do in steps or phases. It is recommended to stay on each step for at least two weeks. Some people will stay on their starter dose of nicotine for a month, and then step down the amount every two weeks after that.

You’ll find that there are a lot of options, with tons of brands, flavours, and strengths to choose from to help make your journey in kicking cigarettes as easy as possible.