A new study conducted in Greece suggests that cigarette smoking may cause “decreased taste sensitivity,” making your food less palatable.

Researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki tested 62 young soldiers with the average age of 25, almost half of whom were smokers. Their tongues were tested for taste sensitivity and the shape of their taste buds was also checked.

The scientists discovered that the smokers’ tongues were flatter than the buds on the tongues of the non-smokers, though there was no difference in the number of tastebuds between the two groups.

This suggests that nicotine may cause “functional and morphological alterations of taste buds without severely affecting their number.”

If you’re a chain smoker, losing your sense of taste may not be as worrisome as the other dangerous effects of smoking. For every stick you smoke, you inhale some 4,000 toxic chemicals, over 40 of which – including nicotine – have been directly linked to cancer.

Today, almost one-third of fatal cancer cases and one-fourth of all fatal heart attacks in the U.S. are associated with smoking. Aside from cancer, other diseases attributed to smoking include, angina, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other respiratory ailments.

Smoking is tough to overcome because nicotine, when ingested, makes you feel relaxed, and as smoking becomes a habit, your body develops a physical and psychological addiction to nicotine. That is why when a smoker tries to quit smoking, withdrawal symptoms occur.

But it is not impossible to quit smoking. For Dr. Joseph Mercola, the best way to treat substance abuse is to not start using harmful substances in the first place.

Simply reducing the number of cigarettes does almost nothing to lower a smoker’s risk of cancer. That is why complete abstinence is required. Quit cold turkey – it’s the only way to go.

Because more and more drugs are introduced over-the-counter and prescribed by doctors, people have developed a “pop-a-pill” mentality.

One of the most controversial drugs produced this decade is Chantix, Pfizer’s anti-smoking pill. If you are a smoker, the idea of taking a pill to help you break free your smoking addiction is very attractive, isn’t it? After all, countless smokers have tried to quit over and over again and ended up failing each time.

Chantix (varenicline) is a non-nicotine prescription pill for adults ages 18 up and works by targeting nicotine receptors in the brain and blocks nicotine from reaching them.

Smokers are recommended to take Chantix for 12 full weeks or as prescribed by their doctors. According to the Chantix website, 44 percent of Chantix users have quit smoking during weeks 9 to 12 of their treatment and have reduced their urge to smoke.

A recent study from the Yale School of Medicine published in the online journal Biological Psychiatry also found that smokers who are also heavy drinkers had their alcohol cravings reduced after taking Chantrix.

Wow. A drug that can help someone quit smoking and drinking at the same time. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Quit Smoking at The Price of Losing Your Mind – or Your Life!

The dangers of prescription drugs are not something new. In the case of Chantix, the FDA received more than 1,000 reports of health problems and injuries among users of the anti-smoking drug during the first quarter of 2008 alone.

That’s more adverse reaction reports than for the top ten bestselling brand name drugs combined!

Because Chantix works directly in the brain and decreases a patient’s ability to feel pleasure, the dangerous side effects associated with the use of this drug include:

• suicidal thoughts and suicidal behavior
• loss of consciousness
• dizziness
• muscles spasms
• anxiety, agitation or nervousness,
• mood swings, unexplained behavior
• depression
• the impairment of the ability to drive a vehicle or operate heavy machinery
• strikingly vivid or unusual dreams

The Los  Angeles Times reported that more than 24 traffic accidents had been attributed to Chantix use. The Federal Aviation Administration has banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using Chantix out of concern that deaths and injuries could be caused by personnel suffering from Chantix side effects.

By May 2008, the FDA had received 6,363 adverse drug reaction reports on Chantix, with 78 deaths and 3,063 involving serious injuries. Twenty-eight of the deaths resulted from suicide while the others were attributed to cardiac causes.

Suicide deaths linked to Chantix use were also reported in the U.K., where the drug is sold under the name Champix. This included a TV news editor who slashed his wrists a few weeks after he started taking the anti-smoking pills.

Chantix has the potential to become the ultimate anti-smoking drug because if a smoker is successful in his/her suicide attempt, he/she will never have the opportunity to smoke another stick again.

In fairness to the FDA, it did instruct Pfizer to put warnings on the label about the associated side effects of the drug.

But clearly, the dangers of Chantix continue to be underestimated despite the fact that there has never been an anti-smoking product or method that has harmed so many patients.

Quit Smoking the Natural Way

If you’re a smoker, it’s not worth putting your health at risk by using a dangerous prescription drug such as Chantix.

Quitting cold turkey is still the best (and safest) way to stop smoking. A National Cancer Institute survey of 8,200 smokers found that after 9 months, 16 percent of smokers who quit on their own were still smoke-free, compared to 14 percent who relied upon nicotine patches, gums, lozenges, or Zyban (another anti-smoking drug linked to suicides and seizure deaths).

My friend, a chain smoker for several years, was able to quit smoking cold turkey. And he did it abruptly (though he did suffer from withdrawal symptoms), which shows that it is possible.

Acupuncture is one of the most common natural therapies used to help provide smokers relief from their addiction and the strength to quit without using prescription drugs. Another natural method is the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. Some herbs like Ginseng and Lobelia may also help fight the addiction and withdrawal of nicotine.

For Dr. Mercola, it’s best to delay any attempt to quit smoking until after a smoker has optimized his/her diet. Why? First, to help avoid potential depressive complications, and secondly, because feeling healthier can help motivate a smoker to quit smoking for good. An optimized diet will also help a smoker’s body recover from the smoking-related damage. 

To help prevent the depressive complications associated with quitting smoking, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been found to naturally ease depression.

If you’re a smoker, you’re already aware of the risks of continuing your addiction and the benefits of quitting. But don’t settle for a quick fix like Chantix because quitting cold turkey is not impossible.