5  SECRETS TO STOP SMOKING

                                                                                                    By Manny Mullaneda

• Smoking is an easy habit to acquire, but many find it hard to quit. No single stop smoking plan will work for everybody. If you’re serious about kicking the habit, the simple 5 steps will do miracles for you.Many have adopted the plan, and over 14 million around the world have already won over smoking since the past decade. If they made it, why can’t you?You can be a Winner! Remember, you were born a champion starting in your mother’s womb. Imagine, God could have made millions of individuals, but the rest of the sex cells died after 48 hours, and it was only you who survived! So, why allow yourself to become a slave of cigarettes? Respect your body by paying more attention to a life-style that does not jeopardize health.Facts:
  • Smoking kills millions of people each year.
  • Nicotine is as addictive as heroin. US Surgeon General reported: “Tobacco, like cocaine or heroin, is addicting, and should be treated with the same caution as illegal streets narcotics.” (Time magazine, May 30, 1988).
  • Each cigarette subtracts 6 minutes from the life of the average smokers.
  • Smoking shortens life by 10 long years. Your chance of dying from cancer is 110% greater than for non-smokers.
  • Your chance of dying from heart disease is greater than non-smokers.
  • Smokers have more difficulty getting to sleep than non-smokers and are more likely to wake in the middle of the night.
  • Smoking opens the door to drug abuse.
  • Kids start smoking because of peer pressure, advertising, and adult influences.
  • Smoking causes: discolored teeth, cough, premature deaths, emphysema, phlegm, bronchitis, still births, yellow nails, asthma, shortened lifespan, bad breath, hardened arteries, and cancer of the lungs, larynx, oral cavity and esophagus.
  • There are two kinds of Smoke
  • Mainstream smoke (Inhaled and exhaled by smoker)
  • Side stream smoke (the smoke generated by the cigarette when it smolders) -which brings more danger to non-smokers.
  • Many substances including nicotine and carbon dioxide are found in much higher concentrations in side stream smoke. Side stream smoke contains: 46 times the ammonia, 18 times tar; 12 times the nicotine; and 5 times the carbon monoxide found in the mainstream smoke.
  • “Tobacco is a slow, insidious, but most malignant poison”. (health and Happiness, p 232).

  Smoking and the pregnant woman:

   

  

• A pregnant woman who smokes, is smoking for two. Too early for a baby to start smoking.Non-smoking women and children living with smokers in badly ventilated areas face certain risks. The combination of oral contraceptives and cigarette smoke can lead to coronary heart diseases. Pregnant mothers can have greater risks:
  1. Reduced birth weight of babies.
  2. Still births, death during labor and in the first week after birth.
  3. Premature delivery and spontaneous abortions. Children of parents who smoke are not only at risk before they are born but also at risk of developing bronchitis or premature in the first year of life.

  You can say Goodbye Cigarettes in Two Weeks:

  To wash out the nicotine from the blood system will take about 8 days to 2 weeks. The best way to win over smoking is to stop all at once. The reason: it is better to have a few rough days and be through with it than to drag it out for weeks and months. After stopping, the hardest part comes in the first 3 days. The strong craving lasts only for 3-minute elapses, you will discover that the sharpest craving begins to weaken. You need determination and willpower.

  Dr. Harold Shyrock, in his book Modern Medical Guide, p 77, suggested- “The first thing to do when you plan to stop smoking is to select a date, then begin the countdown by saying, “Five days more (or whatever it is), and I will be free from this noxious habit.” Announce to the family members and friends and brag your determination to quit. Say to yourself: “I CHOOSE NOT TO SMOKE” and keep repeating this decision from morning through bedtime.”

  5 Secrets to Stop Smoking:

  1. Cleanse your body: Warm showers or baths for 5 minutes twice a day. End bath with cold water for about 1 minute. To flush away nicotine, drink plenty of fluids such as fruit juice, and 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. If you feel the craving is getting harder on you and you cannot stand it any longer, hurry and take another bath. You cannot smoke and shower at the same time.
  2. Exercise moderately: and have enough rest. After each meal this is the time you want most of all to smoke. Don’t sit after eating. Walk outdoors for at least 5 minutes. Breathe deeply in the fresh air. Go to bed a half hour earlier. Lack of sleep or fatigue is an enemy of willpower.
  3. Develop your will: Whenever you’re tempted to take a cigarette, repeat to yourself. “I CHOOSE NOT TO SMOKE.” And mean it. Determine to become the master of your destiny.
  4. Eat Simply: Fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables are good for you. Avoid anything that is greasy, spicy or hot like pepper, any strong condiments and food that has sugar. Don’t drink alcohol, tea, coffee, or cola drinks. the caffeine in these drinks can trigger your nerves so that in a matter of minutes you will have an uncomfortable desire to light up a cigarette.
  5. Ask Divine help: “The most important part of this whole program is to ask God to help you. If you have never prayed before, this is the time to learn. Heaven will help any man or women who is really serious about stopping the use of tobacco. Place your will on the side of God, and you are invincible. You can never fail with God as your partner.” (How to stop Smoking, p.19).

  It is a good idea to give incentive to yourself for not smoking. Save the money you intended for cigarette daily. At the end of each month, spend it in buying, say, a new pair of shoes, or other things you need.

  After smoking the ex-smoker will notice that he can think more clearly, cough less, and enjoy the taste of food because the taste bud that was coated with nicotine is now revived. Victory over smoking offers abundant rewards such as: improved health, longer life, and greater pleasure in living.

  Respect your body. You were made in the likeness of God’s image, and your body us temple of Holy Ghost.

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                                      Alcoholism

Alcohol is a drug and is America’s no 1 drug problem. 40% of the crimes in the United States is attributed to offender under the influence of liquor. Alcohol causes accident, rape, broken homes, broken bones, killing, delinquency, sorrows, poverty, and slander.

The proportion of alcohol in the most popular alcoholic drinks:

• Beer – 5%
• Gin – 52%
• Rum – 45%
• Whisky – 54%

The possible choice is beer, for it contains only 5% alcohol. But anything that is in excess is harmful to the body. Large things start from small amount.

Our body needs alcohol, yes, but the alcohol requirement cab be extracted from food we eat. You may have heard of “rice wine”. Some people produce alcohol from sugar cane. They call it “basi” in some regions. One may derive intake of alcohol through the use of sugar. No need to drink beer.

“When ingested , alcohol is quickly absorbed from the stomach and intestines and carried by the blood to all parts of the body including the brain. As shown in the health film entitled “Red River of Life”, in the first 8 minutes alcohol goes to brain. The next 12 minutes it goes to the upper extremities, and in the last 18 minutes it goes to the lower extremities, and is then in circulation in the entire body. Then it alters the relationship of man both with his environment and with himself. Each drink of alcohol increases the number of liver cells destroyed and eventually causes cirrhosis of the liver.

Alcohol can cause impotency. In the sex glands, the swelling of the prostate gland caused by alcohol interferes with the ability of the male to perform sexually. It also interferes with the ability to climax during intercourse. It may increase sexual desire but makes performance more difficult.”  (Alcohol Your Friend or Enemy? p.5)

The most dramatic and noticed effect of alcohol is on the brain. It kills brain cells and an damage is permanent. “Alcohol causes the red blood cells to stick together. This impairs the circulation of the blood” says D. Melvin Knisely of the Medical University of South Carolina at Charleston. It results sledging of the blood.

“It is not for kings, it is not for presidents and executives to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink. Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgement of any of the afflicted.”

What do you think will happen if legislators and councilmen while under the influence of  intoxicating drinks attend council meeting. What kind of law or ordinance will they pass. What judgement will a drunk judge render after hearing a case?

“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be heavy hearts. Let him drank, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” (Proverbs 31: 6-7)

Alcohol is an anesthesia, only not being used in operating rooms. Due to the anesthetic effect of wine, a drunkard who stumbles flat in the ground if someone would kick him, he does not feel the pain not until hours after.

In spite of known harm and danger liquor can conflict to the brain and other body organs, why does man insist to drink it? The main reason is man’s poor self worth. Why? Because of some people who preach that man came from monkey. This is a big lie ! But a lie told a thousand times is easily accepted as truth. As man keeps thinking he came from  monkey, he starts saying to himself: “Why should I behave, I’m just a monkey anyway.” He begins to belittle himself. He degrades himself and does not respect his own body. He begin taking drugs such as alcohol, until he gets intoxicated and acts more monkey than the real one. Have you heard of a monkey walking down the street drunk, and challenging people for a fight and shooting them? A monkey robbing banks, raping, killing, slandering ? Not one. But man does.

That man came from monkey is a big lie. The truth being is that man was fearfully and wonderfully made- made ” in the likeness of God’s image” (Genesis 1:26, 27), and that his “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” ( I Corinthians 6:19). Man should not defile his body with harmful drugs and substances.

Wine is a criminal. It has killed so many people, yet has not been arrested and jailed. Many people are enslaved by alcohol. They got drunk. They committed crimes, arrested and hand-cuffed to the jail. Then regret later and blame alcohol, but too late! Helpless victims under lock and key. But the real culprit – alcohol is still free looking for the next victims. Tomorrow may be you !

If you get drunk and meet accident that would disfigure your face- disfigure your face for life! How would you look in front of a mirror? Think of the damage to your look.

WHAT SHOULD AN ALCOHOLIC DO?

1. He has to admit he has the problem, and decision to stop drinking.
2. He should avoid the company of alcohol, drinkers and refrain from going to places where wine is served.
3. He should eat nutritious food.
4. He should avoid smoking, and drinking coffee.
5. He has to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day.