The first few days after your last cigarette, experts advise that you drink acidic fruit juice, with Cranberry juice being an excellent choice. According to them, the acidic nature of the juice helps to flush nicotine from the blood stream faster. They however say drinking too much juice the first 72 hours can lead to gaining extra pounds.

What is Cranberry Juice?

Simply put, Cranberry Juice is the juice of cranberries (which are native to North America). When processed as a pure juice, it tastes bitter, just like lime juice but when diluted and sweetened, it becomes pleasing to the tongue. Most often, the term Cranberry juice refers to the sweetened version and not the pure juice. However, you need the pure juice which you can get at health food stores. The taste, like I earlier said, is slightly bitter, but you can dilute it with apple or any other fruit juice can for sweetness. Alternatively, you can dilute the juice with water for a refreshing and beneficial drink. It’s got all the vitamins and minerals the body needs and you can buy fresh cranberries and juice them yourself.

Benefits of Cranberry Juice when Quitting

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• Makes nicotine cravings a thing of the past. Just drink it when a craving hits you. It’s a little known technique but it works all the time.
  
• Cranberry juice raises your blood sugar level, just like nicotine. If you quit smoking and succeed in keeping your blood sugar level, you experience an easy and stress-free cessation. This is because most of the nasty feelings and mood swings after cessation are blood-sugar related. The situation improves after a week or two. It’d suffice to say that most juices, aside Cranberry would help; it’s a minor sugar imbalance.
  
• Replacing a substance you want to quit with the same substance isn’t going to help. Quit smoking cold turkey and beat cravings by drinking cranberry juice.
  
• According to the University of Maryland Medical Centre (UMMC), Cranberries are rich in antioxidants which fight cancer-causing free radicals.
  
• Cranberry Juice also speeds up the process of excreting nicotine from the body. It operates in the same manner alcohol and stress cause smokers to smoke more because they lose nicotine faster and need to replenish it. The cranberry juice also speeds up the excretion process but because a quitter is no longer smoking, it means faster withdrawal from nicotine.
  

A Contrary View on Stop Smoking and Cranberry Juice

As much as experts encourage the consumption of Cranberry Juice, a book titled “How to Stop Smoking†by Review and Herald Publication Association warns intending quitters to avoid cranberry juice. According to the book, “drink six to eight glasses of water between meals. Keep a record if necessary. The more liquids you can down, the quicker the nicotine leaches out of your body. Take no alcoholic beverages-no beer, no wine. If you prefer fruit juices, avoid cranberry, prune, and plum juice.”

Interestingly, Patrick Meninga, a successful cigarette smoker reveals how he quit by drinking cranberry juice. According to him, “on the first day off, I quit smoking at night before going to bed. I woke up the next day and started flushing my system by drinking massive amounts of cranberry juice. I drank the stuff all day long….â€

So, Where Does That Leave You; an Intending Quitter?

I highly suggest you use cranberry juice; it’s effective, safe and natural. What’s more, it doesn’t cause a re-addiction like some other quit smoking aids. Also, consume a lot of water, alongside the juice. Review and Herald Publication Association suggests a water schedule in the book titled “How to Stop Smoking.†“Upon rising in the morningâ€, the book says, “try to drink a glass or two of warm water. Then drink two glasses of water between breakfast and noontime, plus another two sometime during the afternoon. That will total six glasses …in addition to fresh fruit juice.â€

By substantially increasing your fluid intake during the first twenty-four hours, the book opines that you may find yourself rounding the corner on craving much sooner than later.

There’s a caveat however; if you have diabetes, please consult your before committing to this juicing program.

Check Out This Cool Video On Making Cranberry Juice At Home

References:

How to Quit Smoking for Good and Overcome that Nasty Cigarette Habit; Patrick Meninga; www.spiritualriver.com

How to Stop Smoking; Review and Herald Pub Assoc; 1992 Edition

Quit Smoking Tip Sheet; Joel Spitzer; www.ffn.yuku.com

Beneficial Quit Smoking Tips that are Unlike Any Other; hypnosis4u2; www.hypnosis4u2.hubpages.com

Image Credit: CaptPiper

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