Chiu-Nan Lai, Ph.D.
Tobacco and alcohol are harmful not only to the health of the individual who uses them, but also to those of his family and environment. Once addicted, it is very difficult to kick the habit; it may be easier to succeed if one takes a holistic approach to understand the harm they cause and the methods that are available.
Everyone knows the harm that tobacco and alcohol can inflict on the body and mind.
Alcohol is harmful to the stomach, liver, heart, and kidney; and is destructive to the nervous system, lowering the efficiency of the brain functions. Thus, drinkers frequently suffer from stomach ulcers; when drunk they have no awareness and are prone to accidents. Some may even have visual illusion and get terrified. Alcohol also causes emotional depressions and prevents spiritual growth and advancement.
Smoking of tobacco is harmful to the stomach, gut, nervous system and blood circulation. Tobacco contains many carcinogenic agents, increasing the risks in lung cancer, bladder cancer, and colon cancer for smokers. Arrhythmia (uneven heartbeat) and skin diseases are also related to smoking. Smoking also affects a person’s character, temperament and spirituality. Its effect on the smoker’s offspring is obviously visible; when the expectant mother smokes or is a secondary smoker, the foetus becomes restless and anxious, and that is for life.
The addiction to tobacco and alcohol is frequently implanted at the foetus stage. Children of parents who are smokers and drinkers have higher probability of addiction than average. Medical evidence indicates that tobacco and alcohol disturbs the development of the brain, nervous system as well as the internal organs in the foetus. The unsuspecting expectant mother would have harmed her unborn child by consuming just one cigarette or one glass of wine. If the father drinks frequently, the intelligence, physical development of the next generation are affected, and puberty is delayed. Whether a man becomes addicted to alcohol or not is directly related to whether his father drank!
How parents manage their children starting from the foetus stage contributes to the addictions. Unwelcome babies who grew up in an indifferent family are 6 to 12 times more likely to succumb to addictions when they become adults. Their bad experiences affect the brain development, and they are not able to take stress well; tobacco and alcohol become their tranquilizer. Thus addiction to tobacco and alcohol becomes a vicious circle, passing from generation to generation.
Therefore, one must kick the habit before starting a family. Having decided, one must cut off the habit once and for all.
Detoxification through proper food intake is the preliminary step to kicking the habit of smoking and drinking.Make clear soup from fruit, vegetable and root and drink that for a week. Next, take light meal of simple natural food with high nutritious value. One can also use enema for colon-cleansing, with supplement of friendly bacteria. Exercise to perspire, take hot bath or shower, using a cold towel to rub the body in the morning followed by dry brushing the skin to stimulate blood circulation, drink (laxative) herbal tea such as the Longevity tea and Aloe Vera juice.
Quassia Chip and Thyme are herbs that can counter the craving for alcohol. Make a drink by steeping one teaspoon of Quassia Chip (dried leaves) in a cup of boiling water for half an hour; take a sip every 2 hours. The same goes for Thyme. Other helpful health methods include exercising, deep breathing and walking; twenty minutes every day. Those with craving for cigarettes can also drink Red Clover Tea; one teaspoon in a cup of boiling water.
Energy soup, rejuvelac and herbal tea can improve digestion and help in eliminating toxin.
Rejuvelac is normally prepared using wheat sprout. Add 2 cups of water to one cup of wheat sprouts and let stand for 24 hours at room temperature. It can then be consumed, and another round is prepared by adding water again. The wheat sprouts can be used total of 3 times.
Cabbage can also be used to make rejuvelac. Add 1 ¾ cups of water to 3 cups of chopped cabbage; then put into a blender to puree and finally stand at room temperature for 3 days. Save ¼ cup of the rejuvelac as starter, remove pulp, saving juice for immediate consumption or store in the fridge. When you prepare the next drink, use 3 cups of chopped cabbage with 1 ½ cup water and the starter. Only one day of standing time is needed. The pulp can be used as fertilizer for plants.
It is also possible to stop the smoking and drinking habits by circular movement of eyeball. Move eyeball left and right, repeatedly to heal childhood trauma (refer to Restoring the Bliss of The Mind) and to reduce emotional dependency on alcohol and tobacco. Using circular movement of eyeball therapy when unhappy thoughts occur in combination with all the other holistic methods, kicking the habit can be very successfully accomplished.