If we all know two things about smoking its that its one of the worst things we can do to our body and that once you get addicted to cigarettes its incredibly hard to stop. Indeed its often been said that stopping smoking is as difficult as giving up a heroin addiction. This difficulty in trying to stop smoking naturally means that so many people end up smoking until they get faced with a chronic health condition or six feet under.

Although many smokers will try to convince themselves and others that the reason they don't give up cigarettes is because they enjoy smoking so much the reality is that its purely an addiction to nicotine that keeps them puffing away. Nobody enjoys their first cigarette for the very reason that cigarettes taste foul and your body doesn't yet have a craving for nicotine but once you start smoking lighting up a cigarette provides relief from the craving and therefore gives the illusion that you enjoy the habit.

The unfortunate truth is that most of us are snared by the tobacco industry when we are too young to know any better. When we are young we feel invincible and consider that the health consequences of smoking are so far in the future that they don't concern us. We don't consider the fact that smoking is going to stain our teeth, make us look older than our years and make us smell. Not only that but smoking pollutes the environment for those around us meaning we reduce their quality of life and expose them to toxins which could shorten their lives as well as our own.

The Hollywood movies definitely have a part to play in the fact that so many people take up smoking when they are young. If we are constantly exposed to images of people we look up to, who we think are "cool" smoking cigarettes then it is natural that we will be more drawn to the habit. Thankfully things seem to be changing and filmmakers are becoming more responsible in their use of cigarettes in their films so hopefully we will see a change in the future.

Reducing the inclination of young people to take up the smoking habit is a good thing to do but it doesn't help those of us who are already addicted and struggling to give up. For us there are a vast number of products on the market which aim to help us stop smoking naturally before its too late. From hypnotherapy to books and stop smoking shots to sheer willpower, if you are looking for help to give up smoking then the options open to you are many and varied.

Its a pity with so many stop smoking aids on the market that most seem to do so little good. The might help us stay off cigarettes for a month or two but inevitably the majority of us are sucked back in, often when our defenses are down for whatever reason.

Many people find the Allen Carr stop smoking technique to be the one that works the best for them. Allen Carr clinics hold classes where smokers attend to learn about the real reason that we smoke in the hope that when you see cigarette addiction for what it really is we will be able to stop smoking naturally without any effort. I have to say that Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking technique along with the use of an electronic cigarette was the way that I eventually managed to stop smoking without ever feeling that I would want to go back to it.

If you haven't heard of an electric cigarette before, its a simple electronic device that allows you to inhale pure nicotine without any of the nasty carcinogenic substances that are found in traditional tobacco cigarettes. The device even simulates the act of smoking as you exhale a cloud of vapor which looks like smoke but is actually harmless water vapor which evaporates into the air.

If you are a smoker who is trying to quit I recommend you pick up a copy of Allen Carr's easy way to stop smoking book and maybe even an e cigarette if the book on its own doesn't do it for you. They may just be the two most important purchases of your life.