Trying To Quit Smoking? A New Study Suggests Replacing Cigarettes with This

Whether you’ve been a “social” smoker who only lights up over drinks with friends or you’re known to light a cigarette off the last one, there’s no denying we all crave moments to take a literal breather from stress. According to 2023 data from the American Psychological Institute, 62% of adults don’t talk about stress because they don’t want to be a burden.

As comforting—and convenient—as having a drink, a cup of coffee, or a cigarette might be, a new study says these tried-and-true ways to “deal” can all play together into an unhealthy cycle.

Get The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter

A May 2024 longitudinal study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention illustrates this complexity. Medical researchers at a hospital and university in Tunisia teamed up to follow 450 smokers over the course of five years, with an average age of 46. The median daily cigarette consumption among participants was 20 each day, though the study notes “the maximum consumption … was 80 cigarettes per day. Indeed, the majority of our consultants (81.9%) consumed more than 20 cigarettes per day.” Patients were all characterized as being highly motivated to quit the habit.

About 61% of participants reported that they had made one or more previous attempts to quit smoking, with more than 72% of those attempts being successful at least once. More than 27% of participants who quit smoking but eventually began again reported stress as the primary reason.

The researchers also observed a few other patterns among participants:

• 75% smoked freely in their home
• 12.7% had no daily physical activity, while about 50% engaged in activity of 30 to 60 minutes each day
• Coffee consumption among participants ranged from zero to 10 cups a day, with a median consumption of about two cups daily
• 17.6% of patients also regularly consumed alcohol