Strange Craving For Tobacco And I've Never Smoked A Cigarette Before

[FredSonoma]

Other than smoking hookah once, and a few joints with some tobacco sprinkled in (all from more than 2 years ago), I've never smoked a cigarette or regularly smoked tobacco. For some reason, I noticed recently I have a craving for tobacco - why would this be? (I also haven't drank or smoked anything in the past 2.5 years)

Also, not to re-kindle an old debate on this forum, but is tobacco itself intrinsically harmful? Or is the crap they add the problem? If I had a good source of organic or clean tobacco and rolling it myself / or vaping tobacco could it possibly even be healthful?

Also, as some background, I'm coming out of 2.5 years of bad health - started with Reactive Arthritis so bad I was in a wheelchair, did strict low carb Paleo for 1 year, then did high fruit some meat diet, then tried to do the whole "prebiotic" thing with Resistant Starch, Inulin, fermented foods, etc. I've been Peating for about 3 weeks now I think.

 

[Xisca]

great if you come out of it!
I can give you my thinkings.
I very rarely smoke, still able to escape the addiction, which is great.
Yes it makes a difference if you have organic tobacco.
And yes, with no scrap.
It is a medicinal plant, or better said, it was... still is in some places.

 

[jyb]

I recommend you go over the tobacco threads on this forum by searching for tobacco and/or nicotine. There is one long thread discussing the pros/cons and anti-stress hormone effect discussion elsewhere.

 

[Xisca]

Then, the effect on nerves. For people who smoke very seldm, it is still visible, it can be felt that it lowers some level of internal activation. That would be sympathetic activation, the one from adrenalin.

So i guess you had some recent quick change in yourself, and your body notice it as "not usual".
More good is felt as stressful as well!
The body needs some time to expand its capacity to contain any new feeling.
If you do not want to smoke, or even if you do, I would advise you to track your body sensations and observe them neutrally, I mean without trying to modify them, which is very important. Let them evolve just feeling them, this is the best way to accompany the evolution so that is is less stressful.

Sometimes I feel something is "too good", strong, nice but not so easy to stand when strong. You know, when we cry of joy because it goes out of the body!
Just imagine no one thought about your birthday all day long, and this was a fake to make you the biggest surprise ever in the evening!

All I can wish you is that you are feeling sooo great because you go out of health issues!
Enjoy!

 

[Makrosky]

There are a couple of threads in the forum that might give you good clues.

IIRC from those threads, smoking tobacco does at least :
- increases dopamine
- inhibits aromatase (affects estrogen)

I wouldn't start smoking tobacco if I were you. It's a shitty and completely unnecessari addiction. You can have the same benefits by lots of other means.

 

[cantstoppeating]

Other than smoking hookah once, and a few joints with some tobacco sprinkled in (all from more than 2 years ago), I've never smoked a cigarette or regularly smoked tobacco. For some reason, I noticed recently I have a craving for tobacco - why would this be? (I also haven't drank or smoked anything in the past 2.5 years)

Also, not to re-kindle an old debate on this forum, but is tobacco itself intrinsically harmful? Or is the crap they add the problem? If I had a good source of organic or clean tobacco and rolling it myself / or vaping tobacco could it possibly even be healthful?

Also, as some background, I'm coming out of 2.5 years of bad health - started with Reactive Arthritis so bad I was in a wheelchair, did strict low carb Paleo for 1 year, then did high fruit some meat diet, then tried to do the whole "prebiotic" thing with Resistant Starch, Inulin, fermented foods, etc. I've been Peating for about 3 weeks now I think.

Who knows. Maybe you walked past a shop and got a wiff of tobacco without consciously realising and it activated latent memories. And now here you are over analysing a fleeting sensation.

Drink some water, OJ and milk and continue your day.

 

[FredSonoma]

There are a couple of threads in the forum that might give you good clues.

IIRC from those threads, smoking tobacco does at least :
- increases dopamine
- inhibits aromatase (affects estrogen)

I wouldn't start smoking tobacco if I were you. It's a s****y and completely unnecessari addiction. You can have the same benefits by lots of other means.

Any idea if it could be a clue to what I need to fix? Or just generally keep eating along these guidelines?

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Smoking from a pipe looks cool, if there are better ways to "get your fix" they're usually boring so why bother. My "caffeine addiction" was hard to get over but I can sleep now, se how annoying that is? To label things as addicting? Well, I'm just glad I got over my nasty caffeine addiction.

 

[Such_Saturation]

It's probably because of your other thread

 

[FredSonoma]

It's probably because of your other thread

Which one haha? I've made a ton lately I'm worried I'm making too many lol

Edit: I think you're talking about the forcing gelatin one haha.

Also, recently I'm definitely getting fatter, more bloated, and puffier in the face... but I feel so much better. Is this my body making up for things and I'm probably gonna lose this extra baggage eventually? Also, if possible I would like to make my recovery as fast as possible, is looking into hormones a good idea only 3 weeks into Peating? Or should I probably give it more time?

 

[Such_Saturation]

alcohol reduces serotonin for the short-term and that is why people become addicted.

How does it do that?

I wonder what's the hormone interpretation of feeling good after you drink just a unit of alcohol. Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine...even in small amounts they can be clearly felt in the brain, in a good way I'd say, sort of a light pressure at the front of the brain but they all feel slightly different. Hum, I wonder what happens if you take all those combined simultaneously, each in small amounts

Dear god, you're a genius !!

 

[FredSonoma]

alcohol reduces serotonin for the short-term and that is why people become addicted.

How does it do that?

I wonder what's the hormone interpretation of feeling good after you drink just a unit of alcohol. Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine...even in small amounts they can be clearly felt in the brain, in a good way I'd say, sort of a light pressure at the front of the brain but they all feel slightly different. Hum, I wonder what happens if you take all those combined simultaneously, each in small amounts

Dear god, you're a genius !!

I think you might be confusing me with Mr. Jyb

I remember you once wrote that the euphoria feeling or lift of energy / focus from caffeine would only happen if there was something wrong in the body?? Or something like that? I definitely feel a lift from coffee, not just in energy, but well-being - does this mean I shouldn't be drinking it? Or just evidence of some underlying issue?

 

[answersfound]

Alcohol cigarettes drugs masturbation it's all the same underlying cause...stress hormones from being hypo

 

[Such_Saturation]

alcohol reduces serotonin for the short-term and that is why people become addicted.

How does it do that?

I wonder what's the hormone interpretation of feeling good after you drink just a unit of alcohol. Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine...even in small amounts they can be clearly felt in the brain, in a good way I'd say, sort of a light pressure at the front of the brain but they all feel slightly different. Hum, I wonder what happens if you take all those combined simultaneously, each in small amounts

Dear god, you're a genius !!

I think you might be confusing me with Mr. Jyb

I remember you once wrote that the euphoria feeling or lift of energy / focus from caffeine would only happen if there was something wrong in the body?? Or something like that? I definitely feel a lift from coffee, not just in energy, but well-being - does this mean I shouldn't be drinking it? Or just evidence of some underlying issue?

I always get a good boost in energy, but if I've been starving then I really go hypomanic with coffee.

 

[Makrosky]

There are a couple of threads in the forum that might give you good clues.

IIRC from those threads, smoking tobacco does at least :
- increases dopamine
- inhibits aromatase (affects estrogen)

I wouldn't start smoking tobacco if I were you. It's a s****y and completely unnecessari addiction. You can have the same benefits by lots of other means.

Any idea if it could be a clue to what I need to fix? Or just generally keep eating along these guidelines?

Hey, I'm not an expert. Keep reading the forum and Ray Peat information and it all will slowly make sense.

Without getting into synthetic hormones which I don't know much about :
- Carrot salads
- Activated Charcoal
- Calcium+Magnesium
- Avoiding stressors
etc.

 

[Makrosky]

Alcohol cigarettes drugs masturbation it's all the same underlying cause...stress hormones from being hypo

Could it be possible that too much stress+serotonin are keeping you hypothyroid ? It can work in both directions ?

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Nicotine really plays with your dopamine receptors. People who are addicted to it are weak and don't have willpower. I know because I was one of them.

 

[answersfound]

Nicotine really plays with your dopamine receptors. People who are addicted to it are weak and don't have willpower.

Right...

 

[Westside PUFAs]

There is no Peat diet. There never was and there never will be.

Not officially. But there is a basic template with some key factors that are pretty important:

"Avoiding the stress-promoting antithyroid unsaturated oils is extremely important. Their role in diabetes, cancer, and other age-related and degenerative diseases (and I think this includes the estrogen-promoted autoimmune diseases) is well established." - RP

"Polyunsaturated fats can be reduced by careful selection of foods, but the food industry is finding ways to contaminate traditionally safe foods, such as beef and milk, by using new kinds of animal feed. Still, milk, cheese, beef, and lamb are safe, considering their high nutritional content, and the remarkable purification that occurs in the rumen of cows, sheep, and goats." -RP

“For the present, the important thing is to avoid the use of the least appropriate food products, while choosing natural foods that have historical, epidemiological, and biochemical justification.” –RP

"Drinking coffee seems to be very protective against developing diabetes. Its niacin and magnesium are clearly important, but it is also a rich source of antioxidants, and it helps to maintain normal thyroid and progesterone production. Chocolate is probably protective too, and it is a good source of magnesium and antioxidants."–RP

"It is extremely important to realize that calcium deposits in soft tissues become worse when the diet is low in calcium." - A quote that Ray put in his calcium article from a book called "Lets Eat Right to Keep Fit, Adelle Davis, Signet, 1970."

"Choosing the right foods, the right atmosphere, the right mental and physical activities, and finding the optimal rhythms of light, darkness, and activity, can begin to alter the streaming renewal of cells in all the organs. Designing a more perfect environment is going to be much simpler than the schemes of the genetic engineers." - RP

“But I think the most important point to remember is that it is essential for maintaining adequate blood volume, and that it is almost always unphysiological and irrational to restrict sodium intake, because reduced blood volume tends to reduce the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all tissues, leading to many problems.” - RP

"Iron is a potentially toxic heavy metal. In excess, it can cause cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses."- RP

Your body is always telling you something. Are you listening?

No.

The less supplements, the better. Minimalism for the win.

Not true:

…and others can be improved by modifying the diet, and supplementing with things such as the protective steroids, thyroid hormone, aspirin, niacinimide, and caffeine.” - RP from his July 2014 newsletter.

One of many Peat pro-supplementation quotes.

Embrace the process. Always trust your intuition.

K.

 

[jyb]

Nicotine really plays with your dopamine receptors. People who are addicted to it are weak and don't have willpower. I know because I was one of them.

You could say the same about coffee though. I'm sure many here would say they feel crap if they stopped taking it. I understand from a Peat point of view that addiction becomes easier when health is not great. Not just nicotine, but anything that could have a good effect to improve mood or reduce stress. On the other hand, I feel like things like nicotine, caffeine, pregnenolone, maybe cypro and a lot of other things, can still add something unique even if you're in good health while being probably less addictive than when health is less good. So when someone posts that they take X or Y and it boosts dopamine, I think this could be irrespective of whether they're in good health or not. Of course if they say they are desperate and need it to feel good, that's different. So in the case of cigarette, in my opinion the unique effect is creativity and it can be felt with just 1 cigarette a day. At that dose, it's not addictive. I experimented in the past, it's really not. So, for me its similar to coffee - the fact that it plays with dopamine or something else in your brain doesn't really show that its bad even if it could be.