Oat leaf extract: New hope for cigarette smokers?

Sunday april 26, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- In 1928, an article was published in the New York Times that bemoaned the discomfort that smokers go through in trying to quit. The writer meticulously outlines the first horrific day of trying to make it through, sans tobacco. The piece is so spot on, it could have been written in 2009, with the exception of the sentence that states that a "symposium of medical authorities [asserted] that cigarettes do no harm."

There's not a "medical authority" on the planet who would say such a thing these days; at least not without risking expulsion from the AMA. We are all aware of the plethora of health problems that plague the smoker; but smoking is still one of the most difficult habits to break. According to the Betty Ford Center, quitting smoking is more difficult than quitting a drug habit.

The most difficult aspect of the process is, of course, the horrific cravings that torment the wannabe ex-smoker. As Jane Brody once asserted, "each cigarette sets up a craving for the next one." It is, indeed, a vicious cycle.

But a Japanese study indicates that an extract made of oat leaf may cut cravings to the point where smokers can cut their cigarette intake to about half of what it was, or from 20 cigarettes to 9, according to an article in Pharmacometrics.

The study, led by Fumitaka Fujii from ASK Intercity Company, gathered 8 smokers with a median age of 32.5, and gave them supplements of the extract "Neuravena" for 28 months. At the end of the trial period, the average smoker had reduced the number of cigarettes smoked per day from 19.5 to 8.9.

The plus side of the equation is that there is no nicotine in Neuravena; the supplement works on enzymes in the brain, as well as on brain waves that may affect stress and cognition.

Certainly, there need to be follow up studies, especially since the study was led by the producers of Neuravena. Still, the results seem to be promising.

According to the National Institutes of Health, 40% of smokers try to quit every year. Unfortunately, only 5% are actually successful. Certainly, with a product that is so devastating, one that grabs hold of its victims with no intention of letting go, an all natural way to assist in prying the fingers off of a nicotine habit may be just what the doctor ordered.

(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)