Healthier Fasting! Effective Ways to Quit Smoking Starting from Ramadan and Beyond
Jakarta — Ramadan is not only a moment for enhancing spiritual quality but also a golden opportunity to improve one’s lifestyle, including giving up the smoking habit.
Cigarette consumption has long been known to contribute to various serious health problems, ranging from chronic respiratory diseases to cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension, stroke, and coronary heart disease.
Furthermore, smoking also increases the risk of cancer, disrupts the reproductive system and pregnancy, and results in lost productivity due to sick days taken off work.
During the observance of fasting, a person with sincere intention and strong motivation is essentially already training themselves to abstain from smoking from dawn until sunset. This pattern continues consistently for an entire month. The habit of self-restraint forms an extremely strong psychological foundation for continuing the commitment to quit smoking permanently after Ramadan ends.
The Director General of Disease Control and Environmental Health at Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, HM Subuh, set out a number of effective strategies that the public can adopt to quit smoking.
The following are several effective steps that can be taken to quit smoking, as published on the Ministry of Health’s website.
- Cold Turkey
This method involves stopping the smoking habit immediately and completely. If one is still smoking today, then from the following day one stops entirely without gradually reducing consumption. This approach is considered to have a reasonably high success rate, particularly for those with strong determination and a supportive environment.
- The Delay Method
This strategy involves postponing the time of smoking after breaking the fast. For example, on the first day the first cigarette is smoked one hour after breaking fast. The next day it is delayed to two hours, then three hours, until finally on the fourth day — or according to the target set — one stops completely. The delay can be implemented gradually every one or two days, according to individual readiness.
- The Gradual Reduction Method
This approach involves consistently reducing the number of cigarettes consumed each day until reaching zero on a predetermined date. For instance, from 10 cigarettes per day to 8, then 6, and so on.