Cold turkey is frequently touted as the most effective way to quit smoking, and a new study reaffirms that belief.
A study of 700 heavy smokers trying to quit in the United Kingdom found that those who quit abruptly were most likely to kick the habit in the long run.
Half of those in the study were told to go cold turkey, by picking a day to quit and trying not to pick up a single cigarette afterwards. Others were told to try to gradually reduce their cigarette consumption over a two-week period, at the end of which they would quit entirely.
Recommended For You
Study participants in both groups were given nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicorette gum and nicotine patches, leading up to and following their quit days.
Sadly, a month after their "quit days," most of those in both groups had gone back to the habit. But within the cold turkey group, it was only a slight majority: 51 percent. In the other group, 61 percent were smoking again.
Six months after the quit day, the numbers were even bleaker in both groups, but the cold turkey group still maintained an advantage. Twenty-two percent of them had not relapsed, compared to only 15 percent of those who had tried the gradual cessation method.
And yet, according to smoking cessation experts, those success rates were in fact "quite good," said study author Nicola Lindson-Hawley, a post-doctoral researcher at Oxford University, in an interview with CNN.
"Health care workers should offer abrupt quitting first, but if that is not an option, gradual quitting can be a second-line approach," Lindson-Hawley said. "We understand that people might be dead set against quitting abruptly so if the only way they would consider quitting is gradually then the results of this trial suggest it shouldn't be ruled out."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
