Lobelia Inflata (also known as Indian Tobacco, Pukeweed, Asthma Weed, Gagroot, Lobelia, Bladderpod, and Vomitroot) is a wonderful herb with many beneficial uses and applications.  Our Indigenous American brothers and sisters would smoke Indian Tobacco with a pipe to assist with anything from lung disorders to childbirth.

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I used Indian Tobacco (and went Nicotine Anonymous meetings) to support me while  quitting cigarettes years ago.  Whether you’ve been addicted for one year or 20 years, one ciggy a day or 40, the withdrawal symptoms are no joke.  Lungs struggle to get hardened mucus out, headaches, MAJOR anxiety, dizziness, tightness in the chest, feelings of extreme stress and nervousness are all common symptoms.  Awful, right?  Yes indeedy, but don’t let any of that scare you away from taking on the challenge of quitting.

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Check out all of the things that Lobelia Inflata is reputed to help the human body with.  It is a respiratory stimulant, anti-asthmatic, spasmolytic, expectorant, diaphoretic, nervine, emetic, relaxant.  Did all of that just sound like the wah wah wah of  Charlie Brown’s teacher speaking?  Allow me to break it down!

-A respiratory stimulator, relaxant and anti-asthmatic are self explanatory.

-A spasmolytic (aka an anti-spasmodic) is used to relieve or prevent spasms and spasms usually cause pain, right?  So a spasmolytic can help relieve pain.

-An expectorant is an herb or pharmaceutical drug (which can be derived from an herb) that helps the lungs to break up icky hard mucus and allows the body to expel the mucus via the cough and hack.

-A diaphoretic is an herb that induces perspiration.  This can be useful when one has a fever and needs to sweat it out, or when there is a need to detoxify using every exit possible.

-A nervine soothes nervous excitement.  (Hmm, sounds like Indian Tobacco might be able to help with anxiety.)

-An emetic is something that induces vomiting.  I’ve never heard of anyone needing to induce vomiting as a result of smoking cessation, but this information could be useful for the herbal medicine kit.

So, now that you know some of the ways Indian Tobacco works with our bodies- can you see how how it might work wonders with nicotine withdrawal?  Worked for me!!

*Do your homework, use common sense, intuition and speak to an herbalist about your curiosities regarding the safety of any herb, especially if you are pregnant or nursing.