Manila, Philippines—Despite intensified campaigns against the harmful effects of smoking, 250 Filipinos still die each day due to smoking-related illnesses.
Previous news reports showed that based on a 2009 survey conducted by the Philippines Global Adult Tobacco Survey with the Department of Health and the National Statistics Office, some 17 million Filipinos smoke regularly.
The same survey also showed that 60.6 percent of the current cigarette smokers have expressed interest in kicking the habit. Of those who smoked in the last 12 months, 47.8 percent made an attempt to quit while 12.3 percent said they used counseling as a smoking cessation method.
Unfortunately, only 4.5 percent have successfully quit.
But while the numbers are indeed alarming, there are luckily a number of smokers who have begun to exert more conscious efforts to get rid of this habit. What is more fortunate is that companies have also begun to take notice of smokers’ plight and have come up with products to help them quit smoking.
Local firm WOHL Dietary Products Inc. for one, recently introduced its first premium brand to the Philippine market, which it called Smokeless.
WOHL president Simon L. Tan explained in an interview that Smokeless is a capsule sourced from an ancient type of wild green oat extract that can help would-be quitters, who have struggled in the process of breaking the habit, combat the physical and mental stress brought about by nicotine withdrawal.
Smokeless capsule contains Neuravena 955, a patented Avena sativa L. extract that helps in the reduction of cigarette consumption. The same extract has been known to help alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms, increase stress resistance and improve cognitive function of smoking quitters.
Beneficial effects
“Smokeless is proven to aid quitters to have a more comfortable withdrawal period and eventually cut down tobacco consumption to a point where he/she is able to completely get rid of the habit,” Tan noted.
The effectivity of Smokeless has also been confirmed by clinical and preclinical studies as it was found to have beneficial effects on mental fitness, alertness and mental performance in stressful conditions since it works on the brain enzymes and waves that affect an individuals stress and cognitive ability.
“Right now, Smokeless is the only herbal alternative to smoking cessation available in the market that contains no nicotine,” Tan further explained.
Aside from Smokeless, Tan also revealed that the company also carries other nutraceutical products, which he dubbed as the “new breed of dietary supplements that are extracted naturally from plants and food crops that are proven to improve health and well being.”
WOHL, which currently has partnerships with some of the world’s leading suppliers of topnotch nutraceuticals, such as Frutarom and Beneo-Orafti, is also looking at introducing in the Philippines more supplements that have passed the standards of the European Union. Such standards are regarded to be among the highest quality standards in first-world countries.
“We pride ourselves on being innovative and we prefer European quality because it is very clean,” Tan added.
Aside from Smokeless, WOHL also presented during a recent briefing other products that it is set to offer to the local market. For children, WOHL has the Kids Yummy Veggies, a flavorless powder that can be mixed in children’s food and drinks to pack in fiber and vitamins. ErvaTrim meanwhile, is a fat-burning powder drink made from an energizing herb popular in South Africa.