Everything seems to move so fast in this modern era. No wonder people start to feel stressed out and begin to experience anxiety in their daily life. Anxiety is a very normal feeling, but it can impair your work performance if you can’t manage it well.
To cope with mild anxiety, some people begin to smoke cannabis as a means to control their anxiety, but did you know that other than cannabis, clove cigarettes are also one of the herbs to smoke for anxiety?
Understanding Clove Cigarette
For cigarette fans, clove cigarettes or kretek aren’t a new thing for them. This Indonesian cigarette is a blend of clove and tobacco. Usually, a clove cigarette will have approximately 60-80 percent tobacco and 20-40 percent chopped clove buds and clove oil.
Besides clove and tobacco, other exotic spices can be included in the mixture, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cumin.
In general, the process of producing a clove cigarette is divided into two steps, blending and rolling. In the blending process, the selected cloves are crushed or chopped before being combined with tobacco.
Before mixing the cloves and tobacco, the kretek maker will measure the exact amount of spices in the blend. Sometimes, the clove cigarette maker will use more than one type of tobacco inside the mixture.
After blending the clove and tobacco, a sauce or a mix of various kinds of herb and fruit extracts will be added to the blend. Each brand will have its sauce recipe that can include more than 100 different ingredients.
The next step after the blending process is the rolling process. The finished mixture will be either hand-rolled or machine-rolled before being packed and distributed to different stores. Before being packed, a sweetener can be coated on the wrapper to give a sweet taste to the clove cigarette. One example of a sweetener is saccharin.
Clove Cigarettes: Alternative Herbs to Smoke for Anxiety
Surprisingly, puffing a clove cigarette can be another choice to reduce your anxiety due to the clove ingredient in the smoke. This exotic spice can help lower your anxiety level.
Besides consuming clove cigarettes as herbs to smoke for anxiety, you can also incorporate spice into your meals. Clove has a lot of antioxidants that can protect you from free radicals that are harmful to your body and even decrease your risk of having diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Meanwhile, using clove oil massage or essential oil can calm your nerves and increase your mood.
Different Types of Clove Cigarettes
If you are intrigued by trying clove cigarettes as alternative herbs to smoke for anxiety, you have to know the different kinds of clove cigarettes to choose which type that suits your preference:
1. Klobot Clove Cigarette
Nowadays, it’s a rare sight to see klobot clove cigarettes since they are usually smoked by older people in East Java, Indonesia. This type of clove cigarette is the first generation of clove cigarettes.
Klobot clove cigarette is hand-rolled and it uses corn husks as the clove and tobacco blend wrapper. Klobot means corn husks in the Javanese language.
2. Hand-rolled Clove Cigarette
Just like its name, a hand-rolled clove cigarette is a type of kretek that is hand-rolled manually instead of using a machine. Expert laborers roll the clove cigarettes and use paper as the wrapper.
Unlike machine-rolled clove cigarettes, hand-rolled kretek usually doesn’t have filters on them.
3. Machine-rolled Clove Cigarette
Machine-rolled clove cigarettes are the most common type of kretek in the market. It has a similar appearance to the western cigarette and is processed with machines instead of hand-rolled manually.
Are There Other Herbs to Smoke for Anxiety?
Clove is only one of the herbs you can choose to smoke for anxiety. You can also try other spices or herbs, such as:
1. Ginger Root
Ginger can warm your body and minimize your stress due to its antioxidant content. It can also help relieve cough and cold.
2. Mint
Other than giving a refreshing sensation, mint can help reduce anxiety and cool the throat. The aroma of mint can even lessen fatigue and anxiety.
3. Chamomile
Besides being consumed as tea, chamomile can also be used to reduce anxiety, insomnia, and diarrhea. Apart from relaxing your body, chamomile can be applied to the skin to treat skin irritation and soothe wounds.
4. Basil
Basil is one of the spices that is usually used to make Asian cuisines, but did you know that basil can lower anxiety and stress, as well as decrease the risk of experiencing problems with memory.
5. Peppermint
Peppermint has a cooling and calming effect. Moreover, it can reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as migraines, sensitivity to light, vomiting, and nausea.
Before Smoking Clove Cigarettes
The clove inside kretek can be one of the herbs to smoke for anxiety, but just like any other cigarette, kretek has harmful chemicals that can endanger your health.
The spice itself is beneficial for your health, but clove cigarettes have other ingredients, such as nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar, that can increase your chance of developing respiratory problems, heart issues, teeth decay, and cancer.
The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar in a clove cigarette are higher than in regular smoke. Moreover, eugenol, a substance that can be found in cloves, is mild anesthesia that can numb your throat and mouth, giving a refreshing sensation that can make you keep inhaling the harmful substance in the kretek.
Besides making you oblivious to the harmful chemicals, eugenol can also harm your gag reflex. So, before consuming a clove cigarette, you have to be aware of the risks of using it as an herb to smoke for anxiety.
Still Up for a Puff of Clove Cigarette?
The exotic and unique taste as well as the aroma of a clove cigarette can make it worth trying, especially if you are looking for herbs to smoke for anxiety. If you are searching for different types of clove cigarettes, you can find them on Clove Cigarettes Online!
Clove Cigarettes Online can provide you with authentic clove cigarette collections from famous brands, such as Djarum, Sampoerna, and Gudang Garam. You can simply visit their website and start browsing for the clove cigarette that suits your preference.