It’s no news to anyone: the benefits of quitting smoking are numerous! Smoking impacts the overall health of smokers, increasing the risk of many diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to various types of cancer or cardiovascular disease. No matter where you are in your quitting process – whether it’s been days, weeks, or even years since your last cigarette – there are many benefits to quitting smoking. Let’s see together what these advantages are.
1. Improve Your Breathing
Quit smoking and say goodbye to the smoker’s cough. Studies show that lung capacity improves by up to 10% within nine months of quitting. Just as you cough less, you’ll find it easier to exercise – whether you want to run a marathon or simply climb stairs without getting out of breath.
2. Become Less Fertile
Yes, you’ve read that right! Quitting smoking can improve your fertility by strengthening the womb’s lining in women and making sperm more potent in men. Non-smokers have an easier time conceiving naturally, but they are also more likely to have a successful in vitro fertilization treatment. When you stop smoking, you will also reduce the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth and increase your chances of having a healthy baby.
3. Be More Energized
Blood flow improves within two weeks of quitting smoking. All that extra oxygen in your body will make it easier to exercise and give you a lot more energy. People who quit smoking report feeling less tired and having fewer headaches. And that’s not all: quitting smoking boosts your immune system and makes it easier to resist colds and flu.
4 Live Longer
Are you a smoker but would like to enjoy life for a maximum of years? Then kiss tobacco goodbye! Studies show that men who quit smoking at age 30 extend their lives by 10 years, while those who stop at age 60 extend their lives by three years. Not only will you live longer, but you’re more likely to be healthier and more mobile as you age.
Besides, half of the long-term smokers die prematurely from smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic bronchitis. After one year of not smoking, your risk of dying from a heart attack is cut in half.
5. Enhance Your Smell and Taste Senses
When you smoke, you breathe in over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic and can dull your sense of smell and taste. Stop smoking, and you will taste and smell your food better after just one week.
6. Get Glowing Skin
Smoking is a leading factor in premature aging, causing wrinkles and crow’s feet, and furrows above the lips. Since smoking decreases the oxygen in the blood, smokers’ skin tends to become gray and yellowish. Toxins in tobacco smoke also destroy collagen, which is necessary for the skin’s firmness and elasticity. When you quit smoking, your complexion will quickly improve – and you’ll have fewer wrinkles in the future.
7. Get a Better Smile
This is no secret: when you bid farewell to cigarettes, you have whiter teeth and fresher breath. Why? Because smoking stains your teeth, and dry out your mouth, leading to bad breath. Plus, if you make this decision, you’ll also be less likely to suffer from gum disease.
8. Protect Your Family’s Health
The benefits of quitting smoking don’t stop with you. If you quit smoking, you’ll help protect the health of non-smokers around you. Inhaling cigarette smoke, known as secondhand smoke, is especially dangerous for children because it doubles their risk of developing bronchial infections, ear infections, and asthma, and increases their risk of lung cancer later in life.
9. Save Money
Last but not least, quitting smoking can save you money. Even if it’s not a health benefit, it’s worth mentioning that the average smoker smokes 13 cigarettes a day, which costs him/her a lot.
Have you already stopped smoking? We would love to read from you. Let us know in the comments below how the journey to quitting cigarettes has been so far.
