The overwhelming majority of the world’s adult population is now aware of the dangers that come with regular cigarette smoking. Nevertheless, knowing that smoking is bad is one thing while actually kicking the habit is entirely another. Breaking any kind of addiction is never easy and smoking is not an exception.
There are drugs, routines and devices such as Vapour.com that can help you stop smoking. Yet, you can never get enough help when you are trying to quit. Understanding the health benefits can go a long way in increasing your chances of success. Here are some of the most important ones.
Easier Breathing
People who quit smoking cough less and breath better. This is largely due to the improved lung capacity and clearer airways. Some studies have shown lung capacity can expand by as much as 10 percent within the first 36 weeks of quitting smoking.
Lung capacity inevitably diminishes with age for both smokers and non-smokers. However, damage from smoking can make this decrease commence much sooner thus making everyday tasks such as climbing stairs or regular walking exhausting in middle age.
Reduced Stress
This will probably be surprising for smokers since stressful situations are often the very reason they have the urge to light up. It’s true that cigarette smoking triggers the release of dopamine, an organic chemical in the brain associated with feelings of pleasure and calmness.
As many smokers will agree, this high is temporary and eventually declines thus necessitating the need to light up again. The withdrawal of nicotine from the bloodstream is what induces that stressful and sinking feeling. By breaking your smoking habit, you’ll be less prone to these mood swings.
Improved Fertility
Non-smoking couples find it easier to conceive. Smoking can affect multiple aspects and stages of the reproduction process. It deteriorates the quality of the uterus lining in women and makes sperm less potent in men.
Smoking not only affects the natural methods of reproduction (i.e. sexual intercourse) but can also impede the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Even bigger danger looms when conception is successful: babies born to smoking couples are more likely to have birth defects.
Smoother, More Supple Skin
Are you looking to have rejuvenated, younger skin? You are more likely to get it if you stop smoking. Smoking leads to premature facial aging and speeds up the onset of wrinkles. Remember, one of the substances found in cigarette smoke is carbon monoxide which slows down the delivery of inhaled oxygen to red blood cells.
Non-smokers have a smoother, healthier skin because their respiratory system delivers more oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
Renewed Energy
Oxygen and nutrient circulation starts to improve anywhere between 2 and 12 weeks after you stop lighting up. For this reason, physical activities such as walking and running become markedly easier. Nutrient circulation also boosts the immune system thus making you less vulnerable to sickness and disease.
Of course, there are more sensual advantages of increased energy: higher libido and better sex.
Enhanced Sense of Taste and Smell
You’ll notice pretty quickly changes for the better in your sense of taste and smell soon after you quit. Routine meals will look and feel different as the pleasure of eating dramatically improves. This is due to the sensory cells in the mouth and nose getting renewed and steadily losing their contamination by the many chemicals found in the average cigarette.
The chemicals in tobacco inhibit the taste buds from accurately registering the four basic food tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. In addition, the hot cigarette fumes sear the sensory cells.
Whiter Teeth, Fresher Breath
Tobacco discolors the teeth and dominates breath. You must have noticed that even when they have not lit up over a given day, many smokers have a lingering smell of tobacco in their breath. Tobacco weakens the teeth and hastens their disintegration.
Discolored teeth and bad breath not only has direct health implications but also has an impact on a person’s self-esteem. This self-consciousness leads to low self-esteem and eventually makes it difficult for one to develop meaningful romantic relationships.
Longer Life
One in two long-term smokers die early due to diseases caused or accelerated by smoking. These include heart disease, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. The earlier you quit smoking, the more you’ll extend your life expectancy.
So if a man gives up smoking at age 30, they’ll have added 10 years to their lifespan. In contrast, quitting at 60 years will only add 3 years to one’s life. That said, whereas quitting early means gaining more years, one thing that’s clear is that quitting at whatever point lengthens life.
Protect Loved Ones
Secondhand smoke is just as harmful as primary smoke. When you quit smoking, you’ll be protecting not just your own health but that of those around you.
Children regularly exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke are twice as likely to get pneumonia, asthma, wheezing and ear infections. They are also thrice as likely to get lung cancer than children who grow up around non-smokers.
When you make up your mind to quit smoking, think about these benefits. They’ll provide the motivation you need to keep moving on those difficult days when you don’t feel like it.
Article Submitted By Community Writer