Quitting smoking has many short-term and long-term health benefits. Cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco are made from dried tobacco leaves and ingredients are also added for flavor and to make smoking more pleasant. The smoke from these products is a complex mixture of chemicals that are released or created by the combustion of tobacco and additives. Tobacco smoke consists of more than 7,000 chemicals, including 70 that cause cancer. These carcinogenic or carcinogenic substances damage the cell nucleus and prevent the repair of already damaged cells. Some of these substances also lead to heart and lung disease, which can have fatal consequences. The ingredient that produces the effect smokers are after is nicotine, a highly addictive substance, both physically and mentally. Once you stop smoking, you will soon see benefits in terms of your health as well as your appearance.
- Quit smoking benefits
- Quitting Smoking: Appearance
- Wrinkles
- Blood vessels in the skin
- Tired and red eyes
- Gingivitis
- Overall health and life expectancy
- Experience less stress
- Improved fertility
- Better sleep quality by quitting smoking
- Smell and taste
- Improve taste and smell
- You smell better
- Improve breathing
- Save money by quitting smoking
Quit smoking benefits
When you stop smoking, you will immediately improve physically. Some improvements happen very quickly, while others take more time. The short-term and long-term benefits are listed below in a time scale, with references to the literature.
|
Time of day |
Effects and health benefits of quitting smoking |
|
20 minutes |
Your blood pressure and heart rate are back to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet rises. |
|
8 o’clock |
Nicotine levels in the blood have fallen to 6.25% of the normal daily level, a reduction of as much as 93.75%. The oxygen concentration in the blood increases, which benefits the tissues and organs in the body. The risk of thrombosis and heart attack is already decreasing. |
|
12 o’clock |
The amount of carbon monoxide (which ensures that there is less oxygen in the blood) and the amount of oxygen in the blood are back to normal. |
|
24 hours |
The ‘big cleaning’ can begin. Your lungs start clearing away tar, mucus and other smoke residues. |
|
48 hours |
After about 48 hours, there is no nicotine left in your body. After two days, your sense of smell and taste has improved significantly. |
|
2 to 12 weeks |
You will get better blood circulation after 2 to 12 weeks; exercise such as walking, climbing stairs and exercising is better for you. Your skin color becomes healthier and your hands and feet become warmer. Moreover, you will get whiter teeth and you will smell better. |
|
3 weeks |
Nicotine works via nicotine-dependent acetylcholine receptors. When you smoke daily, your brain makes more acetylcholine receptors. After 21 days you will be back to your old level.[1] |
|
1 month |
The normal balance of the cells in your airways is restored and your smoker’s cough — if you were suffering from it — begins to disappear. Cough complaints decrease significantly within one month after quitting smoking. If you continue to cough despite this, consult your doctor. |
|
4 to 6 months |
You have less chance of respiratory infections and pneumonia because the cilia of the respiratory tract recover. |
|
1 to 9 months |
Chronic sinusitis related to smoking will improve. In addition, you are less tired and shortness of breath has decreased. The cilia in the lungs begin to function normally again. This restores their ability to remove mucus and dirt particles from the lungs and clean them, which reduces the risk of infections. Your overall fitness, endurance and energy levels have increased dramatically. |
|
2 to 4 years |
The risk of stroke is now the same as for non-smokers and for COPD patients the decline in lung function is the same as for non-smokers. In this way they slow down the progression of their disease. |
|
3 to 4 years |
After 3 to 4 years, the risk of a heart attack is the same as in non-smokers. |
|
5 years |
The risk of developing diabetes is the same for women who have stopped smoking as for non-smokers[2]. According to research, this takes 5 years longer for men. |
|
10 years |
The risk of developing diabetes is the same for men who have stopped smoking as for non-smokers.[3] The risk of dying from lung cancer fell by almost half if you were an average smoker, that is, if you smoked an average of one pack of cigarettes per day. The risk of oral cancer, throat cancer, esophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer has decreased significantly. |
|
13 years |
Smoking causes gingivitis to heal less quickly and the jaw bone to shrink further. For this reason, smokers are more likely to lose their teeth than non-smokers. The average smoker who lives to be 75 years old has an average of 5.8 teeth and fewer molars than a non-smoker.[4] But 13 years after quitting smoking, the risk of smoking-related tooth loss falls to that of a non-smoker.[5] |
|
15 years |
The risk of coronary heart disease (conditions caused by abnormalities in the coronary arteries) after 15 years is the same as that of a person who has never smoked. |
|
20 years |
The risk of pancreatic cancer is now the same as that of a non-smoker.[6] The risk for women who have stopped smoking of dying from all smoking-related causes, including lung disease and cancer, is reduced to that of a non-smoker after 20 years.[7] |
Quitting smoking has many benefits / Source: Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock.com
Quitting Smoking: Appearance
Wrinkles
Quitting smoking has many benefits for your physical health, but it will also (quickly) make you look better. Your skin reflects your lifestyle and what you eat and drink. People who smoke heavily are more likely to develop wrinkles, especially the infamous crow’s feet (laugh lines around the eyes) and wrinkles around the mouth and lips. Smoking breaks down collagen. Collagen is a connective tissue that ensures the firmness and elasticity of the skin. Other notorious collagen depleters are the sun and consuming a lot of sugar. In addition, inveterate smokers have stained, yellowish teeth, discolored nails, receding gums and dull hair, making them appear older than non-smokers of the same age.
Blood vessels in the skin
Certain toxins in tobacco smoke have a constricting effect on the blood vessels in the skin, reducing blood flow to the skin and causing a relative shortage of oxygen and nutrients that are important for the proper functioning of the skin cells in the skin.[8] This causes a grayish to gray complexion. Because the skin is partly deprived of important nutrients, you are also more likely to suffer from bags and dark circles under your eyes. Quitting smoking gives your skin a healthier color and you are less likely to have wrinkles.
Tired and red eyes
Smokers often have red, tired-looking eyes due to constant exposure to irritants. Allergy sufferers are more prone to itchy, irritated eyes in a smoky environment. You will get a fresher look when you stop smoking. It also gives you whiter teeth, because smoking can discolor teeth.
Gingivitis
Smoking is also associated with gum disease and teeth falling out of your mouth. Smokers have a greatly increased risk of developing periodontal disease and because smoking causes blood vessel constriction, the characteristics of gingivitis, such as red, swollen gums that bleed when touched, are masked. This leads to loss of supporting tissue, such as jawbone. Teeth can loosen and in the end stages of periodontal disease so much jaw bone has disappeared that teeth and molars spontaneously fall out of the mouth. If you stop smoking, your teeth will look better and you will reduce the risk of periodontal disease. Quitting smoking only has benefits for your appearance.
Overall health and life expectancy
The main difference you will notice after quitting smoking is the improvement in your overall health and well-being. As the years go by, your lung capacity decreases. That applies to everyone. Smoking causes damage to your lungs, which further reduces your lung capacity and means your muscles receive less oxygen. However, within nine months of quitting smoking, a non-smoker’s lung capacity can improve by up to 10%. Maximum lung capacity later in life can mean the difference between an active, healthy age and wheezing when climbing stairs or walking.
Half of all long-term smokers die prematurely from smoking-related diseases such as heart disease, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. Men who quit smoking at age 30 add 10 years to their lives. People who give up the habit at age 60 can add three years to their lives. So being a non-smoker not only adds years to your life, but also significantly increases your chances of a happier, more active old age.
Experience less stress
Quitting smoking may be difficult at first, but after a few weeks your stress level will be lower and your mood will improve. Although smoking appears to reduce stress; The reality is that it is easy to confuse normal stress with nicotine withdrawal because the stress of nicotine withdrawal can increase the feeling of stress. However, once you stop smoking, your stress levels drop significantly.
Improved fertility
Quitting smoking improves fertility. Is it easier for non-smokers to get pregnant? In addition, a woman is less likely to have a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy. You are also less likely to have problems during pregnancy or around birth.
In addition, quitting smoking increases the chance of having a healthy baby. That’s because quitting smoking can make a man’s sperm stronger. A non-smoker has healthier sperm cells.
Better sleep quality by quitting smoking
Smokers are four times more likely to have sleep problems. Nicotine is a stimulant with physical and psychological effects. The resting rate of your heart is slightly faster than that of a non-smoker. If you stop taking nicotine, you will feel more relaxed before you go to bed.
Smell and taste
Improve taste and smell
An interesting benefit of quitting smoking that is often overlooked is that your taste buds and sense of smell improve. Smoking affects your taste buds and sense of smell, making foods less tasty and odors less intense. Your taste buds and sense of smell recover as soon as you stop smoking. From that moment on you develop a better sense of taste and smell. This can lead to an improved eating experience and make it easier to make healthy food choices.
In short, when you stop smoking, your senses of taste and smell improve. This makes food taste much better. You can now taste or smell aromas that were previously too subtle to perceive.
You smell better
When you smoke, your skin, hair, fingernails and clothes absorb the smell of cigarette smoke. Non-smokers often find cigarette smoke to smell particularly unpleasant. When you stop smoking, you will smell much better for yourself and others.
Improve breathing
Better breathing is one of the most immediate benefits of quitting smoking. A smoker’s lung capillaries are constricted, but once you stop smoking, they can take in more blood and expand to get more air per breath. As a non-smoker, you can feel more energetic within 8 days of quitting.
Save money by quitting smoking
The simple fact is that smoking costs a lot of money. In 2021, a pack of 50 grams of Drum (well-known tobacco brand) costs no less than 13.80 euros. If you smoke, just calculate how much you spend on smoking tobacco every week, month or year. Once you quit smoking, you can put the money you used to spend into a piggy bank and spend it on another purpose.
Notes:
- Mamede M, Ishizu K, Ueda M, Mukai T, Iida Y, Kawashima H, Fukuyama H, Togashi K, Saji H. Temporal change in human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor after smoking cessation: 5IA SPECT study. J Nucl Med. 2007 Nov;48(11):1829-35. Epub 2007 Oct 17.
- Will JC, Galuska DA, Ford ES, Mokdad A, Calle EE. Cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus: evidence of a positive association from a large prospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2001 Jun;30(3):540-6.
- Ibid
- Axelsson P, Paulander J, Lindhe J. Relationship between smoking and dental status in 35-, 50-, 65-, and 75-year-old individuals.. J Clin Periodontol. 1998 Apr;25(4):297-305.
- Krall EA, Dietrich T, Nunn ME, Garcia RI. Risk of tooth loss after cigarette smoking cessation. Prev Chronic Dis. 2006 Oct;3(4):A115. Epub 2006 Sep 15.
- Bosetti C, Lucenteforte E, Silverman DT, Petersen G, Bracci PM, Ji BT, Negri E, Li D, Risch HA, Olson SH, Gallinger S, Miller AB, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Talamini R, Polesel J, Ghadirian P, Baghurst PA, Zatonski W, Fontham E, Bamlet WR, Holly EA, Bertuccio P, Gao YT, Hassan M, Yu H, Kurtz RC, Cotterchio M, Su J, Maisonneuve P, Duell EJ, Boffetta P, La Vecchia C Cigarette smoking and pancreatic cancer: an analysis from the International Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium (Panc4). Ann Oncol. 2012 Jul;23(7):1880-8. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdr541. Epub 2011 Nov 21.
- Kenfield SA, Stampfer MJ, Rosner BA, Colditz GA. Smoking and smoking cessation in relation to mortality in women.J AMA. 2008 May 7;299(17):2037-47. doi: 10.1001/jama.299.17.2037.
- Black CE, Huang N, Neligan PC, Levine RH, Lipa JE, Lintlop S, Forrest CR, Pang CY. Effect of nicotine on vasoconstrictor and vasodilator responses in human skin vasculature. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2001 Oct;281(4):R1097-104.
read more
- Quit smoking: tips for quitting smoking Allen Carr method
- Smoking: addiction and the effects of nicotine on the brain
- Smoking: Young smoking damages the brain – permanent brain damage
- Harmful effects of smoking / risk of premature death
- Why do young people start smoking: factors and causes of smoking behavior
