The benefits of quit smoking that occur inside your body when you quit smoking begin shortly after you have smoked your last cigarette. Have all of the years of smoking or chewing caused too much damage for quitting being of any benefit? The truth is, not at all. The human body is amazingly resilient.

Within the first 20 minutes of quitting, the healing process begins. Quit smoking benefits will continue to improve your health and quality of life for years.
When you quit smoking, the benefits begin within minutes of your last cigarette.

At 20 minutes after quitting:

• blood pressure decreases
• pulse rate drops
• body temperature of hands and feet increases.

At 8 hours:

• carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
• oxygen level in blood increases to normal

At 24 hours:

• chance of a heart attack decreases

At 48 hours:

• nerve endings start re-growing
• ability to smell and taste improve
Between 2 weeks and 3 months:
• circulation improves
• walking becomes easier
• lung function increases
So many positive changes occur during the first 3 months of smoking cessation. The worst of nicotine withdrawal subsides within the first month. Now the focus needs to be on learning how to decipher and reprogram the psychological tugs or urges to smoke.

Between 1 to 9 months smoke free:

Starting as early as a month after you quit smoking, and continuing for the next several months, you may notice significant improvements in these areas:
• coughing
• sinus congestion
• fatigue
• shortness of breath

The changes you’ll be going through will affect more than your physical health. Confidence will soar as you accumulate more smoke free time. It’s empowering!

It’s important to remember that healing from nicotine addiction is a process and while some improvements are dramatic and happen quickly, others will come more gradually.

At 1 Year smoke free:

• excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker
Cigarette smoking is directly linked to 30% of all heart disease deaths in the United States each year. It plays a part in coronary heart disease, and causes damage by decreasing oxygen to the heart. Smoking increases blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are hard on the heart. Quitting tobacco is the absolute best thing you can do for your heart and for your health overall.

At 2 years smoke free:

• your chance of achieving long-term success with quitting tobacco increases significantly

At 5 years smoke free:

• from 5 to 15 years after quitting tobacco, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked
At 10 years smoke free:
• risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers
• risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases
• risk of ulcer decreases

At 15 years smoke free:

• risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked
• risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked

So now that you know the benefits of quitting your smoking habit, where do we go from here? I guess it’s time to look at beginning a quitting program. Some of your friends may make fun of you and tell you, “No one likes a quitter.” The truth is that you’ll be able to say it much later in life than they will when you take steps to stop now!