Benefits of Quitting Smoking Over Time

Within minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your body begins to recover:

These are just a few of the benefits of quitting smoking for good. Quitting smoking lowers the risk of diabetes, lets blood vessels work better, and helps the heart and lungs.

Life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than that of non-smokers. Quitting smoking before the age of 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90%.

Quitting while you are younger will reduce your health risks more, but quitting at any age can give back years of life that would be lost by continuing to smoke.

Are There Benefits of Quitting That I’ll Notice Right Away?

Kicking the tobacco habit offers some rewards that you’ll notice right away and some that will show up more slowly over time. Right away you’ll save the money you spent on tobacco! And here are just a few other benefits you may notice:

• Food tastes better
• Your sense of smell returns to normal
• Your breath, hair, and clothes smell better
• Your teeth and fingernails stop yellowing
• Ordinary activities leave you less out of breath (for example, climbing stairs or light housework)
• You can be in smoke-free buildings without having to go outside to smoke

Quitting also helps stop the damaging effects of tobacco on how you look, including premature wrinkling of your skin, gum disease, and tooth loss.

Text material in this post is used with permission of the American Cancer Society® (www.cancer.org)

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