13 March 2024 , 14:34
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Giving up smoking can be tricky, but your body will thank you for the benefits after just 20 minutes.
It takes a lot of willpower to kick the habit, and there is support all around to help. Not only will it save money, but the health benefits are extroadinary and the sooner you quit the sooner you'll notice the effects.
According to the NHS, just 20 minutes after stopping, you will notice your heart rate has returned to normal, as smoking increases your heart rate and tightens your arteries - ultimately making your heart work harder.
This is echoed by NiQuitin, the quit smoking company, who stated: "Your heart rate and blood pressure will return to normal in as little as 20 minutes after you extinguish your last cigarette. This is because the chemicals in your blood metabolise and return to normal."
NiQuitin also shared how cigarettes contain "more than 7,000 harmful chemicals that affect your body in a variety of known and unknown ways" so when you quit and stop ingesting those chemicals - including nicotine which raises your blood pressure - your body quickly returns to normal.
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Cigarettes also include carbon monoxide, and after eight hours of quitting, your oxygen levels will return to normal as the CO2 leaves your body. The NHS added: "Your oxygen levels are recovering, and the harmful carbon monoxide level in your blood will have reduced by half.
After 48 hours "all carbon monoxide is flushed out. Your lungs are clearing out mucus and your senses of taste and smell are improving." And after 72 hours, "you notice that breathing feels easier, it's because your bronchial tubes have started to relax. Also your energy will be increasing."
Nicotine cravings are the main reason people struggle to quit because it's "a powerful and addictive mind-altering drug that affects the body in numerous ways," according to NiQuitin. This is done by "causing the release of noradrenaline, acting as stimulating on the brain."
Paul Aveyard, co-author, Professor of Behavioral Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, explained: "Many people who smoke cannot contemplate stopping smoking. They know it affects their health, but they feel they need cigarettes to cope with stress"
He addded: "This is what people experience every day when they smoke — they feel better afterwards. However what people perceive are the benefits of smoking are the symptoms of withdrawal from cigarettes. While smoking gives a short-term benefit, smoking itself is the cause of the problems."
So after two to twelve weeks, blood will be "pumping through to your heart and muscles much better because your circulation will have improved" and after three to nine months any coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will "be improving as your lung function increases by up to 10%."
If a smoker manages to go a whole year cigarette free, the risk of a heart attack will have halved compared with a smoker's, according to the NHS. And after 10 years, the risk of death from lung cancer will have halved compared with a smoker's.
Information and support to stop smoking can be found on the NHS website for free.