Everyone knows the harmful effects of smoking, but not all of them are about the mechanisms for recovery and returning to life without a bad habit. It is the understanding of all the processes taking place in the body that can serve as additional motivation in the fight against nicotine addiction. Think about how this happens and what it means to give up smoking and what it takes to make it as comfortable as possible to break the addiction.
What happens to the body when you stop smoking?
By quitting smoking before the onset of irreversible pathological processes, a person can, although for a long time, regain his health. Full recovery of the body, even after a brief but regular use of tobacco products, takes 5 to 10 years. However, the first signs of improvement in its performance can be seen after a few days.
To do this, it is worth trying to record on paper all the sensations that arise when quitting smoking. By keeping a daily quit smoking diary, you can be sure of all the changes that are occurring on a daily basis. It is also a way to create good motivation for yourself, celebrating every local success in this difficult endeavor.
Then we will tell you more precisely how all organs and systems are restored.
How does the condition of internal organs change?
Stopping smoking completely has a beneficial effect on the human body, but not all changes are visible to the naked eye. Let's see some of them:
- Blood pressure decreases, the risk of myocardial infarction decreases several times.
- The walls of the blood vessels are strengthened, the organs are enriched with oxygen.
- The bronchi are healed, the lungs are free from sticky sputum - it becomes easier to breathe, shortness of breath and annoying cough.
- The chances of developing cancer, including the most common disease of this type, lung cancer, are reduced.
- Smell and taste buds are restored.
- The liver is cleansed after prolonged exposure to toxic substances.
- The risk of Sudden Death is reduced by 10 times.
This is just the gist of what happens after you quit smoking, as almost all of a smoker's organs recover from the influence of toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke.
External changes in the body after quitting smoking
Women are more interested in what happens when you quit smoking with your appearance. We hasten to respond that life without cigarettes will only bring positive changes to your appearance. Visual improvements can be seen within 4-6 weeks. First of all, the complexion becomes healthier, the grayish tint disappears due to the fact that toxins no longer enter the body, and the blood is saturated with oxygen.
Teeth become noticeably whiter without being influenced by the tar in tobacco products. The yellowish tint that accompanies every smoker disappears from the fingers.
After 6 months, women notice the strengthening of hair follicles and, as a result, decrease in hair loss, improvement in their appearance. Without the effects of tar and toxins, the skin of the body is improved through the natural production of collagen, which is no longer blocked by smoking.
Quitting smoking: what happens in the bodies of a man and a woman
The human reproductive function suffers no less from smoking than the cardiovascular system or the lungs. But timely stopping the consumption of toxic substances contained in cigarettes will preserve the health of women and men. So, women, in addition to general improvements, can observe the following changes in the body after quitting smoking:
- Normalization of hormonal levels, since the toxins contained in tobacco smoke, negatively affecting the balance of hormones in the female body, will no longer be supplied.
- Improving the condition of the skin of the face and reducing the risk of premature aging due to the normalization of collagen production.
- There is a high probability of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby.
For men, breaking a bad habit will improve their sexual function. This applies not only to increasing potency, increasing the duration of sexual intercourse, but also the ability to reproduce healthy offspring.
The most common negative consequences of stopping smoking
Most people who have tried to overcome their own nicotine addiction, at first, notice changes that are not positive, but rather negative. This is not surprising, because from the cessation of nicotine consumption in a person, a withdrawal syndrome occurs - a kind of withdrawal. To know what to prepare for, think about what happens after you quit smoking:
- From the nervous system: increased irritability, decreased concentration of attention, depression, anxiety, poor sleep quality or insomnia, general weakness and fatigue.
- From the digestive tract: nausea, sharp increase in appetite, stomach pain.
- On the part of the respiratory system: increased cough with discharge of dark sputum.
- On the ENT side: sweating or a "lump" sensation in the throat, nasal congestion, small nasal discharge.
All of these symptoms can be minimized by supporting your body.
How to maintain immunity in the body?
The immune system responds immediately to changes associated with stopping nicotine use, and most often in the early stages, this reaction is the opposite of what you would expect. So often there are arguments that I haven't smoked for a month and got sick much more often than while I was smoking. Former smokers become more susceptible to various viruses and easily catch one of them, which is associated with the restructuring of the body. Therefore, measures must be taken to strengthen the immune system. So, in the process of quitting tobacco products, doctors advise taking multivitamin complexes, in which all the necessary vitamins and trace elements are balanced.
In addition, traditional medicine recipes will not be superfluous in this case. Echinacea tincture, ginseng, green tea with honey and lemon will be a useful help.
Please note that the use of drugs to get rid of a bad habit is not recommended.
How to help the lungs?
It is the lungs and bronchi that are particularly affected by tobacco smoke, so it is worth helping them clear out thick sputum as soon as possible. To do this, you need to consume a large amount of liquid. Still flat water is ideal. In addition, special attention should be paid to the humidity in the house. Dry air is known to prevent productive coughing, thus slowing down the cleansing process.
Herbs and syrups made from them are a good alternative to synthetic mucolytics. A budget and efficient option is licorice root syrup. You can also use herbal mixtures of lungwort, horsetail, plantain, elecampane, and elderberry in tea form. So, when quitting smoking, changes in the body, namely the organs of the respiratory system, will take place with minimal discomfort.
How to overcome nervous system disorders associated with breaking a bad habit in the first month?
The most negative reactions that a former smoker experiences on themselves fall on the nervous system. Thus, almost everyone notices a state of depression, and in some cases even depressive. If we consider what happens when you stop smoking every day, then it is the nervous system that suffers more than others at the initial stage.
As we noted above, taking medication when quitting smoking is highly undesirable, but this rule does not apply to sedatives, which can effectively cope with increased stress on the psyche. However, medications should only be used as directed by a doctor.
Herbal enthusiasts should brew soothing herbs such as motherwort, mint, valerian in tea or tablet form.
What can be done to prevent smoking cessation from gaining weight?
Particular attention should be paid to diet so that changes after quitting smoking do not affect body weight. Weight gain is a consequence of increased appetite, and if you don't take this problem seriously, you can gain weight significantly. It is often this fact that scares women who smoke, causing them to give up the idea of giving up a bad habit.
A diet rich in vegetables and fruits should be included in the diet during the weaning period. Fiber is great for suppressing hunger and will keep you feeling full for a long time. You should also exclude the use of spicy and fatty foods, and also be careful with desserts and pastries. The same goes for lollipops and seeds, which are emerging as a cigarette substitute for many. They should prefer apples, carrots or a glass of clean water.
What happens when you stop smoking every day?
A person can feel the first results of fighting addiction in the first few days. In addition, it is during this period that the most pronounced are precisely the negative reactions, which, like the positive ones, should be recorded in the smoker's diary (if any) in order to have a general picture, to strengthen themind and understand what has already been gone through and not broken. So what is the risk of quitting smoking during the day:
- 1 day: appetite is disturbed, apathy occurs.
- Day 2: nervousness appears, insomnia may appear.
- Day 3: The urge to smoke becomes particularly strong.
- Day 4: Cough intensifies with sputum discharge.
- Day 5: There is a constant feeling of hunger.
- Day 6: Depression may develop.
- Day 7: The withdrawal syndrome gradually recedes.
At the same time, the pulse and pressure stabilize, the risk of heart attack decreases, the sense of smell improves, and the organs are saturated with oxygen.
Changes in the body after quitting smoking, which occur within a month, a year
For someone who quits smoking, the daily effects on the body are just the beginning of a long road to recovery, which lasts for several years. However, it is the first year that is the most productive, because it is during this period that the maximum number of changes occur, which are not only visible in the appearance, but also in the general condition of the body. 'former smoker:
- The lungs increase in size, the increased fatigue and shortness of breath during physical exertion disappear.
- The physical and psychological dependence on cigarettes disappears.
- The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is significantly reduced.
- The skin is more attractive, its premature aging is avoided.
- The hair becomes shinier, the nails stronger.
- Affected liver cells are restored.
- The cough and hoarseness disappear.
At this point we can say that the dependency is gone.
What's the best way to throw hard or gradually?
This is the most common question among smokers with diverse experiences. There is an opinion that it is worth fighting with addiction depending on the duration of your own addiction. However, most doctors believe that phasing out smoking will not bring a positive result. The smoking habit therefore does not go away and the body continues to crave nicotine. Therefore, the best solution would be a complete and decisive rejection of tobacco products. Despite the fact that the smoker along the way will face the difficulties that we have described above, in the end, he will preserve the most precious thing - health.
But there are cases where it doesn't work abruptly to get rid of the dependency. This applies to heavy smokers who consume an average of 1. 5-2 packets per day. In this, it is worth trying to methodically reduce the amount of smoke until it stops completely in a month.
As you can see, there will be many obstacles in the way of a healthy, nicotine-free life. The main thing is to understand that they are all temporary, and to prepare yourself for the fact that these temporary difficulties will not allow you to retreat to the main goal - to become nicotine independent.