Everyone knows the harmful effects of cigarettes, but not everyone refers to the mechanisms of recovery and return to life without a bad habit. It is the understanding of all the processes that occur in the body that can serve as additional motivation during the fight against nicotine addiction. Consider how it happens and what it means to quit smoking and what to do 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, even for a long time, restore their own health. Full body recovery, even after brief but regular use of tobacco products, takes 5-10 years. However, the first signs of improvement in performance can be seen within a few days.
To do this, it is worth trying to record on paper all the feelings that occur when you quit smoking. By keeping a daily quit journal, you can be sure of all the changes that occur on a daily basis. It is also a way to create good motivation for yourself, celebrating every local success in this difficult endeavor.
Next, we will tell you more specifically how all organs and systems are restored.
How does the state of the internal organs change?
Quitting smoking completely has a beneficial effect on the human body, but not all changes can be seen with 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 bronchial tubes heal, the lungs are cleared of slimy 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.
- The sense of 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 only the main part of what happens after quitting, because almost all of a smoker's organs recover from the influence of toxins and carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke.
External changes in the body after quitting
Women are more interested in what happens when you quit smoking with your appearance. We are quick to answer that life without cigarettes will only bring positive changes in your appearance. Visual improvements can be seen in 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 tinge that accompanies every smoker disappears from the fingers.
After 6 months, women notice the strengthening of hair follicles and, as a result, a decrease in hair loss, an improvement in their appearance. Without exposure to tar and toxins, the body's skin improves thanks to the natural production of collagen, which is no longer blocked by smoking.
Quitting smoking: what happens in the body of a man and a woman
Human reproductive function is affected by smoking no less than the cardiovascular system or the lungs. But the timely termination of the intake 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:
- Normalization of hormone levels, as the toxins contained in tobacco smoke, which adversely affect the balance of hormones in the female body, will no longer be supplied.
- Improves the condition of the facial skin and reduces the risk of premature aging due to the normalization of collagen production.
- There is a high chance of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby.
For men, kicking a bad habit will improve their sexual function. This applies not only to increasing potency, increasing the duration of sexual intercourse, but also to the ability to reproduce healthy offspring.
The most common negative consequences of quitting
Most of the people who have tried to overcome their own addiction to nicotine, first notice changes not positive, but negative. This is not surprising, because from the cessation of nicotine intake in a person, a withdrawal syndrome occurs, a kind of withdrawal. To learn what to prepare for, consider what happens after you quit:
- From the nervous system: increased irritability, decreased concentration of attention, depression, anxiety, poor quality of sleep or insomnia, general weakness and fatigue.
- From the digestive tract: nausea, a sharp increase in appetite, stomach pain.
- On the part of the respiratory system: increased cough with secretion of dark sputum.
- On the part of the ENT organs: sore throat or feeling of a "lump" in the throat, nasal congestion, mild 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 the changes associated with the cessation of nicotine intake and, more often, in the initial stages, this reaction is the opposite of what is expected. Very often there are arguments that I have not smoked for a month and that I have gotten sick much more often than during the smoking habit. Former smokers become more susceptible to various viruses and easily contract any of them, this is associated with the restructuring of the body. Therefore, steps must be taken to strengthen the immune system. So, in the process of quitting tobacco products, doctors recommend taking multivitamin complexes in which all the necessary vitamins and minerals are balanced.
Also, recipes of traditional medicine will not be superfluous in this case. Echinacea tincture, ginseng, green tea with honey and lemon will be a useful help.
Please note that turning to medication is not recommended when breaking away from a bad habit.
How to help the lungs?
It is the lungs and bronchial tubes that are especially affected by tobacco smoke, so you should help them to clear the thick phlegm as soon as possible. To do this, you must consume a large amount of liquid. Still water is ideal. Also, attention should be paid to the humidity in the house. Dry air is known to inhibit a productive cough, which slows down the cleaning process.
Herbs and syrups made from them are a good alternative to synthetic mucolytics. An inexpensive and effective option is licorice root syrup. You can also use herbal blends of pulmonaria, horsetail, plantain, helenium, and elderberry in tea form. Therefore, when quitting smoking, changes in the body, that is, the organs of the respiratory system, will occur with minimal discomfort.
How to overcome nervous system disorders associated with breaking a bad habit in the first month?
The greatest amount of negative reactions a former smoker feels about himself / herself falls on the nervous system. So, almost everyone notices a depressive state, and in some cases even a depressed state. If you consider what happens when you stop smoking every day, then it is the nervous system that suffers more than others in the initial stage.
As we mentioned above, taking medication at the time of quitting 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.
Herb aficionados should prepare soothing herbs such as motherwort, peppermint, valerian in tea or tablet form.
What can be done to prevent quitting from gaining weight?
Special attention should be paid to diet so that changes after smoking cessation do not affect body weight. Weight gain is a consequence of increased appetite, and if this problem is not taken seriously, you can gain considerable weight. This very fact often frightens women who smoke, forcing them to give up the idea of quitting a bad habit.
During the abstinence period, a diet with plenty of vegetables and fruits should be included. Fiber is great for suppressing hunger and will allow you to feel full for a long time. You should also exclude the use of spicy and fatty foods, and also be careful with desserts and cakes. The same can be said for lollipops and seeds, which for many are becoming substitutes for cigarettes. 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, must be entered in the smoker's diary (if any) in order to have a general picture, strengthen the spirit and understand what alreadyit has passed and it has not been broken. So what is the risk of quitting during the day?
- 1 day: appetite is altered, apathy appears.
- Day 2: nervousness appears, insomnia may appear.
- Day 3: The urge to smoke becomes especially strong.
- Day 4: Cough intensifies with sputum secretion.
- Day 5: There is a constant feeling of hunger.
- Day 6: A depressive state 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 in a month, a year
For a person who stops smoking, the effects on the body every day are just the beginning of a long road to recovery that 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 occurs, which are reflected not only in the appearance, but also in the general condition of the ex-smoker:
- The volume of the lungs increases, increased fatigue and shortness of breath disappear during physical exertion.
- Physical and psychological dependence on cigarettes disappears.
- The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is significantly reduced.
- The skin looks more attractive, its premature aging is prevented.
- Hair becomes shinier and nails stronger.
- Affected liver cells are restored.
- The cough and hoarseness disappear.
At this stage, we can safely say that the dependency is gone.
What is the best way to pitch sharply or gradually?
This is the question that arises most frequently among smokers with various experiences. There is an opinion that addiction is worth fighting for depending on the duration of your own addiction. However, most doctors believe that phasing out smoking will not produce a positive result. The smoking habit, therefore, does not go away and the body continues to demand nicotine. Therefore, the best solution would be a complete and decisive rejection of tobacco products. Despite the fact that the smoker on the road will face the difficulties that we described above, in the end he will preserve the most valuable thing: health.
But there are some cases where it doesn't work abruptly to break away from addiction. This applies to heavy smokers who consume an average of 1. 5-2 packs per day. In this, it is worth trying to methodically reduce the amount smoked until it stops completely in a month.
As you can see, there will be many obstacles on the way to a healthy, nicotine-free life. The main thing is to understand that they are all temporary and prepare for the fact that these temporary difficulties will not allow you to withdraw before the main goal - to become independent from nicotine.