Are There Benefits to Quitting Smoking?

Are there any benefits to quitting smoking? It’s almost a silly question because there are actually so many they can hardly be listed, at least not briefly. Those benefits touch on your health, your finances, the health of those around you, and so many other areas. Apart from these major benefits to quitting smoking, there are also minor considerations such as being able to taste food again, being without nicotine stains on the fingers and teeth, not having the smell of smoke permeating everything you own, and so much more.

Another interesting factor about the benefits to quitting smoking when it comes to one’s health is that the body is able to heal itself quite well and quite rapidly. This means that when you quit smoking, you actually give your body a chance to repair and renew those damaged cells. Nicotine, tar, and other toxins can be flushed out and removed from the body, but only if you’re not introducing new toxins at the same time. These benefits to quitting smoking are compounded the earlier you quit so that the body can work to repair and renew itself while it still can.

There are numerous health risks associated with smoking; many are aware of the risk of lung cancer but actually smoking is connected to virtually every form of cancer there is. This includes breast cancer, leukemia, cancer of the kidneys, gallbladder, bladder, throat, and other places in the body. The benefits to quitting smoking include less risk of these cancers. And apart from cancer itself, smoking is connected with a host of lung disorders including bronchitis, emphysema, and pneumonia, as well as heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, aneurysm, and elevated blood pressure. All of these are due to the fact that nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream very easily and from there it’s transported to every cell of the body. The benefits to quitting smoking include less risk of all these conditions, but again, this will only happen if you actually quit smoking.

There are many financial benefits to quitting smoking as well. An average smoker spends well over a thousand dollars per year on cigarettes alone. You can do the math for your own smoking habit and total up how much you spend every week, every month, and every year. Consider what could be done with that money that’s more beneficial, such as paying down your mortgage or paying off your car, or saving it for retirement or another reason. Do a spreadsheet or some simple calculations on how that money could help you with your other bills or what it could mean if you put it away in a savings account. Really consider carefully those financial benefits to quitting smoking, as well as the health benefits. If you think about them seriously and have some numbers right in front of you, this might help you every time you feel tempted to give in and light up again after you’ve made the decision to become a nonsmoker.