Benefits of Quitting Tobacco Use
Kicking the tobacco habit offers some benefits that you’ll notice right away and some that will develop over time.
These rewards can improve your day-to-day life a great deal:
- your breath smells better
- stained teeth get whiter
- clothes and hair smell better
- your yellow fingers and fingernails disappear
- food tastes better
- your sense of smell returns to normal
- everyday activities no longer leave you out of breath (such as climbing stairs or light housework)
Smokefree.gov lists many benefits to quitting smoking.
The Decision to Quit
You must decide when it is time to quit. Others in your life may want you to quit but you will be the one who has to commit to quitting. Think about why you want to quit:
- Are you worried that you could get a tobacco-related disease?
- Do you really believe that the benefits of quitting outweigh the benefits of continuing to smoke or use tobacco?
- Do you know someone who has had health problems because of their smoking or tobacco use?
- Are you ready to make a serious try at quitting?
If you are thinking about quitting, setting a date and deciding on a plan will move you to the next step.
Tips to Help You Quit
- Set a quit date, ideally within 2 weeks.
- Get rid of tobacco products in your environment.
- Get support from family, friends, and coworkers.
- Review past quit attempts—what helped, what led you to start using tobacco again.
- Prepare for challenges, particularly during the critical first few weeks, including nicotine withdrawal.
- Identify reasons for quitting and benefits of quitting.
- Total abstinence is essential—not even a single puff.
- Drinking alcohol is strongly associated with starting smoking again.
- Allowing others to smoke in the household is not supportive of successful quitting.
Dealing With Withdrawal
Smokefree.gov lists ways to help deal with withdrawal when quitting.
Medications that can help you deal with withdrawal.
Tobacco has many negative health effects
Health Risks
- Harms nearly every organ of the body
- Increases risk of many diseases, including cancer and heart disease.
- Prematurely ages skin by between 10 and 20 years
- Smoking increases the likelihood of facial wrinkling (by 3 times), particularly around the eyes and mouth
- Gives a sallow, yellow-grey complexion and hollow cheeks, which can cause smokers to look gaunt
- Causes gum disease, halitosis (bad breath) and tooth loss
- Stains tooth enamel and fingers yellow
- Makes you store fat around the waist and increases the risk of cellulite
The Centers for Disease Control provides more information about how smoking affects your health.
Financial Cost of Smoking
Smokefree.gov lets you calculate how much money you spend on smoking.