10 Things about smoking that will make you want to Quit NOW
1. Save Money
Smoking is unbelievably expensive. A 20-a-day smoker is thought to spend in excess of $12,500.00 each year on their habit. Plus, if you think about all the cigarettes that you give away to fellow smokers, the cost to you is actually even higher. And just imagine what you could do with an extra $12,500.00 every year!
2. Vanity reasons
Smoking causes premature aging. Take a look at fellow smokers, and then compare them to non-smokers of similar age that you know. Smoking does in fact cause premature wrinkles—primarily around the lips from the regular motion of sucking in cigarette smoke. However, nicotine can affect the skin all over your body as it constricts the blood vessels and limits oxygen in the blood. Smoking also damages skin proteins (i.e., collagen and elastin, which leads to sagging and wrinkling earlier on. Smoking also stains the teeth — so you can usually spot a smoker just by the staining on their ‘not-so-pearly whites’.
3. Fertility and pregnancy risks
Smoking can have a major impact on a person’s ability to have children by affecting women’s ovaries and men’s sperm counts. Additionally, if you’re a woman and you’re pregnant, there are even more reasons to give up. Smoking when pregnant can cause low birth weight, premature birth, abnormal bleeding, and even miscarriage. Smoking during pregnancy is also thought to increase the risk of a baby being a victim of cot death and of going on to develop a range of illnesses later in life.
4. Increases the chance of impotence (erection problems)
If smoking generally adds a hurdle to finding a new partner, impotence sure doesn’t help. Yet smoking increases the chances of impotence dramatically for men by affecting blood vessels, including those that must dilate in order for an erection to occur.
5. Increased infections
You may know about the long-term health risks associated with smoking, but did you realize that smoking also makes you more susceptible to seasonal flus and colds?
One of the toxic effects of cigarette smoke is that it paralyzes the tiny hairs called cilia that line the respiratory tract, including the trachea and bronchial tubes, thereby destroying this core protective mechanism. That’s why smokers have so many more infections.
6. Impact on physical activity
Many smokers report a diminished ability over time to comfortably do things as simple as climbing a set of stairs or enjoying sports activities they once easily took part in such as volleyball or jogging.
7. Protect your health
If anything, you should give up smoking for your own health’s sake. Tobacco smoke contains addictive nicotine, as well as a whole range of other harmful chemicals, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. Smoking causes a very long list of problems including various cancers, heart disease, strokes, impotence, and osteoporosis — so stopping now will reduce the risk of being affected by these conditions in the future.
8. Sense of smell and taste
Smelling like an ashtray isn’t the only impact smoking has on the nose. Smokers also experience a dulling of their senses; smell and taste in particular take a hit when you smoke. You probably didn’t notice it when you smoked (due to desensitised olfactory sense), however, in a few weeks after you quit, you’ll probably be offended by the fact that your entire world smelled of one giant ashtray and ban cigarettes of your presence.
9. Insomnia
Unfortunately smoking and sleeping do not go very well together. Smokers have been observed to suffer from problems falling and staying asleep. Smoking also leads to snoring and sleep apnea which can both greatly affect the quality of sleep.
10. Smell better!
Smoke stinks! Non-smokers who spend a few hours in the company of smokers know how much is smells because when they get home they stink. Smoke gets everywhere — both in your clothing and your hair — so that you’ll always need to wash everything to get rid of the nasty smell.