If you stop smoking, your health will thank you in any case! But when does the body actually fully recover from the harmful use of tobacco? FITBOOK lists how long it really takes for individual organs and bodily functions to recover.
The motto is to stub out a cigarette and quit smoking today rather than tomorrow. Because people often say it takes around seven years for the body to recover after the last cigarette. However, the American Cancer Society knows more about it and lists the individual phases of regeneration after quitting smoking for good.
Quit smoking: These regeneration phases begin after the last cigarette
The first day after the last cigarette
Heart rate and blood pressure level off just 20 minutes (!) after the last cigarette. Within the next eight hours, the level of carbon monoxide in your blood that comes from the nicotine in tobacco products will decrease. Once 24 hours have passed, the next really big step follows: The risk of a heart attack has decreased significantly.
A few days after the last cigarette
A side effect of smoking is that your sense of taste and smell deteriorate. However, these return to normal within two days of the last cigarette. By the third or fourth day after the last cigarette at the latest, you will be amazed at how delicious some things are.
Three months after the last cigarette
After two to three months, the lungs have recovered somewhat. You notice that when you breathe longer (in the literal sense), for example in sports. By the way, you should now definitely integrate it into everyday life!
Also interesting: 10 effective tips to quit smoking
Nine months after the last cigarette
Coughing fits and shortness of breath will also decrease in the coming weeks. Your sinuses are clearer than they often were during your active smoking career, and you feel less flabby. In addition, the American Cancer Society writes that «tiny hair-like structures designed to transport mucus from the lungs (called: cilia), resume their function”. The result: cleaner lungs and a reduced risk of inflammation.
Five years after the last cigarette
After a year without cigarettes, you are only half as likely to get coronary artery disease as you were as a smoker. After five years, the risk of a stroke has also been reduced by half.
10 years after the last cigarette
After ten years, your risk of fatal lung cancer has been reduced by half. The same applies to the risk of developing cancer in the trachea, esophagus, kidneys, pancreas and mouth.
15 years after the last cigarette
After 15 years you are physically in the same position as before your first cigarette. This means you are no more (or less) at risk of developing a heart attack, stroke or cancer than someone who has never smoked.
Ciao cigarette: It’s better to stop smoking sooner rather than later
So it takes 15 years for your body to fully regenerate after quitting smoking. So it’s best to say goodbye to cigarettes: the sooner you can stop smoking, the better for your body. We wish you every success.