Every smoker in the world knows that every puff of cigarette is damaging his lungs. It is negatively affecting all the organs of his body. Due to this, the risk of dangerous diseases like lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma and COPD is increasing.
Effects of smoking before quitting smoking
Initially, there is difficulty in breathing after quitting smoking. This raises the question that after how many days of quitting smoking does heart health start improving? How much time does it take for the body to recover from the damage caused by smoking till now?
According to the American Cancer Society,
Improvement starts from the very next minute of quitting cigarette. 20 minutes after smoking the last cigarette, our blood pressure starts becoming normal, heart rate also starts becoming normal.
However, how much time will it take for the complete healing of the heart, it depends on how long a person has been smoking and how many cigarettes he smokes in a day?
Effects of smoking on the human body
Millions of people die every year due to smoking!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 5 deaths in the US every year is due to cigarette smoking. Here, 4 lakh 80 thousand people die every year due to smoking. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 80 lakh people die at an early age every year due to smoking all over the world. More than 10 lakh people die every year in India due to smoking.
Which diseases increase the risk due to smoking?
Cigarette smoke passes through our lungs to the heart. After this, it gets absorbed in the blood through the heart. This smoke reaches important organs like our brain and kidney through the blood. It affects the functioning of all the organs. Apart from this, the carcinogens present in the smoke later cause cancer.
Dr Devendra Shrimal, Director of Cardiology Department at Narayana Hospital, Jaipur, says that there is only one way to avoid these dangerous diseases – quitting smoking. If this question repeatedly comes to your mind that after how many days of quitting smoking your heart will become like before.
Blood pressure becomes normal first by quitting smoking
Blood pressure increases due to the presence of nicotine in cigarettes. There are many other reasons for increased blood pressure, such as its smoke gets deposited in the walls of blood vessels and the vessels become narrow. This also increases the possibility of blood clotting. Therefore, the heart has to exert more force for the movement of blood. This increases blood pressure.
When we quit smoking, we stop getting nicotine, the main cause of blood pressure. Therefore, it gradually becomes normal. Heart rate also becomes normal due to the non-availability of nicotine. This process starts within half an hour of smoking the last cigarette.
After about 12 to 24 hours, the level of monoxide dissolved in our blood due to cigarette smoke also starts decreasing. This reduces the risk of heart attack. What healing happens in the body in the next 2-3 weeks and 1 to 9 months.
After one year, the risk of heart disease and cancer also reduced by half
The risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and asthma increases many times in smokers as compared to other people. If a person quits smoking, then the risk of coronary heart disease reduces by half within a year due to healing. This means that our heart and body recover half of its capacity in just one year.
Heart and body become like before in 10 to 15 years
After 10 years of quitting smoking, the risk of death from lung cancer is reduced to half as compared to smokers. The risk of bladder cancer and cervical cancer also reduced to almost half.
If it has been about 15 years since you quit smoking, then the risk of coronary heart disease remains the same as that of non-smokers.
This can be the right way to quit smoking!
To quit smoking, first of all, we have to find a motivation, on the basis of which we can convince ourselves that we want to quit smoking. This can be anything. We do not want our children to become passive smokers. We want to live a healthy life in the future.
After this, we have to see which emotional triggers we turn to smoking. Controlling them will make it easier to quit smoking. Apart from this, we also have to take care of trigger foods. These can increase the craving to smoke cigarettes.
Every addiction has some trigger points and foods. If they are controlled, the addiction will be cured
- Emptiness- If you have ever spent your free time smoking cigarettes, then there is a high possibility that you will crave for cigarettes when you are free. Try to keep yourself busy in the initial days of quitting smoking or drink tea with light nicotine. Avoid heavy caffeine.
- Stress- As soon as you get upset by something, the tension in the nerves of the brain starts increasing. The level of stress hormone cortisol becomes high. You immediately light a cigarette and take a puff. Cigarettes release dopamine and you relax. Therefore, try not to get stressed immediately after quitting smoking. Avoid stress. Stay away from triggering people and situations. Eat some dark chocolate when you get triggered.
- Smell of cigarette- In the initial days of quitting smoking, you can also get triggered by the smell of cigarette. Try to stay away from smokers.
- Emotional Triggers- Sometimes something happens to you that you cannot control your emotions. Then you start looking for cigarettes and lighter to relax. To tackle this, you can drink water or go for a walk. You can also control your emotions by listening to your favorite songs.
The whole game is to avoid that one moment, when the hand moves forward and the cigarette is lit. The script of the story can change in a moment, just a little control over the mind.
Many times, while handling the trigger points, we ignore the trigger foods. This ignorance proves costly. Let us see which are the foods that can trigger us to smoke and what can be their alternatives?
Which are the trigger foods?
Taking trigger foods can increase the craving for cigarettes. It is important that we identify these trigger foods. Avoiding them is very important to quit smoking.
- Caffeine- Caffeine and nicotine are best friends. They stay together. That is why many smokers feel the same when they drink coffee or smoke cigarettes. People who are quitting smoking should also avoid coffee. It can increase the craving for cigarettes.
What to do- If you have to drink, you can drink herbal tea or decaffeinated coffee.
- Alcohol- Alcohol and cigarettes have a deep relationship. Usually, people drink and smoke together. Under the influence of alcohol, you start losing control over yourself. This can break your resolution of not smoking cigarettes.
What to do- Take non-alcoholic drinks or drink alcohol in minimal quantities in the initial days of quitting.
- Sugary food – Many smokers smoke cigarettes even when they are hungry. In the initial days of quitting smoking, people usually eat something sweet when they feel hungry. This can trigger your craving to smoke. Avoid eating sweets after quitting cigarettes.
What to do- Instead, eat healthy food like fruits, vegetables, or dry fruits.
- Fatty food- Most fatty foods increase your stress level or highlight it. Craving for cigarettes can increase when you feel more stressed.
What to do- You should prefer simple and healthy food, which is rich in all vegetables.
- Spicy food- Spicy food sometimes intensifies your sensations. This can refresh your memories of cigarettes and can also cause cravings.
What to do- You should prefer foods with a mild taste.
We can get rid of the deadly addiction of smoking by taking care of these few things. The peace and happiness you will get after this will be much more than the puff of a cigarette.
Celebrities Who Quit Smoking: Inspiring Stories from Sanjay Dutt to Shahrukh Khan
How did Sanjay Dutt get rid of his addiction?
How do people start smoking cigarettes? How do they get addicted to it later? These are all interesting questions.
It was the year 1981. Sunil Dutt was being seen as Paras in the film world. The film with which his name was associated, became a hit. He considered this to be the best time to launch his son Sanjay Dutt in Bollywood. The film ‘Rocky’ was directed by Sunil Dutt. Sanjay Dutt was in the lead role. The film could not earn much fame, but Sanjay earned fame.
The secret of Sanjay’s success was cigarettes. When he used to go to the set for the shoot, his hands and legs used to be trembling. As soon as he went in front of the camera, his confidence used to go low. Many shots were taken, but all failed. Sanjay sat in a corner. Then his friend insisted he smoke. Two puffs and the shot was final in the first attempt.
This miracle made Sanjay friends with smoking. Later he climbed many levels of addiction and came close to death. Finally, in the rehabilitation center, he was saved first from trigger points, and then from trigger foods. Then he got rid of his addiction.
Shahrukh Khan has also quit smoking
Shahrukh Khan made it public on November 2, his birthday, that he has quit smoking. Bollywood’s King Khan Shahrukh Khan, who rules the hearts of millions of people, started smoking at the age of 26 and continued smoking till the age of 59.