When you quit smoking your body goes through some major changes. These changes are for the better. It doesn’t matter how long you have smoked, quitting now can greatly benefit your health. This article will take a step by step look at how your body reacts once you have smoked that last cigarette.

A change in your body can be measured in as little as twenty minutes from your last cigarette. These changes include a drop in your blood pressure, a decrease in your heart rate and those cold feet and hands start to warm up as circulation improves throughout your body.

In eight hours the carbon monoxide level in your body drops to near normal. The oxygen level will then be allowed to increase to near normal levels. Your circulation will improve and you may experience a little bit of dizziness or a lightheaded feeling.

In just twenty-four short hours after having that last cigarette, your risk of a heart attack greatly decreases. The blood flow through the body has been restored, therefore feeding your heart it’s much needed fuel in normal levels. It will now be able to pump more effectively.

In forty-eight hours, nerve endings are starting to grow. Your lung function is being restored and your risk for cancer has dropped dramatically. Food will begin to taste a whole lot better as your ability to smell and taste is restored. You will start to cough up mucus because your body is ridding itself of tar and toxins.

Two weeks after you quit smoking you will notice that it is easier to walk longer distances without getting short of breath. This is an indicator that your lung function is improving. In just this short amount of time, you lung function could be improved by as much as thirty percent.

One month after you quit smoking your skin will be looking better. The color and texture will have improved dramatically. The cough will still be present, but will gradually start subsiding now. In fact, for the next several months, your lungs will be busy re-growing the cilia in your lungs. These are tiny, hairlike structures that help keep the lungs clean and free of infection. In this time period, you will notice that your overall energy will start to increase.

In one year, you have just cut your risk of having a heart attack in half compared to that of a smoker.

In five years, the risk of cancers, including mouth and lung, are decreased by half that of a smoker’s risk. Your stroke risks are also greatly reduced. By the time that you have reached that ten to fifteen year mark of not smoking, your body has almost re-generated itself to what that of a non-smoker would be.

No matter how long you have smoked, quitting today will generate some healing and health benefits to your body. It’s never too late to quit.