Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking Over Time

It’s never too late to quit using tobacco. The sooner you quit, the more you can reduce your chances of getting cancer and other diseases.

Within minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your body begins to recover:

These are just a few of the health benefits of quitting smoking, but there are others, too.

Quitting smoking lowers your risk of other cancers over time, including cancers of the stomach, liver, cervix, colon, and rectum as well as acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Quitting also lowers your risk of heart and lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung infections, and circulation around your heart and other body parts.

People who quit smoking can also add as much as 10 years to their life, compared to people who continue to smoke.

Quitting while you're younger can reduce your health risks more (for example, quitting before the age of 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90%). But quitting at any age can give back years of life that would be lost by continuing to smoke.

Are there other benefits of quitting that I’ll notice right away?

Kicking the tobacco habit offers other rewards that you’ll notice right away and some that will show up over time.

Right away you’ll save the money you would have spent on tobacco. You may also notice these benefits:

• Food tastes better.
• Your sense of smell returns to normal.
• Your breath, hair, and clothes smell better.
• Your teeth and fingernails stop yellowing.
• Ordinary activities (like climbing stairs or light housework) leave you less out of breath.
• You can be in smoke-free buildings without having to go outside to smoke.