What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Smoking? 15 Surprising Health Benefits

Choosing not to smoke anymore is one of the best decisions you can make to protect your heart and lungs and improve your health. The good news is that when you decide to stop, the benefits of quitting smoking start almost immediately. Find out how cigarettes affect your health and what happens to your body from the moment you quit smoking.

Quitting Smoking Nicotine Timeline: Health Benefits from Hours to Years

24 Hours After You Stop Smoking

• Twenty minutes: Your heart rate and blood pressure drop closer to normal levels. Nicotine harms the insides of blood vessels and reduces the amount of oxygen the heart receives, making the heart beat faster and damaged blood vessels work harder. This short period allows your body to begin to repair.
• Two hours: Your peripheral circulation improves. Peripheral veins and arteries are located in the arms, hands, legs and feet and supply oxygen to the body. As your body rids itself of the chemicals in cigarettes, your hands and feet start to feel warmer.
• Twelve hours: The level of carbon monoxide in your blood drops back to normal. Carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in the blood cells making it so your heart doesn’t get enough blood. Once the carbon monoxide is gone, there’s more oxygen in your body.
• Twenty four hours: Your risk of having a heart attack drops. People who smoke have a 70% higher chance of having a heart attack because of the cardiovascular dangers associated with smoking. Smoking also increases your risk for blood clots, another major issue related to heart attacks.
  

One Month After You Stop Smoking

• Three days: There’s no more nicotine in your body. Each time you smoke, the nicotine your body needs to get that “buzz” is amped up and requires more frequent cigarettes. This cycle leads to addiction.
  
• Two weeks: Circulation and lung function improve. Even in a small amount of time, like 14 days, your body is getting healthier.
  
• Up to nine weeks: “Smoker" norms are less pronounced. Coughing and shortness of breath decrease. You can do physical activity without feeling winded or sick. Your withdrawal symptoms also start decreasing.

One Year After You Stop Smoking

• One to nine months: Your lungs begin to repair themselves. Even small functions within the lungs begin to work properly and shortness of breath and coughing decrease further.
  
• One year: Developing coronary heart disease is now only half as high as smokers. Smoking is a direct cause for 1 in 5 heart disease deaths. The risk of developing heart disease is two to four more times as likely in smokers. This risk decreases by half when you quit smoking.

Years After You Stop Smoking