We’ve all heard it time and time again-smoking is bad for you! Although the number of people who still use tobacco products has decreased in recent years, there is still a large amount of the population who still continue to use these dangerous substances. Smoking continues to kill about 114,000 people in the UK yearly, and 300 people per day.

Here are five reasons to kick the habit for good.

1. It will decrease your chance of getting diseases of the respiratory tract. Smoking causes cancer-that is a fact. Many smokers develop cancer of the lungs, tongue, or larynx. The good news is that once you quit, your chances of developing these diseases decrease the longer you remain smoke free.
2. You can breathe better. If you have ever been a smoker, you will know that it is hard to run for long distances and you get winded quite easily. Smoking damages your airways, making your air passages swell up, and making it harder for you to breathe.
3. You will be less at risk for developing blood clots. The nicotine in cigarettes acts as a vasoconstrictor, making arteries smaller. Because this makes it harder for the heart to pump blood, the body ends up releasing cholesterol and fat into the blood, which can cause a blood clot.
4. Your body will heal faster. There have recently been studies done on the relationship between smoking and the time it takes your body to heal itself. Their findings have shown that smoking reduces blood flow to the body’s tissues, therefore taking the body more time to heal.
5. You will feel much healthier. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 harmful chemicals! Once you stop inhaling these harmful substances, your overall health will improve significantly and you will have more energy, your skin will improve, and your sense of taste and smell will be heightened.

Although smoking is a hard habit to kick, there is help available. Many people find smoking cessations helpful, and others have found that quitting cold turkey works the best. There are also alternative therapies such as acupuncture, and hypnotherapy, which have help long time smokers quit the habit for good. For more information on quitting smoking go to www.quit.org.uk .