Everything that happens to your body once you quit smoking
The health benefits of stopping can kick in as early as putting out your first cigarette
It's been just under a week since Stoptober 2025 wrapped up, and we're hoping that part-takers have since stuck to their guns and are still reaping the rewards that come with quitting smoking.
'Rewards?' I hear you ask. Yes, rewards. According to countless medical experts, the health benefits of ditching the habit can kick in as early as putting out your first cigarette, and it only gets better from there.
That isn't to say that quitting is a walk in the park. If anything, it's a rollercoaster of emotion, made worse by withdrawal side effects, so much so that many smokers have described the initial period after quitting as the hardest of their lives.
However, there are a surplus of reasons to quit, and one of the things that can ease the blow slightly is knowing what that timeline will look like and when exactly the benefits really start to kick in.
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What happens inside the body after quitting?
Within six hours of quitting
According to experts from Better Health, it takes as little as six hours for your body to start adjusting to a smoke-free life.
So, theoretically, if you're able to ignore your cravings for a whole afternoon, or a whole morning, you'll feel your heart rate start to slow down, and your blood pressure return to a normal level.
Within one day
If you're able to resist cigarettes for a whole day - or a 24-hour period - you might not feel it, but your bloodstream will become almost nicotine-free.
On top of this, the level of carbon monoxide inside the blood will have dropped considerably, and oxygen will be getting to your vital organs (especially your heart), much more easily.
Within one week
Though it may be less, doctors say that around seven days after putting out your last cigarette, both your sense of taste and smell will have drastically improved.
Within three weeks
Anyone who knows a smoker will know that they're constant coughers. This is because the chemicals inside cigarettes inflict damage on the tiny, hair-like structures in the airways called cilia, which are supposed to clear mucus and debris.
Apparently, however, within three weeks of quitting, you'll be coughing and wheezing way less, as your lungs become more efficient in removing this mucus, as well as tar and dust.
On top of this, your immune function will improve, alongside the circulation to both your hands and feet.
Within six months
If your ability to stay off ciggies lasts longer than the month of Stoptober, and you're able to stick to your guns for half a year, you'll likely notice your stress levels reduce greatly.
It's also around the six-month mark that you'll notice you no longer cough up phlegm as frequently as you used to.
Within a year
Stopping smoking for 12 whole months will reportedly make a huge difference to your lung health.
Not only will your organs be considerably clearer of toxic chemicals, but you'll find it much easier to breathe than if you continue with your harmful habit.
Within two years
If you can resist temptation for over two years, firstly, we're super proud of you.
Not only will you have drastically chopped down your own chances of being diagnosed with heart disease, but you'll keep reducing these chances as time goes on.
Within five years
On top of heart disease, for women, being able to resist smoking for over five years will cut down your risk of being diagnosed with cervical cancer, so it's around the same level as it would have been if you'd never smoked.
Within 10-15 years
Quitting smoking for over a decade will see your risk of ever developing lung cancer halved, compared to an individual of a similar age who opted not to stop.
Within 20 years
And finally, if you're able to stop smoking for as long as 20 years, your chances of suffering from either a heart attack or stroke will be reduced to the same level as someone who never smoked a day in their life.
What are the other benefits of quitting smoking?
As well as the biological positives of stopping smoking, there can also be some major secondary benefits that affect daily life.
The improvement of your sense of smell and taste will make mealtimes considerably more enjoyable, and your extended new lung capacity will make exercising much easier.
The inconvenient hassles of smoking will also ease up - like making sure you don't smell of smoke - and you'll save an absolute fortune on what you'd have ordinarily spent on cigarettes.
On top of this, in both men and women, fertility levels improve massively when you quit smoking, making your chances of getting pregnant and welcoming a healthy baby much greater.
There's also the fact that, if you already have children, by stopping, you'll stop risking their health with second-hand smoke, and reduce their chances of developing bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as asthma and meningitis.
Rhianna Benson