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Lung Health Foundation
Why quit?
Feel better.
Save money.
Take back control.
What else will you get out of quitting?
Here are some more reasons why quitting smoking or vaping is one of the best things you will ever do for yourself.
Your Lungs
It is well known that smoking, and even vaping are harmful for your lungs.
In as little as one month after quitting, your lungs will rebound! You should notice that you are coughing less and it’s easier to breathe.
Nine months after quitting, your lungs will have made huge improvements. The little hairs in your lungs will have healed and can work again to help fight infections, like COVID-19.
Your Heart
You know that smoking and vaping are bad for your lungs. Did you know they also cause heart disease? It’s the NICOTINE. Nicotine raises your blood pressure and heart rate, causing you blood vessels to harden and tighten. This all puts stress on your heart and can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
In as little as 20 minutes after taking that last puff, your heart rate and blood pressure drop to normal. Even in this short time, these changes will make it easier to work out and play sports.
Just one day after quitting, your risk of a heart attack decreases because your blood pressure drops and oxygen levels go up!
After one year of being smoke and vape-free, your heart is beating at a safe pace and your blood vessels have returned to normal. You have cut your chances of having a heart attack in half!
Your Brain
When you quit smoking/vaping, your brain will crave less nicotine. On day three of quitting, nicotine leaves your body! While this is a good thing for your health, this is what causes withdrawal–which is probably the worst thing about quitting.
Around day three, you will most likely feel moody, have headaches and cravings.
PLAN FOR DAY 3 and get ahead of the withdrawal. Use the Quash app to plan how you will get through it.
Your Mood
The tobacco industry has led you to believe that smoking and vaping help you to relax, when these activities can actually raise anxiety.
When you smoke or vape, your brain becomes used to receiving nicotine. In fact, it becomes dependant on it. Your brain may appear calm for a short time when it receives nicotine. This might make you think that smoking or vaping reduce your stress and anxiety.
When in fact the relaxed feelings fade quickly and lead to strong cravings and mood swings. You might end up reaching for more nicotine to reduce these not so nice feelings, which are like anxiety.
You may think the nicotine from the smoke or vape is what made you feel better and keep on using it. The truth is, smoking or vaping nicotine won’t reduce anxiety or eliminate the real reasons you might feel anxious. Smoking or vaping might even be the cause of your anxious feelings.
When you are less controlled by cravings, you will feel better. Quitting smoking or vaping will help your mood and will reduce anxiety in the long run. But this doesn’t always happen right away. Mood swings are a common part of the quit process. You might feel angry, restless or down, as your brain, body and lifestyle go through a lot of changes.
Mood changes from nicotine withdrawal usually show up on day three of quitting, but trust the process! This improves within a week or two. And Quash will help you select the tools that work for you to get through this. If your mood changes don’t improve in a couple of weeks, you should talk to a doctor.
Your Looks
When you quit smoking, blood and nutrient flow to your skin improves right away. Just days after quitting, your skin will appear brighter.
Research shows a link between smoking and finding gray hairs earlier than you should. Quitting fights this effect—and when your hair isn’t exposed to all that smoke, it will smell better too.
The tar and nicotine in cigarettes and nicotine in vapes, hit your mouth first, causing yellow, stained teeth, decay and bad breath. But dentists agree that all of those effects can be reversed once you quit! With every puff you cut, you’ll be closer to seeing clear signs of a healthier you.
Your Wallet
Depending on how much you smoke or vape, you can save anywhere from $900 to $2,200 a year, if you quit! That is equal to four PlayStations/two MacBooks/two iPhones, or even a used car.
Calculate your savings and start thinking about what you would like to earn for your success.
Your Planet
When you quit smoking for good, it’s a win for you and a win for the planet!
Many people don’t know that quitting smoking will help fight climate change.
Billions of trees are cut down to grow tobacco and provide the wood for curing, which leaves fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide.
One tree is killed to make just 15 packs of cigarettes (300 cigarettes).
Calculate your smoking footprint:
How many packs smoked/week or month =
How many trees you would save by quitting =
See through the manipulation
With so many good reasons to quit smoking and vaping, how does this logic get confused in the first place?
The industry has spent millions on marketing campaigns to target your values and change the way you think and feel about their products. Don’t feel bad if you’ve been fooled—it happens!
The Quash app was designed for youth just like you, who want to stick it to the industry by quitting.
What's under the hood?
What does the industry put in these products anyway? And why?
Chemicals from Vapes
Propylene Glycol - Found in fog machines.
Retains moisture and is what makes the vape aerosol when heated.
Formaldehyde - The fluid that preserves dead bodies.
A by-product of heating, specifically the sugars in flavoured vapes.
Heavy metals - such as nickel, tin and lead
From a vape's metal heating coil.
Acetaldehyde - From heated sugars
Added sugars help make nicotine taste good and appeal to youth. When sugars are heated, harmful chemicals are created, such as acetaldehyde. It might be safe for food, but it’s not recommended to inhale into the lungs.
Chemicals from Cigarettes
Arsenic - Found in rat poison
Ends up in cigarettes due to the pesticides used in tobacco farming.
Ammonia - Found in cleaners
Increases the uptake of nicotine in your brain. The result…you get a faster, stronger dose of nicotine and become more addicted.
Urea - A compound found in urine
Found naturally in burley tobacco. Used by the tobacco industry as a flavourant – to help soften, sweeten and reduce the harshness of tobacco.
Acetone - Found in nail polish remover
A chemical that comes from burning plant material.
Addiction
Nicotine is engineered to make your brain need to keep coming back for more.
You may have made the choice to take that first puff, but nobody chooses addiction.
The Science of Addiction
Uncover the science of addiction from the source – a former tobacco industry scientist.
Addiction facts
E-cigarettes
Earmuffs
Geek out! Learn exactly what nicotine does in your brain.
Your Brain
Ready to see how Quash works?
Take a look at how the program not only focuses on the things you will stop but also what healthy habits you will start!
