Myths around stopping smoking

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There are a range of myths around stopping smoking. There’s no truth behind them – don’t let them put you off stopping before you get started.

‘The damage is done’

You might feel that because you smoke, you’ve already increased your chance of getting cancer or another smoking-related disease, and that quitting now won’t make any difference.

It’s never too late to stop smoking. As soon as you quit, your body will begin to repair itself. You’ll notice improvements in your breathing, sense of taste and smell just a few days after stopping. Within a year, you’ll have reduced risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

You’ll also improve the health of your family and friends by protecting them from second-hand smoke..

Read more about the benefits of stopping smoking

‘I’ll put on weight’

It’s normal to have concerns about gaining weight when giving up smoking. Some people do put on weight after they stop. This is down to nicotine suppressing your body’s natural appetite and making it burn calories faster.

If you quit smoking and replace it with unhealthy snacking then you’re likely to put on a bit of weight. However, if you stop and keep to a healthy diet it’s unlikely that you’ll gain weight because you’ve stopped smoking.

Not everyone who quits smoking will gain weight. It’s the decisions you make around what you eat and how active you are that will affect your weight.

Read more about keeping active and food and nutrition

‘Nicotine is harmful’

Nicotine is a very addictive substance but it isn’t harmful. It’s the other ingredients and chemicals such as carbon monoxide and tar in tobacco smoke that will cause serious damage to your health. This is why Nicotine Replacement Therapy can help you to stop smoking. It will give you a clean, safe dose of nicotine.

To quit successfully, you need to deal with:

your chemical addiction to nicotine
the fact that smoking has become part of your daily routine

‘I’ll get stressed’

Despite this popular myth it’s been proven that non-smokers usually have lower stress levels than smokers.

You may find you feel more relaxed after having a cigarette because:

nicotine returns to the level you feel comfortable with
it stimulates the release of a feel-good chemical in the brain called dopamine

Nicotine is a powerful drug, it can overcome the brain’s ability to control the release of dopamine.

When you smoke, you’ll feel that you need a cigarette to control your dopamine levels. Therefore, having a cigarette makes it seem like it’s helping you to relax, but the physical stress on your body is actually increasing. The good news is that after 3 months of being smoke-free, the ability to control dopamine returns to a normal state.

‘It’s not the right time to quit smoking’

Although it’s maybe true that you shouldn’t try to quit during particularly stressful times, don’t use this as an excuse to never try.

Set a date that works for you, such as the beginning of a holiday or the beginning of the week. Work out what makes you want a cigarette, such as having a cup of tea or going to the pub, and pick a day when you can avoid these triggers.

Tell your family and friends that you’re planning to quit on that date and let them know what you need from them. It might be a good idea to tell your work colleagues you’re planning on quitting so they don’t offer you a cigarette or put temptation in your way.

‘Hand-rolled tobacco is healthier’

You may think it’s safer to smoke hand-rolled tobacco rather than cigarettes. It can be cheaper, but roll-ups actually expose smokers to 4,000 toxic chemicals through their smoke, many of them poisonous and carcinogenic (causing cancer).

The levels of nicotine and tar are higher in roll-ups than in most ordinary cigarettes. Many people who smoke roll-ups don’t use a filter, so they inhale more tar and nicotine.