Smoking vs Vaping - Why Quitting is Important

Quitting smoking has many benefits no matter at what age or stage you stop

11 April 2022 | Hannah Rubery

Across the world, tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year with 1.2 million of those resulting from non-smokers who had been exposed to second-hand smoke. To put that into perspective, the population of London in 2019 was 8.9 million people – in the space of a year, that many people are likely to die from tobacco, one of the leading causes of preventable deaths.

Here are a few of the reasons why you should quit, and maybe a few you didn’t even know about.

What is an E-Cigarette?

While those who have been smoking for some time may find the greatest benefits, those of any age or those who have smoked for a little while, will notice benefits when quitting. Even those who have heavily smoked to the point they have already damaged their health, can noticed benefits when quitting making it certainly worthwhile.

Improves health & increases life expectancy

Quitting the inhalation of smoke and tar is obviously going to increase your health and thereby improve your life expectancy. The human body is very resilient and fights back so once the cause of your problems, aka smoking, is routed out your body can get to work and fix the damage. Some things can’t be fixed but improvements can mean a world of difference.

Lowers risk of 12 types of cancer

Most obviously, smoking causes around 7 out of 10 cases of lung cancer. That’s 70% of all lung cancer cases resulting from smoking. By quitting smoking, you lower your risk of developing this type of cancer along with cancer of the mouth, throat, bladder, bowel, kidney, cervix, liver, stomach and more.

Lowers risk of cardiovascular diseases

Smoking damages your heart and blood circulation which can lead to a variety of heart diseases including coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke and more. By quitting smoking, you help your heart to recover and within months you will probably start to notice differences in your health.

Expense Benefits

It’s no secret that smoking is an expensive habit. It’s easy not to notice how much you spend on cigarettes when you buy a pack here or there but smoking literally is burning money. The rise in tobacco tax is to help dissuade people from buying cigarettes by making them more expensive, and although an extra pound might not feel like much, it soon adds up. Quitting smoking will therefore undoubtedly save you money. And even if you make the switch to vaping to help you quit, it’s still much cheaper in the long run.

Benefits in Appearance

Although appearances aren’t everything, often its easy to point out the smoker in the room for several reasons. Most notably is the smell of cigarette smoke that tends to linger to smokers’ clothing. By quitting smoking not only are you removing this but also the potential for your friends and loved ones that you might smoke around, to also traipse around the scent of cigarettes. Smoking can also cause skin irritation and quite commonly, yellowing fingers and nails, not to mention browning your teeth.

There are many strong reasons why you should quit smoking, many you have already probably heard of. However, quitting isn’t always as easy as that. Thereby, Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT) were invented to help smokers quit by providing less harmful ways of dealing with nicotine cravings. Many smokers though find little success with traditional NRTs which is where vaping stepped in.

E-Cigarettes offer a much more similar method to traditional smoking – in this case, by inhaling flavoured vapour mixed with nicotine. In the UK, many of our health organisations including the NHS (National Health Service) back the use of E-Cigarettes as a helping hand to smokers looking to quit. Whether you’re looking to make the switch or give up cigarettes and nicotine altogether, know that the benefits are numerous.

Quitting smoking can be as easy as buying your first vape kit or disposable vapes. Swap out some of your daily cigarettes for puffs on your vaping kit and gradually increase until you’ve complete cut out cigarettes. Or for those who are ready to make the change, swap completely to vaping and notice the differences. For more help with quitting check out our other articles to help you on your quitting journey. You can also talk to your health provider for aid in quitting by either meeting with your GP, seeking help via the NHS Quit Smoking app or the Smokefree site.

A Beginner’s Guide to Pod Vape Kits – Pod Kits are one of the simplest kits for beginner’s to vaping, find out what you need to know to get started with them.

What Nicotine Strength Should I Vape? – an important part of making the switch and sticking to it, is making sure that you’re getting enough nicotine to fight the cravings. Working out what nicotine strength you should vape can make the difference between quitting and falling back off the wagon.

How to Avoid Common Vaping Mistakes – make sure to avoid these easy mistakes to make your quitting journey easier.

Say No to Smoking and Quit – the health benefits of quitting smoking are truly something to look forward to, find out exactly what you can expect in the first weeks and months of quitting.

How to Safely Use Nicotine Salts – Nicotine Salts are ideal for those quitting smoking due to the higher strengths they offer without being harsh on the throat. Find out more about nic salts and how best to use them.