Healthy Tip: Stop Smoking

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Stop Smoking

In the UK around 5.5 million adults smoke. Although rates of smoking have decreased in recent years, the number of people who smoke remains high. Smoking harms almost all organs in the body and it is the leading cause of preventable deaths in England. It can damage your blood vessels and heart, which increases your risk of having a heart attack.

Quitting smoking can be very difficult, but it is an important step for reducing your risk of heart disease. Here we provide some tips for stopping smoking.

List your reasons for stopping

• An effective and simple thing you can do to stay on track is to write a list of the reasons why you wish to quit smoking. Think about what it would mean for you to stop smoking, how would your life change and who would be proudest of you. Keep the list with you at all times, or write it on your phone, whenever you feel the urge to smoke, you can read this list and it should inspire you to keep going.

Make a plan

• As soon as you stop smoking, your risk of heart disease will reduce so the sooner you decide to quit the better. Try to choose a date within the next two weeks and start making preparations. Identify the triggers that make you feel like smoking and work out how to deal with them in advance. For example, if you hang around with other people who smoke, you could plan to spend more time with non-smokers or do smoke-free activities with friends who are smokers. If you usually smoke during your break at work, plan to go for a walk instead.

Get support

• Both from professionals and family. Dealing with cigarette withdrawal can be tough and it can lead to you feeling emotional and upset. Before quitting, speak to close friends and relatives and let them know your plan; ask them to try their best to support and encourage you along the way and be extra patient with you if you’re snappy or more moody than usual. There is a lot of professional support available for people who want to stop smoking, you could contact your local Stop Smoking Services or chat to your GP. If you know someone who is also trying to quit smoking, you could offer to support each other and hold each other accountable.

If you are a smoker, quitting is most likely the single biggest thing you can do to improve your health and reduce your risk of heart disease. Make this October the month you finally do it and your future self will thank you.

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers:

https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-cookbook/.