The Smoking Effects

Did you know that cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals, many of them are toxic. Not to mention nicotine, the drug that gives smokers their high, is very addictive. Many people want to quit but are unable to do so because of the withdrawal symptoms that take hold once they try to stop. Even if they succeed in weathering through the withdrawal symptoms, the craving for just one stick is still very strong. One stick leads to another and before you know it, you're hooked again. That's the addictive power of nicotine.

Let's start with how smoking ages you prematurely. There's so much talk about the anti-aging properties of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants work by neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are created through oxidization and in the body's normal processes. Under ordinary circumstances, the body can easily get rid of the free radicals it creates. If too many free radicals are created, then you'll have a problem. Free radicals steal electrons from other cells. This stealing of electrons damage the cells, affecting the cell membranes and even the DNA of the cells. That would affect the reproduction of cells and may even cause cells to malfunction. That speeds up the aging process among other things.

How does smoking relate to that?

Every puff of cigarette smoke results in more than a trillion free radicals in your lungs. How much damage would that cause to your body? Notice how a long-term smoker in her forties would have a lined face which looks as old as a non-smoker in her sixties, all other things being equal. Notice the lines around the mouth, the eyes, down the cheeks and slack skin that smokers usually have?

This is what smoking does to your skin.

1. Nicotine causes the blood vessels in your skin to narrow, reducing the blood supply to your skin. Ever noticed the odd color on the skin of long-term smokers?
2. With the oxygen and blood supply to your skin reduced because of smoking, your skin doesn"t get enough nutrients it needs to repair itself or to generate new cells. As a result, your skin ages more quickly.
3. Smoking leads to an increase in an enzyme that damages the collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin support your skin and keep it elastic. As a result, you end up with saggy, wrinkled skin and the gaunt look associated with long-term smokers.

Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide. Have you heard of stories of people dying of carbon monoxide poisoning because they slept in a car with the windows closed and the engine on? Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in your body, starving your cells of the oxygen it needs. Guess what. Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide. In smokers, that results in skin that is gray or yellow instead of a healthy pink. How beautiful is that?

That's just the skin alone. Add that to falling hair, yellowed teeth and shortness of breath which affects your ability to exercise, cigarettes destroy a person's appearance. I'm not even going into cancer and other diseases linked to smoking and how the diseases affect ones appearance.

If you want to look good, stay off cigarettes.