Source: http://image3.examiner.com

Do you want to get older faster? How about die of some strange, horrible and painful disease? Probably not, but 1.22 billion people can’t be that wrong can they?

I wrote this post so non-smokers could remind the smokers they know how nasty and deadly the habit really is, and so smokers get a good dose of reality. *shake shake*

Smoking is one of the dumbest things you can do to your body. It’s freaking toxic for goodness sakes. Yet as of 2000, 1.22 billion people were smoking.  That equals at least 1 million new r-tard smokers every year in the US alone. Even worse,  this human stupidity started back around 3000-5000 BC.  Learn more about tobacco smoking here and tobacco here.

As a former smoker myself, it’s my duty to share how important quitting really is.  And so you current smokers have no excuse at all for how hard it can be. I smoked for over 3 years, and at one point I was smoking a pack a day.  I did it because it was cool. I did it because my friends all smoked. I did it because I was stressed. I did it because I was too stupid to quit. But then I quit (cold turkey) because I realized it was making me ugly, stressing me out more, and wrecking my teeth. So yes, those super nasty black stains do happen.

Ever wonder what exactly is in a cigarette. Wonder no more….but keep a bag handy.

Source: http://www.nysmokefree.com

Now what can those chemicals (toxins) do to your body? You’d better sit down for this one…

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

And for all those ladies like me who thought smoking made them look badass….it’s not worth it. Not for one second. Check out these beauty smashing stats:

- The nicotine in cigarettes is more addictive for women and women have much more difficulty quitting smoking than men as a result.

- Women who smoke have twice the additional risk of heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer than men who smoke.

- Lung cancer kills three times the number of American women than breast cancer – currently around 70,000 per year.

- Smoking is also linked to early onset of the menopause in women.

- Studies from back in 1965 first identified what came to be known as ’smokers face’ – gray, pale and wrinkled skin (ie you getting older, faster).

- Smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skins surface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin.

- Smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’s structure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity. It decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process.

- Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage.

- Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health.

- Smokers continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth – classic signs of ’smoker’s face’.

So yeah, smoking is not cool. It doesn’t benefit you in any way.  Look at poor Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. They both look like super crap now because of smoking.

There is no excuse for you to be smoking right now except for chemical dependence. You’re literally killing yourself and anyone around you.  BUT there are so many ways to combat smoking…so there really is no excuse. Get help today… and butt out forever. You’ll be a happier, healthier person.

Need help quitting?  Here are a few ideas from the Lung association of Canada.

Sources:

http://www.simplyantiaging.com/820/smoking-and-skin-aging/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette