The 23 Best Ways to Quit Smoking

By | November 11, 2018

Picture yourself playing tennis

tennis ball on the courtgowithstock/Shutterstock

Or go play tennis. British researchers found volunteers trying to quit smoking were better able to ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a tennis match.

Create a smoke-free zone

No smoking sign on the wallIcatnews/Shutterstock

Don’t allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant. Make actual “No Smoking” signs and hang them around your house and in your car.

Post this list in a visible location in your house

A pile of natural tobacco on a white wooden table, a device for manual production of cigarettes and cigarettes in a cigarette case. Smoking. Nicotine addiction. Health hazard.asobov/Shutterstock

Whenever you’re tempted to light up, take a look at all the ways smoking can damage your health:

• Increases risk of lung, bladder, pancreatic, mouth, esophageal, and other cancers, including leukemia

• Increases risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure

• Increases risk of diabetes

• Reduces levels of folate, low levels of which can increase the risk of heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease

• Affects mental capacity and memory

• Contributes to thin bones

• Increases likelihood of impotence

• Reduces fertility

• Affects ability to smell and taste

• Results in low-birth-weight, premature babies

• Increases risk of depression in adolescents

• Increases your child’s risk of obesity and diabetes later in life if you smoked while pregnant

Reader's Digest

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