If you were looking for a sign to knock smoking on the head, Stoptober is surely a great place to start.

A new calendar month and a clean start go hand in hand – but if that hasn’t convinced you, finding out how incredible you will feel if you manage a whole month without sparking a cigarette just might.

You might reckon that you simply don’t have the willpower to kick the bad habit to the kerb, but knowing that millions of other Brits are also giving it a go might be the exact encouragement that you need.

According to the NHS, if you stay smoke-free for 28 days, you are five times more likely to quit for good – and if that’s not a tempting enough thought, just listen to how bloody brilliant you will feel for doing it.

Let’s face it, we are all pretty impatient and most of us want immediate results, and the good news is that the benefits of quitting smoking are almost instant and your body will start to recuperate pretty much straight away.

So by the end of the month, you’ll be in a much better position than you started in – but we understand that giving up a vice is a lot easier said than done.

Still, after hearing what an incredible impact sticking to your guns for a month can have on your health, I’m not sure how you can’t fancy giving it a go.

20 minutes after a cigarette

You can feel the benefit of stopping smoking in as little as 20 minutes after your last puff, as your pulse rate and blood pressure will drop and begin to return to normal, while your circulation should also get a good boost.

Eight hours after a cigarette

Eight hours on from your last ciggie, your oxygen levels will also start to recover and your body will start to cleanse itself from all of the crappy chemicals which you have inhaled.

You can notice some benefits of stopping smoking almost immediately (Getty Stock Image)

Just think – to flush out all the s**t you have breathed in while having a sneaky smoke, all you have to do is get through the working day without being tempted to break your pledge to lay off them.

One day after a cigarette

Your risk of suffering a heart attack will already be diminishing when you get over the first day, while you will probably be able to feel a bit more energised when exercising, instead of huffing and puffing in the corner like usual.

Two days after a cigarette

After two days, all lingering carbon monoxide is dispersed out of your body, while Medical News Today explains that your tastebuds which have been dulled through smoking will have a new lease of life as the nerves have a chance to heal.

Three days after a cigarette

It gets a bit more intricate on day three, which is when the ‘bronchial tubes begin to relax’ and it may ‘feel easier to breathe’.

These initial days will obviously be intense and difficult to get through with cravings and withdrawals, however, once you’re over this hurdle, experts say it becomes a lot easier.

Two weeks after a cigarette

Before you know it, you will have hit the two week mark – which is where you will really notice a big difference in your circulation and breathing.

Your lungs will have a new lease of life after being smoke-free for 30 days (Getty Stock Image)

“Blood can pump through the heart and muscles more easily,” Medical News Today states. “A person’s lung function also begins to improve.”

What’s not to like so far, right?

One month after a cigarette

In as little as 30 days, you could be saying goodbye to that cough you just haven’t been able to shake.

You won’t struggle with shortness of breath as much either, as the health publication explains that ‘hair-like structures called cilia which move mucus out of the lungs regain typical function’.

“This increases their ability to handle mucus, clear the lungs, and reduce a person’s risk of infection,” it adds.

I’m sure you have picked up on the running theme, but obviously, things only continue to get better from here on out.

Stoptober doesn’t sound that scary anymore, does it?

Three months after a cigarette

Picture yourself after hitting the three months mark, celebrating the fact that your lung function has increased by 10 percent, while any coughing, wheezing and breathing problems will be drastically reduced.

One year after a cigarette

And after a year, you have successfully slashed the risk of a heart attack of coronary heart disease by half.

Who’s having Stoptober then, lads?

A timeline revealing what happens to your body after you quit vaping has resurfaced after the government announced a date for the ban of disposable vapes.

Vaping has become an epidemic, and there were rumours that the government would announce that all disposable and single-use vapes were to be banned, which were confirmed earlier this week.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government took it upon themselves to complete what Rishi Sunak started in this respect, making it clear in a recent press conference that he wants to ‘take action’ against smoking.

You’ve got just over seven months until you wave goodbye to disposable vapes for good (Getty Stock Photo)

What is changing with vaping?

Now, with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, measures have been put in place to restrict smoking in public areas, and forever change how tobacco-based products are marketed, particularly to younger people, as more are taking up the habit.

A government spokesperson told LADbible: “The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes from deliberately being branded and advertised to appeal to children, including by regulating flavours, packaging, and changing how and where they are displayed in shops,

“Ministers are reviewing proposals to restrict the sale and supply of disposable vapes more widely before setting out next steps.”

When will vaping be banned?

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed yesterday (24 October) that a ban on sale and supply of single-use vapes in England will come into effect on 1 June 2025.

So, with shops quickly emptying their shelves, what will happen if you throw your vape away for good, and call it quits on 31 May next year?

If you’re planning to quit, your body will thank you in just 20 minutes (Getty Stock Photo)

Here’s a timeline that outlines all the health benefits you could get from throwing those plastic sticks away:

20 minutes after quitting

It takes less than half an hour to reap the rewards of giving the bad habit up, as project manager at Med Alert Help, Nikola Djordjevic MD explained that ‘your heart rate returns to normal, your blood pressure drops, and your circulation starts to normalise’, in this time.

Your breathing will also improve, as health and wellness expert for Maple Holistics, Caleb Backe, highlights.

24 hours after quitting

The risk of heart attack decreases ‘after just one day,’ says Djordjevic, adding that your blood pressure and cholesterol will also return to normal.

Though you may experience a number of withdrawal symptoms at this point, she explained that, ‘thanks to the lowering of blood pressure, rising blood oxygen levels, and reducing the negative influence on cholesterol levels and the formation of blood clots’, your health will benefit hugely.

It’s time to wave goodbye to these colourful little guys (Getty Stock Photo)

Months after quitting

The long-term benefits will start to shine through, as nicotine takes about three days to leave your system, and within a month, your lungs will begin recovering, according to Djordjevic.

“There’s noticeably less shortness of breath and coughing,” she highlighted.

The health expert further explained: “After nine months, lung health improves significantly thanks to the renewal of microscopic hair-like structures inside the lungs that help push out mucus and fight infections.”

You may be fighting some withdrawal symptoms at this point, though they should be minute and far less noticeable than before.

The health risk of vaping

There is still a lot of research needed on the link between vaping and cancer, as e-cigarettes are still fairly new in the health realm.

According to Cancer Research UK, e-cigarettes can be helpful in getting cigarette users to quit and decrease the chances of them getting cancer, but it is strongly advised that non-smokers clear clear of vapes of any kind.

Here is everything you can expect to happen to your body after deciding to put down the e-cigarettes once and for all.

By now, it should be no secret that vaping can have a concerning impact on our bodies.

While it is considered to be ‘substantially less harmful than smoking’, according to the NHS, it doesn’t mean that vaping is entirely risk-free.

And e-cigarettes’ explosion in popularity amongst younger people has since seen governments around the world introduce new restrictions on the habit, with the UK government currently looking at various methods to restrict vapes finding their way into the hands of younger generations.

However, if you are one of those looking to quit, then here’s what to expect when you give up vaping once and for all.

What happens to your body when you inhale smoke from a vape?

Research into what happens to the body when it’s exposed to vaping is also expanding, as experts scramble to catch-up on the years of studies on cigarette smoking.

A sobering simulation recently revealed exactly what happens to your body when you inhale vape smoke.

Should you be a regular user of a vape which contains ingredients such as diacetyl, then the vapours you’re inhaling can lead to a build up of the mucus in the lungs, which damage the alveoli.

While diacetyl can sometimes appear in food and drink products, like stouts for example, it is currently banned from UK vapes and e-cigarettes as a result of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in 2016.

However, it can still make its way onto the ingredients list in other countries and illegal produced e-cigarettes.

What happens to the body when you quit vaping?

Now that you’ve seen what vaping can do to your body, you may be looking to scale back on your e-cigarette usage or even cut it out all-together.

But how quickly does it take for the body to see positive changes after putting down the vape for good?

Research into the long-term effects of vaping is still ongoing (Getty Stock Images)

Well, according to Med Alert Help’s Nikola Djordjevic MD, you can see improvements after just 20 minutes.

“[After 20 minutes] your heart rate returns to normal, your blood pressure drops, and your circulation starts to normalise,” she told The Healthy.

After just 24 hours, your risk of heart disease also falls, with Djordjevic further explaining this is due to the ‘lowering of blood pressure, rising blood oxygen levels, and reducing the negative influence on cholesterol levels and the formation of blood clots’.

If you’re able to go one month without touching a vape, the nicotine will be flushed from your system and your lung capacity will improve, with Djordjevic adding: “There’s noticeably less shortness of breath and coughing.”

However your body can see improvements within just days of kicking the habit (Getty Stock Images)

She goes on to add that the nine month mark is a significant milestone for the body’s recovery, explaining that ‘lung health improves significantly thanks to the renewal of microscopic hair-like structures inside the lungs that help push out mucus and fight infections’.

If you’re able to kick the habit long-term, one year without a vape with see your risk of heart disease halved. After 10 to 15 years she adds that your risk of lung, pancreatic, mouth, and throat cancer ‘is reduced by 50 percent’.

“After 15 years, your risk of developing coronary heart disease becomes the same as a nonsmoker’s,” Djordjevic states.

“The same goes for the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.”

Here is exactly what happens to your body when you give up vaping, as the UK government confirms plans to ban disposable vapes.

After months of Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour Party discussing restrictions on vapes, and even more promises from the previous Conservative government, the day has finally come, disposable vapes will be banned in the UK next summer.

Citing environmental concerns and a steep rise in children and young people taking up the habit, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has confirmed that all disposable vapes will no longer be sold from June 2025.

The department confirmed that all businesses will have until this date to ‘sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force’.

Vape shops will soon look very different (Getty Stock Images)

So savour your clouds of fruity-scented smoke while you still can, as we are just over six months away from the ban coming into effect.

Or maybe this news is the sign you needed to finally commit to healthier choices and put down the e-cigarette for good? If so, here is everything that happens to your body when you decide to give up vaping.

20 minutes without vaping

No one is saying that quitting vaping is going to be easy, but your body will begin to thank you within just 20 minutes of stopping.

According to Nikola Djordjevic MD – project manager at Med Alert Help – your ‘your heart rate returns to normal, your blood pressure drops, and your circulation starts to normalise’ after 20 minutes.

And the positive side effects only increase from there.

Caleb Backe, a certified health and wellness expert for Maple Holistics, added that breathing will also become easier, saying: “When you quit vaping, you should find that your breathing becomes less laboured and your airflow is clearer.”

24 hours without vaping

“After just one day, your heart attack risk starts to decrease,” Djordjevic added, explaining that the positive changes are due to your blood pressure and cholesterol returning to normal.

“Thanks to the lowering of blood pressure, rising blood oxygen levels, and reducing the negative influence on cholesterol levels and the formation of blood clots,” she said.

You’ll begin to experience side effects at this point, however this is said to ‘gradually decrease’ in the following weeks.

Months without vaping

The positive changes continue into the next weeks and months, with nicotine taking around three days to exit your system. After one month your lungs will start to recover.

“After one month, your lung capacity improves,” Djordjevic revealed. “There’s noticeably less shortness of breath and coughing.”

She continued: “After nine months, lung health improves significantly thanks to the renewal of microscopic hair-like structures inside the lungs that help push out mucus and fight infections.”

The side effects of withdrawing will also begin to decrease at this point.

It can take just 20 minutes for your body to begin the detoxing process (Getty Stock Images)

Vaping and cancer

When it comes to your risk of developing cancer, there is less information currently available on the links between vaping and cancer. This is because vaping is still relatively new and e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco, which is a known carcinogenic.

Information published by Cancer Research UK notes that e-cigarettes are useful in helping cigarette smokers quit and decrease their risk of getting cancer, however their guidance adds that vaping isn’t currently advised for anyone who hasn’t previously smoked.