There are countless benefits of quitting vaping - some more obvious than others. While many consumers turn to products and supplements to treat the direct symptoms of their health concerns - few step back to examine the root causes.
We at Jones love witnessing the explosion of prebiotic users and clean beauty products but we do want to call out that your vaping or smoking habits could be a contributing cause to the health concerns you're experiencing. The benefits of quitting vaping include improvements to your skin, hair, gut health, lungs, heart health, and even your sex life.
The benefits of quitting vaping on your skin.
No matter how many products you use, your skincare routine won't be complete until you ditch your vape.
When you vape or smoke, you're taking in high amounts of nicotine which can increase sebum production. This increase in sebum production can clog up your pores and results in pimples and spots on your skin.
Additionally, vaping prevents proper blood circulation in the skin. When your circulation is decreased, your skin receives less oxygen and you may notice your skin become more inflamed. Propylene Glycol, an ingredient found in vapes, is a skin irritant as well and can lead to an increased in inflammation.
Quitting vaping is extremely beneficial for your skin. Maybe your vape is why your retinols and moisturizers aren't giving you the results you want. Acne and psoriasis improve with quitting.
The benefits of quitting vaping on your hair.
Are you noticing your hair thinning? Maybe experiencing more breakage? Or even hair loss? Your vape may be responsible.
Your hair follicles don't just need shampoo and conditioner - they need nutrients and healthy circulation in order to promote hair growth. Just like vaping reduces blood circulation in the skin, vaping can also reduce blood flow to hair follicles. The less blood delivered to your hair follicles, the less nutrients your hair follicle receives. This lack of nutrients can result in hair loss.
If you quit vaping, you'll in turn be promoting healthy hair growth, limiting your chances of hair loss or damage. Your hair grows continuously at about a rate of 1cm a month. When you quit, you’ll notice your new hair is thicker, fuller, and stronger.
The benefits of quitting vaping on your gut health.
Studies have shown that vaping is not helpful for your gut health. Dr. Frank Lipman notes, "vaping does compromise the gut lining and leads to a leaky gut with the consequent possibility of triggering inflammation in all parts of the body."
One study found that vapes can compromise the gut barrier and trigger gut inflammation. A compromised gut barrier can lead to a number of health issues like metabolic endotoxemia, type II diabetes, fatty liver disease, obesity, atherosclerosis, and irritable bowel diseases.
Symptoms of a compromised gut barrier can look like abdominal pain, food insensitivities, cramps, bloating, gas, and aches.
Ditching your vape can give your gut the ability to reset itself and keep bacteria and toxins out of your bloodstream. By quitting vaping, you're helping your gut prevent you from developing some of these long-term chronic diseases.
In addition to a leaky gut, nicotine causes your lower esophageal sphincter (the joining of you esophagus and stomach) to loosen - resulting in acid reflux / heartburn. NRT is less likely to cause this than vaping. Quitting vaping is the best way to prevent heartburn and acid reflux.
The benefits of quitting vaping on your sexual health & fertility.
Vaping, smoking, and nicotine use cause vasoconstriction - the tightening of blood vessels which reduces blood flow throughout the body. Reduced blood flow can prevent sexual arousal - reducing pleasure from sex and libido.
Researchers from NYU found that men between the ages of 20-65 who vape daily are 2.4 times more likely to experience Erectile Dysfunction (ED) than men that have never vaped. Similar links between ED and smoking have been observed.
Vaping & smoking can also impact fertility in both men and women. Specifically, vaping leads to reduced sperm count for men and reduced ovarian reserve in women. Sperm can take approximately three months to mature after cessation where as it can take up to a year for women's fertility to improve completely.
For women specifically, vaping can cause inflammation of the uterus making implantation more difficult. With this in mind, it is important to note that vaping is not a reliable means of birth control. For any women planning to get pregnant, quitting at any point before pregnancy reduces the risk of premature birth and low birth weight.
The benefits of quitting vaping on your respiratory system.
Johns Hopkins reports that vaping can result in lung damage including popcorn lung and collapsed lungs. The chemical diacetyl which is found in vape liquids causes inflammation in the small airways of the lungs and can cause permanent scaring. This is called popcorn lung, also known as bronchiolitis obliterans (BO). Unfortunately there is no treatment for BO but you can treat the symptoms which include coughing, wheezing, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
You could be at risk of lung collapse. A collapsed lung is caused either by injury or when tiny air blisters rupture on top of the lungs causing tiny tears usually formed if someone experiences rapid growth during adolescence. Blisters on your lungs often go unnoticed unless they rupture. Vaping and smoking increase the risk of these blister rupturing - thus resulting an increase in collapse lungs.
Once you quit vaping, your lungs recover quickly and should be back to normal within three months. In just three months you can get up to 30% improvement in lung capacity. Persistent lung problems three months after quitting should be evaluated by a healthcare provider because that can be evidence of what the CDC calls this EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury).
The benefits of quitting vaping on your cardiovascular system.
Did you know that your heart is most vulnerable within the first 6-8 hours after inhaling from your vape? This is how long the substances in your vape liquid remain in your body. Vaping increases your blood pressure and heart rate - putting you at a greater risk of a heart attack. Additionally, the preservatives and chemicals found in vapes disrupt your normal clotting function - putting you at greater risk of blood clots.
In the long run, vaping can also impact your cholesterol deposits and artery stiffness. The cholesterol deposits in your arteries can become unstable and more likely to rupture overtime due to vaping. If a cholesterol deposit ruptures, it can lead to a higher risk of heart attack or stroke due to clotting. Artery stiffness, resulting from the chemicals in vapes, can also lead to a heart attack and stroke.
Quitting vaping or smoking is the best way to mitigate or avoid these cardiovascular conditions later in life.
The benefits of quitting vaping are profound and quitting vaping is one of the best things you can do for your health. If you would like to quit vaping Jones offers the only holistic quitting support - designed to be the most effective method to help you quit for good. To more than double your chances of quitting successfully, consider using nicotine replacement therapy like our 2mg and 4mg nicotine mints. To get a personalized quit plan tailored to your goals, take our free quiz.
Written by Sophie Kennedy & Lucy Kaskel in conjunction with Dr. David Kan.
Dr. David Kan is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is a faculty member at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and is Chief Medical Advisor at Jones.