With all these nearly inescapable health hazards, smog, etc, in the world to overcome, it's incredible that millions of people harm their lungs even more by inhaling deadly tobacco smoke into their lungs.

Nicotine is poison! It immediately affects lung function and constricts your cardiovascular system. It destroys vitamin C, which is vital to your health and immune system. After only 12 hours of not smoking, nicotine blood levels fall and the heart and lungs begin healing. If you smoke, please stop now and be loving to your body.

The lungs' air sacs are further damaged by tobacco tars and carbon particles. These lodge in the walls of the lungs' important balloon-like cells, causing them to lose their natural elasticity and eventually breaking them down altogether. The result? Emphysema - the killer disease in which destruction of the breathing mechanism slowly smothers its victim from within.

Of the over 50 million Americans who smoke, one third to one half will die from smoking-related diseases! Smoking also introduces at least two deadly poisons into the body: arsenic and carbon monoxide, as well as other toxins. Compounding these health hazards, smoking creates a desire for caffeine and sugar. Moreover, twice as many smokers drink alcohol compared to non-smokers. Smokers have a far greater incidence of cancer of the lungs, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, mouth, colon and breast. All tobacco products should be banned - they are killers!

If you insist on committing a slow suicide by smoking, no one can stop you. If you really want to save your lungs, health and life, stop smoking by using your strong will and persistence. Start today to make the effort to stop as a positive step towards living The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle.

Quit Smoking — See the Difference it Makes!

• 20 MINUTES AFTER QUITTING: Your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal. The temperature of our hands and feet increases to normal.
  
  
• 8 HOURS AFTER QUITTING: The carbon monoxide level in our blood drops to normal. The oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.
  
  
• 24 HOURS AFTER QUITTING: Your chance for heart attack decreases.
  
  
• 48 HOURS AFTER QUITTING: Your ability to taste and smell is enhanced.
  
  
• 2 WEEKS TO 3 MONTHS AFTER QUITTING: Your circulation improves. Walking becomes easier. Your lung function increases as much as 30 percent.
  
  
• 1 TO 9 MONTHS AFTER QUITTING: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease. Your lungs and body are cleaner and more resistant to infection.
  
  
• 1 YEAR AFTER QUITTING: Excess risk for coronary heart disease decreases to 50% from that of a smoker’s.
  
  
• 2 TO 3 YEARS AFTER QUITTING: The risk for coronary heart disease and stroke decrease compared to those of people who have never smoked. Also less osteoporosis.
  
  
• 5 YEARS AFTER QUITTING: Lung cancer death rate for the former one-pack-per-day smoker decreases by almost half. Risks of mouth and throat cancer are half those of smokers.
  
  
• 10 TO 15 YEARS AFTER QUITTING: Lung cancer death rate is almost that of non-smokers. Pre-cancerous cells are replaced. Risks for mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas cancer decrease. – Prevention

DEADLY SMOKING FACTS!

• Tobacco use and also second-hand smoke will eventually kill over one fifth of the population now living in the developed world: about 250 million.
  
  
• Of the 50 million Americans who smoke, one third to one half will die from a smoke-related disease and all will reduce their life expectancy by an average of nine years.
  
  
• Smoking acts as either a stimulant or a depressant - depending upon the smoker's emotional state.
  
  
• The average pack-a-day smoker takes about 70,000 hits of nicotine each year.
  
  
• "Second hand smoke" hurts non-smokers: it speeds up the heart rate, raises blood pressure and doubles the amount of deadly carbon monoxide in their blood.
  
  
• Secondary smoke contains more nicotine, tar and cadmium (leading to hypertension, bronchitis and emphysema) than mainstream smoke. > Babies born to mothers who smoke tend to have lower body weight and smaller lungs.
  
  
• Lung illnesses are twice as common in smokers' children.
  
  
• Children and teenagers make up 90% of the new smokers in the United States - and teenage smoking is on the rise!
  
  
• The death rate from breast cancer ranges from 25% to 75% higher among women who smoke.
  
  
• Female smokers may face a higher risk of lung cancer - as much as twice the risk of male smokers, according to a study done by Dr. Harvey Risch at Yale University.
  
  
• Your body contains almost 100,000 miles of blood vessels. Smoking constricts those vessels, depriving your body of the important fresh, rich oxygen it needs.
  
  
• Tobacco is the main introduction to more deadly drugs.
  
  
• Teens who smoke are far more likely to engage in other risky and life-threatening behaviors (including using other dangerous drugs, engaging in violence or gang involvement, carrying weapons, and engaging in premarital sex which often results in pregnancy or disease) than non-smoking teens.
  
  
• Cataracts, cancer, angina, arteriosclerosis, osteoporosis, chronic bronchitis, high blood pressure, impotence and respiratory ailments are linked to smoking.