Sobering experiment shows what really happens to our bodies after smoking just one cigarette

In honour of Stoptober, here is what happens to your lung with every cigarette

A sobering experiment has revealed what happens to your lungs after smoking just one cigarette.

By this point we’ve all seen enough campaigns featuring charcoal-coloured lungs and human bodies in various states of decay to be well aware that smoking is not a healthy habit to keep.

However, these traumatising ads haven’t managed to get the nation to kick the habit entirely – because, you know, addiction – as it’s estimated around one in eight, or 12.9 percent, of the UK population is lighting up on the regular.

This figure is declining as more and popular people swap out their cigarettes for a vape, which is currently seen as a safer alternatives to smokers, but we as a nation are still far away from kicking the habit for good.

It’s Stoptober so get ready to see a rise in anti-smoking campaigns (Getty Stock Images)

If you’re a smoker considering taking part in the government’s annual stop smoking campaign Stoptober and are in need of some motivation; look no further than this video, which simulates the impact of one cigarette on the lungs.

Uploaded to YouTube by Chris Notap, the video recreates a human lung with a modified soda bottle, water and some cotton bud and reveals the amount of toxins you breathe into your lungs every time you light up.

After assembling his experiment, Notap lights a cigarette and lets it burn while slowly letting water out of the bottle – to simulate exhaling – and waits as the smoke fills up his makeshift lung.Play

After the cigarette is finished burning, Notap then simulates exhalation by refilling the bottle from the bottom and expelling the lingering smoke.

Granted, you’re not holding smoke in your lungs as long as Notap’s experiment does, but the final result is pretty grim.

After removing the cotton bud stuffed into the neck of the bottle we see how the previously pristine white ball is now discoloured and yellow from the toxins inhaled.

Again, cotton wool isn’t a direct comparison to lung tissue, but it’s still pretty grim to think the very same gunk lingering around in respiratory tissue.

“Well the bottom line is, smoking is bad for you,” Notap summarised at the end of his video.

“You’re only meant to have one thing going in [your lungs] and that’s air.

“Why would you want to introduce smoke into something that gives you life and helps you thrive.”

A before and after of what smoking does to your lungs (YouTube/chrisnotap)

Of course this isn’t groundbreaking advice, as the majority of people who smoke will be aware of the side-effects, but having evidence presented to you in a visual manner can often be more helpful than blanket phrases such as ‘smoking = bad’.Featured Image Credit: (YouTube/chrisnotap)

Topics: Health

Brenna Cooper

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