Want to quit smoking? Get jogging! Running groups ‘help HALF of smokers quit the fags for good’
THE health benefits of exercise are seemingly endless.
It keeps your heart healthy and helps you stay slim which in turn reduces your risk of diseases like cancer, type 2 diabetes and stroke.
But now it seems exercise can even help you quit smoking.
Research from the University of British Columbia found that half of people who completed a 10-week running program were able to ditch the fags for good.
Lead author Carly Priebe said: "This shows that physical activity can be a successful smoking-cessation aid and that a community-based program might offer that.
"Because doing it on your own is very difficult."
In the study, 168 smokers from across Canada registered for the 2016 run to quit program.
Just 72 stuck it out until the final week.
Of those who stuck it out 37 successfully quit smoking - passing carbon monoxide tests at the end.
This equates to a quarter of the total number of smokers who took part in the study giving up the habit - or half of those who completed the entire 10-week program.
Six months later the number of quitters was the same.
The programme involved strategies for quitting cigarettes as well as outdoor walking or running activities.
Participants also reported an improvement in their overall mental health.
"Even if someone wasn't able to fully quit, reducing their smoking is great," Priebe added.
PACK IT IN How to stop smoking: From Allen Carr’s Easyway to nicotine gum and going cold turkey… read our handy guide giving up cigarettes
"But it's also about just being active.
"Most of our sample was new to running, and if it's something that can become part of their lifestyle then there are health benefits that may counteract some of their smoking behaviours."
During the programme there was a significant drop out in the "quit week"- or week five - which is the week most people trying to stub out the cigarettes fall off the bandwagon.
Priebe said: "In the future what we're really trying to stress to participants is to just keep coming.
"Even if you don't quit on your first attempt, keep attending the sessions with the group and keep learning."
