Love Island is almost over. A new couple will be crowned winner this Sunday (23 February 2020). But, as you may have noticed, smoking on screen is banned as more than 50% of complaints made to Love Island in 2018 were about smoking. Here are some of the reasons you should make like Love Island and ban yourself from smoking in order to impress your date:
Smoking gives you wrinkles
It has been proven that the nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin doesn’t get as much oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Some of the 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke also damage collagen and elastin, which are fibres that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely because of smoking. Smoking prematurely ages your skin by between 10 and 20 years
Bad teeth and bad breath
Smoking causes bad breath and stained teeth and can also cause gum disease. On top of this, smoking can damage your sense of taste.
Fertility and erectile functions
Smoking can cause a lack of sexual desire in both men and women. For men it can cause erectile dysfunction and decreased sexual performance, even in men as young as 20. Up to 120,000 men from the UK in their 20s and 30s are impotent as a direct result of smoking, and men who smoke have a lower sperm count than those who are non-smokers.
Female smokers can experience reduced fertility with one study finding that smokers were over three times more likely than non-smokers to have taken more than one year to conceive.
There are also performance issues. With smoking causing a decrease in arousal and decreased lung capacity, it is likely that the only person left breathless during sex will be the smoker. See our article on standing to attention on Valentine’s Day
The effect seeing someone smoke has on children and teenagers
It’s not good to be a bad influence. Smoking on Love Island was banned because a higher exposure to smoking imagery on screen makes youth and young adults twice as likely to start smoking. It isn’t just TV that can influence children and teenagers to smoke, children who grow up watching their parents smoke are also more likely to become smokers as teens.
If you are looking to give up smoking and need help, visit the Everyone Health website to see if you are eligible for services in Staffordshire, or call: 0333 005 0095.