{"id":949438,"date":"2026-05-10T01:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949438\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:09:17","slug":"exercise-can-reduce-cigarette-cravings-and-aid-cessation-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949438\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise can reduce cigarette cravings and aid cessation, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re trying to quit smoking<\/a>, try a brisk walk or bike ride to curb your craving for a cigarette.<\/p>\n

Researchers found that just one workout can reduce the urge to light up. But the type of exercise you do and how you do it makes a big difference.<\/p>\n

High-intensity, aerobic exercise<\/a> is most effective at reducing people\u2019s cigarette cravings, a review of 59 randomized controlled trials involving more than 9,000 adults found.<\/p>\n

FITNESS EXPERT REVEALS SIMPLE RULE TO GET IN SHAPE WITHOUT DREADING THE GYM: ‘JUST MOVE’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“Single-bout exercise reduced acute cravings immediately and up to 30 minutes post-exercise, but not longer-term cravings,” the authors of the study, published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, reported.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Aerobic exercise is the most effective form of exercise for reducing cravings for cigarettes, researchers found. (iStock)<\/p>\n

The research team highlighted other key findings<\/a> from their study of “exercise-based interventions for smoking cessation.”<\/p>\n

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Exercise training made people between 15% and 21% more likely to abstain from smoking than those who didn\u2019t exercise, the authors found.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Researchers found that exercise curbs people’s cigarette cravings for up to 30 minutes after they stop exercising. (iStock)<\/p>\n

Regular exercise also caused smokers to cut back by an average of two cigarettes per day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to being a free and accessible method for reducing smoking, exercise is also effective at reducing anxiety and stress<\/a>, which drive many people to smoke. \u00a0<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The authors suggest that because exercise boosts feel-good hormones, such as dopamine<\/a>, and reduces the stress hormone cortisol, smokers who work out feel less inclined to use nicotine as a brain reward.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Exercise should be integrated into other smoking cessation programs to enhance quit success, the authors concluded.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Exercise releases similar feel-good brain chemicals that people get from cigarettes, researchers suggested. (iStock)<\/p>\n

They also noted that none of the trials addressed vaping and recommended that future research target the use of electronic cigarettes.<\/p>\n

Teresa Mull is a freelance writer with the Lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! If you\u2019re trying to quit smoking, try a brisk walk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[9776,1630,105,264881,37390,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-949438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-addiction","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-stop-smoking","12":"tag-stress-and-anxiety","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116547615067599758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}