Disturbing simulation shows exactly what happens to your body when you inhale a cigarette

It's not exactly a mystery that smoking isn't the healthiest thing to do, yet one disturbing YouTube simulation shows the harmful aftermath your body is subjected to as soon as you inhale a cigarette.

It's estimated that around 1.3 billion people (or roughly 16% of the global population) worldwide smoke cigarettes, and what's staggering is that this number has decreased significantly over the last century.

Research into the effects it can have long term on the human body are well known these days, and shocking statistics that reveal exactly how much of your life each cigarette takes off have certainly helped some quit the habit.

However, if you still needed some convincing then this new YouTube simulation from Zack D Films should probably be enough to make you not want to go near a cigarette ever again.

It reveals how smoking 'destroys your lungs', simulating the effects of a cigarette on your body immediately after you inhale.

"When you inhale a cigarette, your airways get covered in a sticky black tar, making it hard to breathe," the video explains, showing the horrible substance coating the insides of your body.

It then goes on to reveal that the chemicals found inside cigarettes that you're inhaling kill the 'tiny hair-like structures' inside your body, which help clear mucus and dirt from your airways.

He shows exactly what goes on (Zackdfilms / YouTube)

Without that, you're far more susceptible to infections and illness, and coughing is almost an inevitability at this point.

In the long term, the simulation also shows that smoking harms the lung tissue, making them weak, scarred, and the source of many horrific images you've likely seen of a smoker's body after death.

Eventually you'll reach a point where you'll struggle to breathe without assistance, and you obviously also run the risk of developing deadly diseases like lung cancer, and you're also far more susceptible to respiratory viruses like Covid-19 and pneumonia.

Smoking not only irreversibly harms your lungs, but also leaves you far more at risk of illness (Getty Stock)

Comments underneath the video include some ex-smokers outlining their own experience with cigarettes, with one comment illustrating what made them eventually quit the habit:

"I had bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time last year and it almost killed me," they reveal. "You don't realize how bad your lungs are until you get sick and can't fight it of. I grew up with a family of chain smokers on my dad's side. They're all dead now."

Another called the simulation the "best ad for no smoking," and it's hard to not agree when seeing the disturbing effects laid our right in front of you.