Despite the decline in smoking over the last several decades, nearly 46 million Americans continue to smoke cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And some of them are turning to herbal cigarettes as a way to indulge their habit while hoping to reduce the damage to their health.
Herbal cigarettes are sometimes touted as a safe, non-addictive alternative to tobacco smoking. After all, herbal cigarettes contain no tobacco and therefore no nicotine, the drug in cigarettes that causes people to become addicted.
Many people even smoke herbal cigarettes as an aid to stop smoking regular cigarettes. In fact, herbal cigarettes are as harmful as tobacco cigarettes, because any vegetable matter that's burned produces tar, carbon monoxide, and other toxins. When you breathe in the smoke of an herbal cigarette, you're breathing those harmful toxins directly into your lungs.
Herbal cigarettes are required by the Federal Trade Commission FTC to carry warning labels saying that they're harmful to your health. These products also may have strong youth appeal , offering milder-tasting and sweet flavored varieties of tobacco. For example, while flavors other than menthol in cigarettes have been prohibited since , the only other products with any flavor restrictions are cartridge-based e-cigarettes, which can now only be sold in tobacco and menthol flavors.
Cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars. Smokeless tobacco e. These products are not smoked but places between the gum and the cheek or lip. Oral nicotine pouches. Some claim to use synthetic nicotine. Popular brands include Zyn, On! They also come in a variety of flavors that appeal to youth as well as a variety of nicotine levels.
Additionally, some vape manufacturers add vitamin E acetate to vaping liquids containing tetrahydrocannabinol — a cannabinoid commonly known as THC — to thicken or dilute them. According to a study , vitamin E acetate is a sticky substance that has associations with lung injury.
In the short term, vaping e-liquid can irritate the lungs and throat. This sensation comes from heating and inhaling the chemicals in the e-liquid. As the authors of a study note, inhaling large amounts of propylene glycol and glycerol can irritate the airways. They also point out that the levels of these chemicals in the e-cigarette are high enough to cause irritation after just one puff.
A study found several common e-liquid flavoring ingredients caused a damaging inflammatory response in lung cell samples. The e-liquids that the study examined did not contain nicotine. Chronic inflammation of lung tissue can lead to irreversible lung scarring. Larger scale studies in humans will help establish the long-term risks that e-liquid vapors pose to lung tissue.
However, early evidence suggests they negatively affect these organs. Many people say vaping helps them resist the urge to smoke cigarettes. However, vaping does come with risks, even without nicotine.
With this in mind, individuals can look for alternatives to vaping that satisfy some of the things they enjoy about the habit. Some examples include:. A large body of research focuses on the negative effects of cigarettes. This evidence is one reason why vaping became popular in the first place. Therefore, the risks of cigarette smoking are very likely to be more significant than the risks of vaping without nicotine.
However, many manufacturers falsely claim that their vape products are completely safe. On the contrary, a growing body of evidence suggests vaping also carries health risks. Donna Hill Howes, RN. Don't mix smoking with NRT. If you have a relapse, don't stop using NRT. Make sure you use the full How will I know when I'm ready to quit smoking?
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