Smoking is one habit that’s difficult to kick, especially if you’ve been doing it for many years. It’s hard to stop because smoking leads to an addiction to nicotine. Once you start, your body craves more. If you don’t supply this need, you may suffer from withdrawal symptoms, including jumpiness, restlessness, or irritation. It’s important to understand how quitting smoking will improve your health to help encourage taking that first step.
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In the UK alone, there are now over 1.3 million vape users (as of 2015). Given that it has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few years, you can expect that this number has grown significantly on a global scale. This is an astonishing figure given the short history of vaping or e-cigarettes.
Whether you are an athlete, or merely someone who is into fitness part-time, and you want to achieve better health, it is time to give up smoking. But is vaping a suitable alternative? Will it intervene with the benefits you are supposed to get from your fitness program?
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There is a good chance that you have heard about e-cigarettes. Heck, in today’s time there is a good chance that you have probably even tried vaping at least once or twice. It certainly is a hobby that is quickly growing.
That being said, you will probably get a variety of mixed reviews when you sit down and look at the pros and cons of the habit. Some people will tell you that it is safer than tobacco. Some people might tell you that it isn’t addictive. Well, if you are going to partake in the hobby or try it for the first time, you need to fully understand the pros and cons of it.
It’s hard to move forward on your path to getting Swole when you get trapped by unhealthy lifestyle habits. Quitting smoking is a big step, but many have done it before and many more will do it after. So, here are some tips to ensure you’re the next one to kick the habit.
More people are now preferring to smoke e-cigarettes as opposed to the traditional cigarettes. This is so because traditional cigarettes are known to have negative effects on oral health. The tobacco in the cigarettes is known to affect the teeth as well as gums. It reduces the ability of a person to smell or taste foods, causes stains on the teeth and results in gum disease.
Smoking of tobacco has also been associated with high cases of oral cancer. With the introduction of vaporizer pens, many questions abound on the safety of vaping and its effect on oral health. Below are ways that vaping seems to be better than smoking in terms of its impact on oral health:
Smoking causes teeth to get yellow staining particularly from the tar and nicotine that is present in tobacco. The staining does affect the tooth enamel despite the fact that it has an extremely hard enamel. Though the teeth enamel is really hard, it has tiny pores. The tar from tobacco sticks in these small holes and build up. After some time to tar and nicotine build up on the enamel, the teeth become discolored, becoming brownish or yellowish in color.
If a person smokes heavily for years, the staining becomes nearly impossible to remove. Vaping usually does not result to teeth staining. Unlike traditional cigarettes, the e-liquid contained in vape pens only gets heated as opposed to getting burned. As a result, they do not produce the kind of brown sticky tar that is common with smoking traditional cigarettes. This means with vaping, there are lower chances of ending up with stained teeth, which is some great news.
It is common knowledge that people who smoke traditional cigarettes end up having bad breath. This is because the chemicals and particles found in tobacco remain in their mouths as well as lungs longer. Also, the hot gas that smokers inhale during smoking causes their mouths to dry up. This creates a conducive environment for oral bacteria called halitosis to reproduce.
On the other hand, vaping does not produce any particulates. This means that is does not result in bad breath. Though it does cause dryness of the mouth and does produce hot gases, people who opt for vaping are able to mitigate these problems by staying hydrated.
Gum disease is a serious ailment and smokers are at high risk of developing it. This is because smoking tobacco weakens the immune system which reduces the ability of their bodies to fight infections. For people who smoke, the accumulation of calculus on the base of their teeth provides a conducive environment for bacteria to breed. This results to the spread of bacteria which cause gum disease, commonly known as periodontal. Once this happens, gum tissues take a long time to recover, which slows down the body’s ability to heal itself. When done responsibly, vaping e-cigarettes does not damage tissues nor does it reduce the process of regenerating gum tissues because calculus does not accumulate on the base of teeth. This reduces the risk of developing gum disease.
Though it is not yet clear whether vaporizing can result in mouth cancer, it is a fact that most of the chemicals found in traditional cigarettes are not present in vaporizers. It is almost certain that vaping will at least lessen the risk of developing mouth cancer compared to smoking. Smoking traditional cigarettes causes damage to DNA including the main genes that are responsible for providing protection against cancer. More than 70 chemicals that are found in cigarettes worsen the situation.
For instance, a chemical known as chromium causes poisons to hold strongly on DNA, which increases chances of severe damage. With majority of these chemicals being absent from e-cigarettes, there is a significant reduction in the damage to a person’s DNA. The chemical levels have been found to be so low to the extent that UK’s Public Health estimates the safety of e-cigars to be up to 95% compared to traditional cigarettes.
Conclusion
Typically, vaping exposes users to significantly lower amounts of nicotine than persons who smoke ordinary cigarettes. This reduces their risk of developing oral problems. While actual scientific details on the effect of vaping are not yet available, it is a fact that in terms of, bad breath, staining teeth and gum disease, vaping is much better than smoking ordinary cigarettes.
Even so, it is not 100% safe and vapors need to be vigilant in detecting oral problems through frequent screening and always being considerate of the quantity of nicotine they ingest at all times. Efforts should be redirected to maintaining good oral hygiene, flossing daily and brushing teeth on a regular basis. While vaping may not be considered the best option, for those who are trying to quit smoking so they can take good care of their bodies, it is a step that brings them closer to their goal.
Today we at Project Swole want to deliver a public service announcement about smoking cigarettes and vaping. Do yourself, your family, and your friends a favor, and take the time to read this through.
Having lived with smokers, been friends with smokers, and been in romantic relationships with smokers; and knowing the harm that smoking cigarettes does to the body, we firmly disapprove of smoking. However, we also realize how hard it can be to overcome addiction and stay clean – sometimes there can be a middle ground, and in this case we believe using a vaporizer could be the first stepping stone to a healthier lifestyle.
If you’re a smoker in a relationship, there’s a good chance your significant other would much rather see you vaping than smoking. Here’s why: (more…)
