E-Cigarettes vs Smoking – The ultimate show down

E-Cigarettes are nothing new. They have been around for a few good years. Words like vaping are part of everyone’s vocabulary. Shops are selling vaping kits as well as e-cigarettes. However, the question remains: Are e-cigarettes bad for you? Are they as bad as regular smoking? Worse? Better? In this article, we compare the two and will let you decide.

What is smoking?

Technically speaking, smoking involves the process of burning tobacco and then breathing the air in. This includes traditional cigarettes, cigars, pipes, sheesha/hooka as well as the humble roll-up. Tobacco contains the chemical nicotine, which is addictive. Also included in tobacco are many other chemicals, which are harmful when burned.

Of course, before smoking, people also used to chew tobacco. Variations on this are still seen around the world.

E-Cigarettes

The concept of an e-cigarette is not that far from that of a sheesha. You have an ‘e-liquid’, which is heated using an electric coil, turning into a vapour. Most e-cigarettes trigger this when they detect the ‘sucking’ of air. The generated vapour forms a mist and gives the user the sensation of smoking. If the e-liquid contains nicotine, it also delivers the hit of nicotine the user may crave.

Health comparison of e-cigarettes vs smoking

Cancer Research UK has been doing a lot of research in comparing traditional smoking vs e-cigarettes. The results so far are very encouraging. E-cigarettes are as addictive as regular smoking, thanks to the nicotine in them. However, they do not contain tobacco. This means that the user is automatically prevented from any of the complications you may have expected and experienced as a traditional smoker.

They are not just easier on your lungs. Your mouth also manages to escape the harmful effects. You don’t need to worry about gum disease, tar or losing the sensation of your tongue.

The verdict is straightforward. They are definitely safer than traditional smoking.

Cost

Another essential way in which an e-cigarette helps users is the reduced cost. An average smoker spends around £400 GBP on their smoking suppliers. The same number is around £120 for somebody indulging in vaping.

More so, websites offer various money-saving bundles, allowing you to bulk buy or help get savings.

Convenience

Convenience is a big advantage of e-cigarettes as well. You may need to charge your e-cigarette, but you don’t need to carry a lighter with you.

Then there is the advantage of not having any ash falling on you. This means you don’t need to worry about your clothes getting ruined.

Same goes for the smell. E-cigarettes are a lot gentler, meaning you don’t have to turn to mints or perfumes to hide the stench.

More so, while most public places are turning away smokers, vaping is still allowed.

Choice

While one may argue that a huge amount of cigarettes are available on the market, you can’t really consider the move from one brand to another a choice. When it comes to flavours or levels of nicotine, you are pretty much stuck with a few standards.

E-cigarettes allow you to pick from a few levels of nicotine, all the way to zero, as well as pick from a wide array of flavours. Whether you fancy banana, strawberry, blueberry or cheesecake, there is a flavour out there for you.

Giving up

The fact that you can vary your nicotine levels is a great way they help you give up. All you need to do is slowly reduce the nicotine level in your e-liquid. At some stage, you should be able to hit 0.

More so, you can still use the device after you have gone to zero nicotine. This means that as your body slowly gets rid of the nicotine addiction, you can still satisfy the craving for your muscle memory.

If you are looking to give up, we would also like to point you towards the wonderful (and free) Stop Smoking Service run by the NHS.

Smoke it like a sheesha!

Which brings me to my favourite part of e-cigarettes. They produce a lot of vapour, which is pretty similar to a Sheesha. Add the fact that you can smoke them without nicotine, and you are suddenly into cool valley here.

In fact, this has given birth to a whole new genre of videos, the vaping trickster!

Do you have any experience of e-cigarettes? Do you have any thoughts or opinions to add? Do let us know by leaving a comment below. 

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