By Robert Song
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First a little background. I am in my third year of vaping (using e-cigarettes) after quitting smoking for more than 30 years. It has been amazing how effective and seamless it has been for me to adopt this new technology to break a nasty habit. But before I switched over, I did a lot of due diligence in terms of reading up on it and perused many articles, including scientific reports and personal blogs. Reading media reports were not enough as many times they were very misleading by omitting important facts.
The above-mentioned article was focused mainly on the newer technology e-cigarettes made by big firms such as Philip Morris with their ubiquitous IQOS brand. I need to make a very clear distinction between this type of e-cigs and the type that I use which uses a liquid form to refill the tank. IQOS type e-cigarettes, although using a similar technology in terms of heating not burning, use real tobacco. Read "real tobacco."
That means that users are still ingesting tar which is the main culprit here since tar contains thousands (not hundreds) of chemicals that cause damage to our bodies. But because they heat not burn tobacco, smoke and odor is drastically lessened which is a breath of fresh air. They also proclaim that users receive lesser harmful effects of tar since the tobacco is converted at a lower temperature.
On the other hand, vaping uses e-liquid juice, which contains no tar but usually four or five substances such as propylene glycol, glycerin, water, nicotine and flavorings. Propylene glycol and glycerin are substances used in our foods therefore not harmful to our bodies. Now onto nicotine, the controversial drug that is mostly misunderstood. By the way, many people who vape, choose e-liquids with no nicotine in it at all.
Nicotine, like caffeine, is a very addictive drug. In high doses, like caffeine, it can be harmful to your health. In low doses, like caffeine, studies show that it can actually have beneficial effects such as reducing stress and raising alertness. In low doses, the damage to our bodies is minimal.
Of course, to not smoke using either method is probably the better choice. But for most smokers who are unable to quit, and who want a healthier life, the choice is obvious. Remember, tar is the true enemy not nicotine.
Robert Song (robertssong@me.com) is a Korean-Canadian small business owner based in Seoul who has been tobacco free for over 2 years.
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