Comparison of vape and hookah

by Jack Johnson Designer

To understand in detail what is more harmful than a vape or a hookah, it makes sense to compare not the device of these devices, but the principle of their operation, starting from the method of delivering nicotine to the lungs, ending with the composition of the mixture that users smoke and steam. It must be said that in individual components the difference between vape and hookah becomes striking.

Mix composition

Whatever features the discussed vapes and hookahs have in their classes, the difference in their work is primarily based on what is included in the mixture for smoking or vaping. So, the composition of hookah mixtures include tobacco leaves, glycerin, preservatives, flavorings and molasses (or just sugar syrup). Of course, the use of tobacco in hookah blends indicates that it is also abundant in such a dangerous, addictive alkaloid as nicotine. As a result of its use, blood pressure rises, the heart rate increases, the work of the respiratory, reproductive, digestive and even endocrine systems is disrupted.

However, even the harmlessness of glycerin can be questioned if you remember that when heated above 300 degrees, it releases acrolein , which is a dangerous carcinogen. At the same time, the smoldering temperature of coal in a hookah reaches 400 degrees and above, which means that smokers are exposed to this harmful effect.

The composition of the mix for e-cigarettes is as follows: glycerin, propylene glycol, flavoring and nicotine (optional). The dangers of nicotine and flavors have been known for a long time. At the same time, vaping often occurs at temperatures well below 300 degrees, which eliminates the risk from the use of glycerin. The last component of the liquid, propylene glycol, is a common food additive, the harm from smoking which in most cases is called insignificant.

So, in terms of the totality of harmful substances released during use, electronic cigarettes get some advantage in disputes about which is safer, vaping or hookah.

Cleaning

But in what the hookah can please its fans with some advantage over electronic cigarettes, it is in the matter of cleaning the inhaled vapor. Therefore, it is important to remember that the vaper inhales the vapor directly after it has formed on the vaporizers. But the steam from tobacco when smoking a hookah first passes through the water in the flask, which ensures it, albeit not complete, but still very effective cleaning and cooling to temperatures relatively safe for inhalation.

Smoke inhalation

The inhalation method is the same in both cases. And if earlier, when vape mods were small and low-power, designed for cigarette cravings, one could reproach hookahs for the fact that in their case the smoke is inhaled from the pipe directly into the lungs, bypassing the oral cavity, where some more harmful substances could settle. Today, powerful, free-to-puff e-cigarettes also provide for direct inhalation. So, in this matter, there is complete parity between vape and hookah.

Dependence

But from the point of view of the possibility of causing addiction, electronic cigarettes can even lose. And the reason for this lies, as strange as it may sound, in the usability of the vape. An electronic cigarette is always ready to smoke, but a hookah requires lengthy preparation, so this ceremony, as a rule, is performed no more than once a day and only in the evenings, and even involves other people participating in it. Even scientists are sure that from the point of view of instilling psychological dependence in a person, vapes are a little more dangerous than hookahs, since they turn into a daily routine for many. It is for this reason that e-cigarettes are called a good alternative to smoking, and not a habit that should be developed from scratch.

Do vape and hookah help you to quit cigarettes?

With an eye to all of the above, one of the most important questions arises: do hookah and vape help to give up cigarettes? And this is where the fun begins. In general, the answer to the question of what is more harmful than vape or hookah is not so clear-cut. For example, with constant use, an electronic cigarette can do even more harm than a hookah smoked occasionally. However, for an hour of hookah smoking and an hour of vaping, the body certainly receives a completely different amount of harmful substances - and in this sense, vaping is much less dangerous. But vape is smoked more often, this becomes its main feature, which, it would seem, could be considered a disadvantage and an argument in favor of a hookah, if not for one "but".

As it turned out, it is this feature of the electronic cigarette that allows it to easily and fully replace the most harmful type of nicotine delivery - cigarette smoking. Hookah, with its cumbersomeness, inconvenience and lengthy preparation for use, is simply not capable of this.