What are the benefits of tobacco and what harm does it cause to the body

It is unlikely that in our time there is a person who would not have heard about the dangers of tobacco. However, the widespread distribution of tobacco indicates a high demand for this product. Tobacco growers grow the plant on their own, wanting to get an environmentally friendly product.

How harmful is tobacco and does it have any beneficial properties? Our article will answer these and other popular questions about smoking.

Tobacco

Tobacco belongs to the annual plants of the Solanaceae family. Today it is grown all over the world, but the wild species is no longer found. It is a house plant that needs maintenance.

Distinguish between tobacco:

• decorative;
• cultural:
  • smoking;
  • chewing;
  • snuff.

The smoker is subdivided into real tobacco and makhorka. Mahorka, unlike the real one, is grown in cold regions, as it is resistant to frost.

Composition

Tobacco products are obtained from plant leaves. They contain:

• nicotine - 1-4%;
• proteins - 1-10%;
• carbohydrates - 2-15%;
• organic acids - 0.2-1.5%;
• essential oils - up to 1.5%.

In tobacco smoke, there are up to 40 complex chemical compounds that are hazardous to health and can cause cancer:

• carbon dioxide;
• carbon monoxide;
• arsenic;
• cyanide;
• lead;
• polonium;
• bismuth.

Beneficial features

Along with harmful qualities, tobacco has a number of useful properties:

• used in medicine - the leaves have an anti-inflammatory effect, are used at the first signs of seasickness and to stop vomiting;
• enhances concentration of attention;
• eliminates nervous tension and relieves stress - these are the most common reasons for using tobacco products;
• used in everyday life to protect fur products from moths and pests in the garden.

The relative benefits of tobacco for men is evidenced by the fact that smokers have a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The male part of the population is most susceptible to this disease. The risk of developing Alzheimer's syndrome is also reduced. These diseases are prevented by nornicotine, a by-product of the breakdown of nicotine.

Tobacco has an antiestrogenic effect on the female body, which prevents diseases associated with an excess of these hormones.

Harm

Most tobacco growers mistakenly believe that self-grown real tobacco is less harmful than purchased tobacco. Undoubtedly such a plant environmentally cleaner, but the amount of toxic substances is the same.

The most pronounced harmful effects:

1. Smoking is addictive and addictive, becoming a bad habit that is difficult to eradicate.
2. It has a negative effect on the nervous system, provokes irritation, increased fatigue.
3. Harms the respiratory system, causes coughing, shortness of breath.
4. Disrupts blood supply due to vascular blockage.
5. It causes inflammation of the salivary glands, reduces taste.
6. Negatively affects tooth enamel and the condition of the oral cavity.
7. It provokes hair loss, thinning of hair follicles.

Smoking is categorically contraindicated during pregnancy due to possible complications in the unborn child.

Read also:

Review of Trapezond 92 tobacco and peculiarities of its cultivation.

We grow tobacco "Turkish" from seeds: instruction for beginners.

Harm and benefits of tobacco, depending on its type

The use of tobacco is considered an addiction: in this case, the harm exceeds all possible beneficial properties.

Let's consider in all details how harmful natural pure tobacco is and what properties it has product varieties - snuff and chewing tobacco.

Smoking

Smoking tobacco includes cigarettes, cigarillos and cigars. For the manufacture of cigarettes, shredded tobacco leaves are used, while for cigars and cigarillos, leaf plates are not shredded.

The size of a cigarillo is slightly smaller than a cigar and is most often sold with a mouthpiece and filter. The composition does not contain substances that accelerate combustion. Typically cigarillosflavor all kinds of additives.

Regular smoking leads to an addiction that is difficult to get rid of. Tobacco smoke settles in the lungs, which leads to the appearance of bronchitis, which eventually develops into chronic. Also, systematic smoking provokes the development of inflammatory processes in the oral cavity. In addition, exhaled smoke is dangerous to others.

The positive aspects include only the removal of nervous tension due to the smoked cigarette.

Reference! In 1 minute, 10 million cigarettes are bought up all over the world.

Chewing

The chewy type includes whole-leaf self-garden. The main difference from other species is the accelerated entry of substances into the blood. They often try to quit smoking with it.

Sometimes it is called snus, but they do not chew snus, but put it behind the lip and dissolve it. It contains flavor enhancers and flavors. The most common additives are mint, lemon, lime and vanilla.

Reference! Snus - tobacco powder in portions, a type of chewing tobacco.

With this method of use, diseases of the nasopharynx and inflammation of the gums most often occur. However, snus is believed to contain fewer toxic substances.

Snuff

Those who do not like to create a smoke screen around themselves use snuff products. This method of application is practically no different from traditional smoking.

The only plus is safety for others. Powdered leaf is inhaled through the nose. Often such flavors are added to it: cinnamon, cloves, orange or lavender.

It is interesting! Until the 17th century, smoking was called dry drinking.

Application in traditional medicine

The use of tobacco in medicine brings positive results in the fight against many diseases. Tobacco treatment is indicated for inflammatory processes, sore throat, malaria and even scabies. Also, the leaves of the plant are used to make ointments for the feet and cough concoctions.

Recipes

The medicinal properties of tobacco and its chemical composition make it possible to use the leaves to get rid of a runny nose, colds and dizziness.

To cure a runny nose, tobacco powder will help. To do this, fresh leaves are crushed and the powder is inhaled 3-4 times a day. Treatment continues until nasal congestion is eliminated.

To combat dizziness, use tobacco tincture. 1 tbsp. l. the chopped sheet is poured into ½ glass of vodka. After 10 days, the tincture is ready for use. 1 drop of tincture is dissolved in 100 ml of water and taken 3 times a day.

What are the benefits of smoking?

Numerous studies by scientists have shown that nicotine, when acting on the brain, improves memory. The concentration of attention increases due to which the information received is absorbed more easily.

Scientists from Washington state that smokers have a 70% lower risk of Parkinson's disease compared to nonsmokers. And researchers from New York have shown that nicotine compensates for brain defects in schizophrenic patients.

Smokers rarely develop cold sores and inflammatory skin diseases.

Smoking is considered to prevent obesity.After each cigarette smoked, the body spends additional energy to eliminate toxins, so the extra calories are consumed, and not converted into fat deposits.

It is interesting! 100 years ago, doctors advised pregnant women to smoke to keep them from getting fat.

Popular questions

Frequent questions relate to the harm of smoking and its effect on the human body. The fact that tobacco and tobacco smoke contain toxins that are detrimental to health is an indisputable fact. Therefore, you should not abuse tobacco products, regardless of the purpose for which you use them. Indeed, as the Swiss alchemist Paracelsus said, poison is dangerous not in quality, but in quantity.

Reference! Paracelsus' real name is Philip von Hohenheim. The pseudonym Paracelsus means close to Celsus (famous ancient Roman scholar).

Is self-sacking harmful

Samosad is less toxic than industrial cigarettes. It contains citric acid, nicotinic acid and nicotine. Its content does not exceed 5-7%. If you plant spices next to tobacco, it will absorb their aromatic note, which will persist even in dried leaves.

Reference! Samosad is tobacco grown and prepared for consumption.

An important feature of homemade cigarettes is the absence of industrial preservatives that are added to cigarettes.

Why is pure tobacco harmful?

Regardless of whether flavoring is added to the finished product or not, the chemical composition remains unchanged. Therefore, the harm from smoking will be the same as from the use of any other tobacco products.

Especially tobacco smoking has a negative effect on the respiratory system. Chronic bronchitis is often observed in experienced smokers. The deeper the tobacco smoke is inhaled, the more toxins enter the lungs.

How does it affect the heart and the body as a whole

In the process of smoking, the poisons contained in tobacco smoke settle on the walls of blood vessels. This leads to blockage, disruption of blood supply, from which the heart suffers in the first place.

Under the influence of nicotine, there is a sharp release of adrenaline into the blood, the walls of the vessels are compressed, and blood pressure rises. For this reason, there are many hypertensive smokers. When carbon dioxide enters the bloodstream, oxygen starvation occurs, due to which the heart and brain suffer.

The influence of tobacco on the human psyche

Nicotine is incorporated into chemical reactions in the brain. It stimulates receptors that are responsible for the release of adrenaline and dopamine, popularly called the "hormone of happiness". Thus, addiction is formed. The psyche without nicotine cannot relax and sends a frequent signal to the brain about the supply of the substance it needs.

Over time, little of its own hormones are produced. You have to increase the nicotine dose, otherwise irritability appears.

All pathological processes caused by smoking develop slowly and will manifest themselves no earlier than 3-4 years of regular use of tobacco products.

Contraindications

It is not recommended to use tobacco products for mentally unbalanced people. They become highly addictive, and uncontrollable actions as a result of constant irritability and aggression are dangerous for others.

Hypertensive patients, "heart patients", as well as adolescents should refrain from smoking - this will negatively affect the unformed psyche and growing body.

Conclusion

Tobacco does more harm than good. When smoking a cigarette for pleasure, remember that this prank will develop into a serious addiction and provoke the development of serious diseases. But do not forget about the benefits that tobacco brings when used for medicinal purposes, for example, in the form of tinctures.