Alternative to conventional smoking - tips and options

The most important facts summarized:

1. Smoking is a common vice: almost a quarter of the German population aged 18 and over smokes. This consumption can lead to addiction through the release of dopamine, a "reward" neurotransmitter.
2. Electronic cigarettes offer a modern alternative to traditional smoking. They work with heat and liquid (liquids), whereby nothing is burned. These can be both nicotine and non-nicotine and can help smokers to quit gradually or find a healthier alternative.
3. An e-shisha is the electronic version of a traditional water pipe and also serves as a healthier alternative. It does not require charcoal and still offers an authentic taste experience.
4. Electronic smoking alternatives offer numerous advantages: they cost less on average, are less harmful to health, do not cause unpleasant odors and do not pose a fire hazard.
5. Despite the benefits of e-cigarettes and e-shisha, it is important to emphasize that smoking conventional cigarettes represents the greatest preventable health risk, with up to 90 percent of lung cancer being caused by smoking. Electronic alternatives can pave the way to a healthier life.

For many, it has been part of life for a long time - it helps in stressful situations, emotional moments or is simply for pleasure: smoking. However, one thing has become clear over the years: Conventional cigarettes are proven to be unhealthy, prices are rising due to increasing taxes and the political campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers are a deterrent.

For many, the healthy alternative to this is the electronic version - regardless of whether it is an electronic cigarette or e-shisha. Find out below whether these options can also be a healthier alternative for you, what exactly is behind them and what your advantages are.

Do we still smoke conventional cigarettes today?

Statistically, smokes in Germany almost a quarter of the population from the age of 18 – men with 27 percent are a stronger target group than women with around 20,8 percent. What exactly is so fascinating about it, when there are now healthier alternatives? The answer to this lies in both psychological and chemical reactions that can produce beneficial effects.

On the one hand, regular smoking can lead to a dependency on the nicotine used in it. For example, the body only gets going in the morning or it is a habit relaxation response to stress. psychological dependency therefore plays a major role.

On the other hand, those in conventional cigarettes produce a chemical physical reaction, with the nicotine triggering a release of dopamine at the corresponding receptors in the brain. Dopamine is a messenger substance for positive emotional experiences, more precisely for a "reward effect". This is why many smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking – the dopamine balance first has to normalize again.

Is there an alternative to smoking?

In short: there is not just one, but the same several healthier alternatives, which make it easier for you to say goodbye to conventional cigarettes. The biggest driver, however, is your personal will. If you really want to be healthier and save money at the same time, you should put switching to electronic alternatives on your personal agenda.

Alternative to smoking: electronic cigarettes

An electronic cigarette can be an alternative to traditional cigarettes. The unique selling point is the fact that the tobacco (with or without nicotine) works with heat and liquid. Unlike traditional smoking, something is not ignited and burned, but heated and thus supplied with water vapour.

To do this, the so-called evaporator or "vaporizer" requires a certain voltage - either from a built-in rechargeable battery or from classic batteries, which are connected to one another by a coil. What this electronic cigarette is finally filled with is entirely up to you. There are nicotine-containing and nicotine-free “liquids”, i.e. liquids that are topped up as needed. The right selection of vaporizers is often difficult for a layman, so you can Tests of the pros should trust.

Electronic smoking can be seen as an alternative to conventional smoking because it has been proven that it can help smokers to quit: “After one year, 18 percent of Participants in the e-cigarette group abstinent from smoking, and only around 10 percent in the group with nicotine replacement therapy long-term healthier alternative.

Above all, your own will plays a role, because your hormone balance depends on the nicotine level. So if you stop smoking from now on, you will notice classic side effects such as tiredness, listlessness and depressive moods. This is because when nicotine is broken down in the body, the release of dopamine is also stopped and your feelings of happiness dry up.

If you now gradually give up traditional smoking, you should not go “cold turkey” but switch to an electronic alternative. Depending on your needs and personal feelings, you need the variant with nicotine-containing or nicotine-free liquids. This is exactly what e-cigarettes are very suitable for – also as a long-term nicotine-free solution.

Alternative to smoking: E-shisha replaces water pipes

The classic water pipe is a smoking variant that is particularly popular in the Arab world. The one that is special Nicotine delivery via water vapor. A hookah usually consists of a glass container with water, a so-called smoke column, a clay bowl and several hoses through which you smoke.

In the classic sense, a clay container is filled with special, moist shisha tobacco, a clay bowl is put on and hot coals are used to get it going. This heats the water in the glass container and the resulting water vapor is transported through the hoses by suction. You don't feel like you do when you smoke conventional cigarettes, but rather taste the most unusual flavors.

A so-called e-shisha is practically an electronic and at the same time healthier form of water pipe. An addition is the possible variety of flavors of the liquids - both in the nicotine-containing and the nicotine-free versions. Also one E-shisha can therefore help to stop smoking.

Our recommendation: Take a look at them Hookahs from Shisha World

Alternative to smoking: heat stick

A heat stick is still a relative new offer on the market and is reminiscent of an e-cigarette light. This is also smoked by means of steam - but only at around 300 degrees. A heat stick can also be a healthier alternative to traditional smoking.

Smoking is unhealthy: That's why a healthy alternative is better

Various statistics have already established and proven it: where classic smoking used to be a status symbol, a luxury item or simply popular, it is now clear that this has changed extremely harmful to our health affects. Various lung diseases are caused by it as well as even lung cancer in the worst case. We have therefore put together a few reasons for switching to electronic alternatives below.

8 reasons for an alternative to traditional smoking

1. Save money: It's a simple calculation - e-cigarettes cost around 30 euros to buy and then around 2-3 euros per day, with consumption similar to that of a pack of conventional cigarettes per day. A pack of cigarettes, on the other hand, will cost you €7,20 per day. The difference can already be seen here.
2. Be sustainable: Electronic cigarettes are comparatively the less polluting alternative compared to conventional cigarettes. This also applies to the waste generated. Because did you know that a cigarette butt on the ground can already contaminate 40 liters of groundwater?
3. Stay healthy and increase your life expectancy: "Only 58 percent of smokers reach the age of 70, only 26 percent live to be 80 or older."
4. You no longer notice: E-smokers no longer smell of nicotine.
5. Do something for your optics: Your teeth and fingernails will no longer discolour. This helps single people in particular to make a good first impression. PS: Your complexion will also improve.
6. You need no long smoking breaks more, because you can take a short train anytime, anywhere.
7. Your household contents insurance will be happy: From an e-cigarette goes no fire hazard more out.
8. Think of your fellow human beings: Secondhand smoke is also harmful. With an electronic alternative, you also show more consideration for your loved ones.

E-shisha as a healthy alternative to smoking

If you care about taste and not so much about the nicotine, you are well advised to use an e-shisha. This shares all the positive properties of an e-cigarette and can also be offered in a wide variety of flavors.

What is an e-shisha bowl?

In a classic shisha, a chimney head, or head for short, consists of a vessel into which the tobacco is filled and a sieve catcher on which the glowing coals lie. With an electronic shisha, this is replaced by an evaporator that is heated by a coil - either with a rechargeable battery or with a battery. So there is no moist tobacco that is used here, only the liquid liquid.

Does an e-shisha make charcoal superfluous?

An electronic hookah no longer needs charcoal. The heat is generated by a coil, which means that the principle of water vapor remains. The advantages compared to conventional cigarettes or shishas are convincing:

• An e-shisha fits in every pocket and accompanies you everywhere - whether it's a festival, family or work.
• You need no compromises in quality to be feared - the taste remains 1:1 the same.
• You care about your health – prevent lung diseases.

Replacing conventional cigarettes - our conclusion

Overcoming an addiction is always difficult and can be a long journey with many setbacks. Nevertheless, smoking conventional cigarettes is a driver of health risks and at the same time the greatest avoidable health risk of the Republic, because up to 90 percent of lung cancer is caused by smoking.

Precisely because it is difficult to overcome this psychological or chemical dependency, electronic alternatives can help you to quit because of their healthier and more sustainable properties. So the enjoyment remains, as do the psychological effects. So take advantage of this zero-risk alternative – You can only win and do something good for your health.

If you want to quit smoking completely, we recommend our article "Finally smoke free".

FAQ: the most frequently asked questions

Is there a good substitute for smoking?

A good substitute for smoking depends on individual needs, preferences and goals. Examples of substitution include nicotine replacement therapy, e-cigarettes or vaping, counseling, exercise and exercise, breathing exercises and meditation, sugar-free gum or other snacks, social support, hobbies and distractions, non-nicotine herbal cigarettes.

Is there a healthy way to smoke?

In principle, any form of smoking is harmful to health. However, it is assumed that e-cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes. However, studies on this have not yet been completed.