Vaping — smoking e-cigarettes — has become the go-to alternative for those who struggle to give up smoking. While it’s generally believed that vaping is safer than smoking because there are reduced numbers of carcinogens, a new study suggests that vaping can damage vital immune system cells, making e-cigs more harmful than previously thought. According to TimesNowNews, researchers found that it only takes 48 hours for the vapers to disable immune cells in the lungs and boost inflammation, and to impair alveolar macrophages that remove potentially damaging dust particles, bacteria and allergens.
Addictions can be incredibly hard to overcome, but it is possible to conquer an addiction, whether it’s smoking or drugs or simply an annoying habit you’d like to break. I have some strategies that can help address addictions of all sorts, but I can’t pass up saying that if you smoke e-cigarettes, you may be simply trading one addiction for another, especially since it’s the nicotine in cigarettes that is most likely to cause your addiction.
You see, despite delivering lower levels of it, e-cigs still have some nicotine in them, along with detectable toxins such as diacetyl, formaldehyde and diethylene glycol, to name a few, along with unsafe levels of heavy metals including lead, nickel, chromium and manganese.
That said, if you’re struggling with giving up smoking, I believe the "secret" to quitting smoking is to get healthy first, which will make quitting mentally and physically easier. Exercising is an important part of this plan, as research shows people who engage in regular strength training double their success rate at quitting smoking compared to those who don't exercise.
Healthy eating is another crucial factor to improving your health and strengthening your ability to quit. In short, if you want to quit, here are three basic tips to get started:
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Read through my comprehensive free nutrition plan to get started eating right.
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Develop a well-rounded exercise regimen. Strength training is an important part, but also remember to incorporate high-intensity interval exercises, core-strengthening exercises, stretching and regular nonexercise movement such as walking
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Find a healthy emotional outlet. Many use exercise, meditation or relaxation techniques for this. I also recommend incorporating Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to help clear out emotional blockages from your system (some of which you might not even realize are there), thus restoring your mind and body's balance and helping you break the addiction and avoid cravings.
Once you are regularly doing these three things, then you can begin to think about quitting smoking. At this point many are ready to try quitting "cold turkey." If you need a distraction, these six things to do instead of smoking may help.