Smoking 2-3 cigarettes a week

gmhaggie06

Good Morning Everyone,

Has anybody seen any research on the damage done to your lungs and over-all fitness by smoking 2-3 cigarettes a week. I've heard (just offhand) that your lungs can fully process 1 cigarette's worth of toxins a day with ZERO ill effects (but that seems like an awfully subjective statement) and was just checking.

I don't consider myself a smoker, but I pop out to the warehouse where some of my workers work who smoke a couple of times a week after lunch and have a calming smoke which I enjoy. I'm wondering if it's harmless, or if it'll have some cumulative effect years down the road.

seltzermint555

Eh, I doubt there is NO ill effect but I am kind of in your same line of thinking. Three cigs per week is far less of a risk than twenty cigarettes per day.

I don't smoke, but I drink 1-4 servings of alcohol per week and maybe one can of diet soda. I eat fried fish with trans fats in it once or twice a year. I eat a chocolate bar or ice cream at least weekly. I feel that my overall diet and habits are very healthy despite these things that some people consider horrible.

You make decisions for you :-)

TavistockToad

one cigarettes worth of toxins may well be in the air you breathe every day anyway, so by smoking as well you're getting more than that?

ekz13

MAYBE if it was pure tobacco that you grew yourself and dried to smoke, but with all the other crap that they put in there, I doubt that would hold true..

Pandora_King

It's definitely not harmless to inhale those carcinogens, however, the amount of harm it does will probably not affect you in any noticeable way, except maybe cancer, way down the road.

Number_44

I dont know about that but there have been people to get lung cancer who have never smoked in their entire life.

All it took was to be around 2nd hand smoke (like at the warehouse).

Everyone is different so who the fk knows?

paygep

C'mon. 2-3 per week? What's the point of that? I think you should just suck it up and quit for good already!

lauren3101

Not wanting to sound harsh; you may not consider yourself a smoker, but by smoking 2-3 times a week, you are.

Granted, 2-3 cigarettes a week is not going to do you anywhere near as much harm as 20 a day, but of course it does you damage.

1. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase, the heart pumps differently, and your blood flow decreases.

2. The carbon monoxide levels in your blood increases, and this actually lasts for a few days.

3. The cilia which keep your airways clear of phlegm are stopped by chemicals in the smoke.

This is caused by smoking ONE cigarette.


I'd like to add that I am actually a smoker (constantly attempting to give up), but you are clearly not addicted to it, so why smoke?

if it's something you really enjoy and you don't want to give up then fair enough, but no point in kidding yourself about the risks. :flowerforyou:

Healthydiner65

If you are asking the question then you are concerned. Just stop completely to lower your risk of blood clots and cancer!

VelvetMorning

It seems like smoking is hit or miss with people. Some people have no real ill effects, others get every side effect under the sun. I'd say don't worry about it, but you could be that unlucky type....plus youre gonna be smelly. ew.

echofm1

I'm not sure if it's harmless, but if you smoke so infrequently, why not try an e-cig? Nowadays they have lots of flavor, and a fraction of the carcinogens. I even know a few die-hard smokers who say that e-cigs are decently satisfying. Also, they're cheaper in the long run.

I doubt that having a couple cigarettes a week will really affect your health that much though, just like having a drink a couple times a week won't kill your liver. Lots of things that are bad for you in large quantities can be enjoyed in moderation.

kaddydaddy

You'll be fine. Just keep an eye on how you feel as far as fitness goes and you'll be good to go. People live in places that have worse air quality and do just fine, and you'll be ahead of the game if you are keeping up on your health proactively. Of course you are increasing your risks a bit, but so does everything else; yolo.


My nickel's worth of free advice is to stick with something like American Spirits. They have no additives and will treat you a bit better. A bit more expensive but worth it.

Hornsby

I'd say carry on. 2-3 cigs per week isn't going to harm you any more than numerous other things you probably already do from time to time. Worth the enjoyment in my opinion.

explosivedonut

MAYBE if it was pure tobacco that you grew yourself and dried to smoke, but with all the other crap that they put in there, I doubt that would hold true..

That's why I smoke cigars!

Hiker_Rob

As an ex smoker who smoked for about 30 years, all I can ask is why in the world would you want to poison yourself like that multiple times a week? Nicotine is one of the most addictive chemicals (and poisonous) chemicals known, forget the immediate health affects, why would you want to take the chance of becoming a complete nicotine addict? Every smoker at one time in his or her life said I could never get addicted.... Believe me, after smoking 30 years it took me a long time to quit and it was not a nice process, ask any one who has tried.

stumblinthrulife

Life's one big risk/reward balance. I doubt there is zero risk, but it might be worth it to you. Personally, I'd not do it and no recommend it. But heck, you aren't me.

There is also the stress relief aspect. If the only way to remove yourself from the stresses of your job is to go have a cigarette, and otherwise you'd stay sat at your desk, then you may get a net benefit. That's assuming it really is as rare as you say it is. And it's a really big 'may'.

Other posters talking about the purity aspect may be on to something. If it's such an uncommon event, presumably you can afford to push the boat out a little and look for purer tobacco products with less additives than your average 20-a-day smoker would buy.

VelvetMorning

Nevermind, I totally missed the point and started promoting nicotine LOL

fbmandy55

It seems like smoking is hit or miss with people. Some people have no real ill effects, others get every side effect under the sun. I'd say don't worry about it, but you could be that unlucky type....plus youre gonna be smelly. ew.

This. I know plenty of very elderly people who have lived around second a hand smoke their whole lives and have nothing. Then of course there are people who have never been around smokers and get lung cancer...

Just like with any other kind of cancer, it's genetics and luck that play the biggest role..

fbmandy55

I'm not sure if it's harmless, but if you smoke so infrequently, why not try an e-cig? Nowadays they have lots of flavor, and a fraction of the carcinogens. I even know a few die-hard smokers who say that e-cigs are decently satisfying. Also, they're cheaper in the long run.

My son has been on me about smoking quite a bit, so this weekend I stopped for cigarettes and bought an e-cig instead. The price worked out to be the same as the e-cig ended up to last about the same as 2 packs for me. I had to quit the e-cig as it made me incredibly ill. I had the worst digestional problems after smoking it and a massive migraine. I let my non-smoker fiance try it ONCE, and he too was sick and fighting with me over the bathroom all afternoon.

Hopefully I can find one that has a lower nicotine level, as I believe that is what causes the side effects.

ninerbuff

If it's that little, just stop altogether. It's a nasty smelly expensive habit (I being a former smoker myself). What you should be looking at is "how does this habit help me attain my fitness and health goals" and I'll bet the answer is zero.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Leadfoot_Lewis

Not wanting to sound harsh; you may not consider yourself a smoker, but by smoking 2-3 times a week, you are.

I agree with this.

Hornsby

Meh, if the OP can stop whenever he wants, I can understand how he wouldn't consider himself a smoker.

MstngSammy

As an ex smoker who smoked for about 30 years, all I can ask is why in the world would you want to poison yourself like that multiple times a week? Nicotine is one of the most addictive chemicals (and poisonous) chemicals known, forget the immediate health affects, why would you want to take the chance of becoming a complete nicotine addict? Every smoker at one time in his or her life said I could never get addicted.... Believe me, after smoking 30 years it took me a long time to quit and it was not a nice process, ask any one who has tried.

Exactly THIS^^^^^^^

(Although the poison is the additives not the nictotine unless you ingest large amounts....but that isn't the point anyway)

MstngSammy

Not wanting to sound harsh; you may not consider yourself a smoker, but by smoking 2-3 times a week, you are.

I agree with this.

Me too

Sarahnade42x

I can't say how it'll affect your day-to-day fitness, but carcinogens have no biological threshold in terms of their ability to cause cancer and are considered genotoxic at any dose...every cigarette you take slightly increases your risk.
This paper is a little dense but will answer your question if you have some time to pull it apart. Essentially:

sum(ILCR) = CDI x CSF, where ILCR is the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk from all characterizable cigarette carcinogens, CDI is the Chronic Daily Intake of those carcinogens, and CSF is the Cancer Slope Factor (a measure of each carcinogen's potency - used for non-threshold toxicants)
Because every carcinogen has an associated CSF which is always >0, you can see from this equation that the only way to lower your lifetime cancer risk is to lower your daily intake to 0. Yes, making your CDI a fraction (2-3 smokes a week) gives you a relatively lower risk, but it's absolutely not zero.

Table 3 has an informative table of 13 carcinogens found in cigarettes, their CSFs and associated ILCRs that might be worth looking at. Whether you continue to smoke or not is up to you, but I wouldn't want you to keep doing it with the expectation that it won't do your body any harm. It will.

Pankow, J.F., Watanabe, K.H., Toccalino, P.L., Luo, W., and Austin, D.F. (2007). Calculated Cancer Risks for Conventional and “Potentially Reduced Exposure Product” Cigarettes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16, 584–592.
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/16/3/584.long

IronPhyllida

What's the point of smoking at all? They're soooooooooooooooooooooooo expensive!!!

VelvetMorning

What's the point of smoking at all? They're soooooooooooooooooooooooo expensive!!!

Hahah, right? It's almost a status symbol now. "I make xxxk a year, I can afford smoking and you can't, lesser paid human!"

Cueball55

This hits home for me....

As an ex-smoker, re-smoker, social smoker, and non (2-3 a week) smoker, I can speak from first hand experience.

It's obvious that nicotine as an addictive substance doesn't have a hold on you, so you have to ask yourself why you feel the need to smoke then, even if it's so infrequently as 2-3 a week..

For me, there might be a barely noticeable detriment to health by smoking 2 - 3 sticks a week, but there is ABSOLUTELY a price to pay (albeit maybe very small). We're all on this site to count calories or watch macros, or just get motivation to better ourselves, so if we're taking those steps to better our health.... why not quit smoking altogether?

Besides, I'm sure you'd be surprised at how much your cardiovascular capacity will increase by cutting from 2-3 a week to zero.

Just my two cents anyways.

gmhaggie06

thanks for all the advice guys, I certainly appreciate it. As for why I do it, I guess I just enjoy it, it calms me; kind of in the same way a person grabs a beer after work, they like it. I smoke Marlboro ultra lights (the small ones), but I'll try the American Spirit brand. I sometimes go weeks, even months without smoking, but on a particularly hectic day I'll think "man a smoke would feel nice right now" and I'll go out and have a few puffs.

Secondly, cost isn't a huge issue since a pack costs about $6 bucks, and I'm running through a pack every 2 months right now haha.

Again, thanks for all the help!

BokBagok

Look at it this way - it takes 21 days after your last cigarette for your brain acetylcholine receptor counts that were up-regulated in response to nicotine's presence to down-regulate, and receptor binding to return to levels seen in the brains of non-smokers, and it takes 2 weeks to three months after your last cigarette for your heart attack risk to begin to drop. (http://whyquit.com/FFN/chapters/FFN_01_Nicotine.pdf)

Also - from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2865193/ (Health Effects of Light and Intermittent Smoking: A Review);
"Light and intermittent smoking carry nearly the same risk for cardiovascular disease as daily smoking."

seltzermint555

Although it doesn't really matter I guess...I do not consider someone who smokes 2-3 cigarettes a week to be "a smoker". JMHO.

I've never been a smoker, in my view. I have probably smoked 1 pack of cigarettes in 20 years since I was a teenager (here and there in bars or whatever if I randomly felt the urge) and to me that's not "a smoker".