Monday, August 5, 2013

The Longevity "Paradox" - Tobacco

Continued from here and here.

From The World's Oldest: All Smokers -

Smokers die early. How is this 'truth' established? Like this. If, this year, the average life expectancy is 78 and you die at 77 and smoke(d), the year you are missing is ATTRIBUTED to smoking, never mind genetics or the other million every day things that could have made you live one year "less". However, if you live one year "more", that extra year is NOT attributed to smoking because the ideology says that smoking kills by definition - so it must have been something else that made you live a little longer, but CERTAINLY NOT smoking.

Be that as it may, the hard and empirical evidence (no epidemiological attributions needed) shows that the world's oldest are or have been all smokers. To avoid sending the "wrong message" (the "right" one being that "smoking kills"), these people are called "exception to the rule". But are they all exceptions to that rule, or is it just the rule that is flawed by ideology and beliefs?

 There seems to be a whole lot of rules in our Brave New World Order based on flawed ideology, outright deceptions and beliefs inculcated by mass media propaganda and institutionalized brainwashing that most people simply accept at face value.

Perhaps no other issue save "Global Warming" has been as relentlessly propagandized as the meme that smoking tobacco is one of the most toxic substances ever ingested by mankind. To think otherwise is madness. EVERYONE knows, tobacco smoking kills! And even for those who regard conventional wisdom and suspect or downright dishonest, accepting the idea that tobacco may not be as bad as we've all been told to believe is a difficult idea to come to terms with.

Some comments from my first post on the Longevity "Paradox" -

- "I like your post and agree with what you said. But, I am hoping you can have a few citations to back up you claim about tobacco and alcohol use?"

- "Please do give some documentation regarding smoking. Obviously moderate tobacco use is less harmful than heavy use, but I don't have any reason to believe that there's a level of use that's actually beneficial."

- "Looking forward to the second half of this post. It makes a hell of a lot of sense that good, pure tobacco (sans additives) and good alcohol would be beneficial, but I'm interested to see what you've come up with."

 Before I go any further on this topic - and yes, I have found a few citations since I last wrote on this topic to share - there is one thing I've come to believe is the most important aspect of not just tobacco and alcohol use, but in nearly all other aspects of health and well being: having a nutrient dense diet is the most important variable regarding the use and/or abuse of any substance. As my favorite long-time commenter, Anonymous noted:

"Also, I remember reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration where Price noted that people living in smoke filled houses only developed TB after switching to a modern diet. By that line of reasoning then smoking would be harmless on a paleo diet?"

It's my personal view that the nutrient dense diet and general lifestyle is the primary difference between the abundance of anecdotal stories of people like Lorna Gobey and other old folks who smoked and lived long lives, versus the other anecdotes of those who get lung cancer and die in their late 40's or early 50's. Proper diet, proper methods for handling stress, adequate sleep and adequate sun exposure will make all the difference in the world when it comes to the human body handling the various poisons, toxins and other potential health problems that are a normal part of life for human beings on this planet.

With that obligatory disclaimer out of the way, let's get on with looking into the idea that not only is tobacco not as bad for you as we've been all made to believe by the propaganda mass media machine of our Brave New World Order, but that moderate use of unadulterated, high quality tobacco may actually be good for you!

Two things we must consider first and foremost - one, their may or may not be a significant difference between cigarette smoking versus cigar and pipe smoking (the difference between inhalation and puffing of tobacco smoke on health); and two, natural/organic tobacco versus "Big Tobacco" grown with possibly radioactive fertilizers and adulterated with a host of additives that may or may not be the real reason why Big Tobacco cigarettes may be what is really harmful to human health...not tobacco itself. This is a topic I've covered before:

"There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke and at least 69 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer."

Oh you're telling me that if I took a seed from a natural, organic tobacco plant, and grew it in my yard, and than harvested the leaf, dried it and smoked it, I'd be ingesting industrial chemicals like cadmium, formaldehyde, arsenic, toluene, hexamine, and methanol?

Somehow, I don't think so.
So the real question here is this: Is the tobacco plant itself a cancer causing agent in the human body, or is the fertilizers and/or additives put into the tobacco by the Big Tobacco producers?

I know what I think about that particular topic.

But how about taking it a step further, and consider the idea that not only is tobacco smoking possibly not bad for you at all, but actually quite beneficial to health and longevity?

For one thing, consider Nicotine and Smoking Benefits (and for those that asked previously, here's your citations!):

"In human studies, reported performance improvements with post-trial administration of nicotine have all involved associated learning (Mangan and Golding l883; Colrain et al, l992; Warburton et al, l992)... Nicotine improves performance by increasing the attentional resources available for such strategic processing," [Rusted JM, et al, "Facilitation of memory by post-trial administration of nicotine:evidence for attentional explanation," Psychopharmacology, 108(4):452-5, l992]."

"1. Nicotine improves attention in a wide variety of tasks in healthy volunteers. 2. Nicotine improves immediate and longer-term memory in healthy volunteers. 3. Nicotine improves attention in patients with probable Alzheimer's Disease" -  [Warburton D M,  "Nicotine as a cognitive enhancer," Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 16(2): 181-91, Mar l992]

Nicotine from tobacco smoke may be performance enhancing? Apparently, NBA basketball legend Michael Jordan found that smoking cigars just prior to playing Basketball games gave him such an effect.

Tobacco as P.E.D.? MJ thought so...

   In a sports radio interview, one of his opponents saw him smoking before a couple of playoff games and assumed it was just bravado and posturing:

“One time we played in Washington. We played a five game series against the Bulls. It was the year they won 72 games. We lose all three games by a total of seven points. I saw Michael Jordan come into our locker room with a cigar, while it was lit, and said, ‘Who’s going to check me tonight?’" 

Then later in the same interview,

"Game Three we get off the bus and Juwan (Howard) is from Chicago and used to workout there. I’ll never forget, Jordan was sitting on his Ferrari and Pippen was right there and they have a cigar lit. We get off the bus and we have to pass them with a lit cigar. You want to talk about posturing? Forget Phil Jackson. You got Michael Jordan there behind the scenes smoking a cigar before the game, letting us know that he’s the Red Auerbach before the game even started. It was almost like, ‘I lit the cigar. I’m celebrating already. This is just a formality, you guys getting on the court tonight.”

MJ wasn't posturing...he was using a legal performance enhancing substance prior to playing at the highest level of the sport! In fact, as he revealed in an interview with Cigar Aficionado Magazine:


Does the idea of  Michael Jordan experiencing improved performance from tobacco smoking before big games sound ludicrous? Consider the following from Nicotine and Smoking Benefits:

In a presentation at the 151st annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (June 8, l998 in Toronto), Dr. Paul Newhouse of the University of Vermont reported on his research on treating Parkinson's disease with nicotine. "Preliminary analysis shows improvements after acute nicotine administration in several areas of cognitive performance." These areas included reaction time and central processing speed. The researchers also reported that after chronic use of nicotine on Parkinson's patients, motor function and the ability to move also improved. [Reported by Reuters, 6/8/98, "Nicotine patch promising for Parkinson's" ].

If it improves cognitive performance, reaction time and central processing speed in Parkinson's sufferers, you think it might not have the same effects on a healthy, high performance, elite athlete like Michael Jordan?


Going back to the Weston Price quote - "...people living in smoke filled houses only developed TB after switching to a modern diet." I think this may in fact be the difference between the folks who smoke Big Tobacco adulterated fare who live to advanced ages without experiencing lung cancer and/or emphysema and the other well known anecdotes of people who die of those afflictions after a lifetime of smoking Big Tobacco cigarettes.

Yes, diet and lifestyle are no doubt huge variables in figuring out the differences in anecdotal cases...but perhaps the natural properties found in the tobacco plant itself may also have something to do with longevity and improved health? Perhaps even in the cases for which the person who smoked for decades was inhaling the adulterated and additive laden products of the Big Tobacco corporations!

Now I myself don't inhale tobacco smoke, I occasionally puff on cigars and pipes. But the case against inhalation may not be as cut and dried as one might think.

Consider another idea taken from citations from the aforementioned Nicotine and Smoking Benefits:

"Excess risks of lung cancer found in miners and foundry workers could not be fully explained by the high prevalence of smoking among these occupations," [emphasis added]. - 0495. University of Zurich, Institute of Pathology (Switzerland). Schuler, G. "Epidemiology of Lung Cancer in Switzerland."

"Smoking has a protective effect on immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers." - 0429. Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy (Poland). Lange, A. "Effect of Smoking on Immunological Abnormalities in Asbestos Workers
"Relative risk of lung cancer for asbestos workers was "highest for those who had never smoked, lowest for current smokers, and intermediate for ex-smokers. The trend was statistically significant. There was no significant association between smoking and deaths from mesothelioma." - 0565. University of London, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Cancer of the Lung Among Asbestos Factory Workers."

So it appears that inhalation smoking of tobacco may even provide protective benefits to miners and other workers exposed to asbestos and other inhaled pollutants.

But that's not the only health benefits attributed to smoking...

Though the risks of smoking are highly publicized, the medical benefits of smoking are rarely mentioned. The greatest risks of smoking come from the tars released during the combustion of tobacco, and these tars are implicated in lung cancer and other breathing disorders, though even the tar apparently has some beneficial effects in protecting the lungs from some noxious particulate matter (e.g. asbestos). According to many studies, the chief medical benefits of smoking are from the nicotine, which occurs naturally in tobacco as well as in certain vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, and red peppers, though in much smaller amounts.

Interestingly, these three plants originated in the Americas so nicotine was essentially a "New World" substance. Native Americans were well aware of the curative properties of tobacco, and used it both medicinally and ceremonially. Numerous studies have shown the protective effects of smoking with regard to Parkinson's Disease and ulcerativecolitis, and an increasing body of research indicates it also helps protect against Alzheimer's Disease and colo-rectal cancer.

Since these effects are so well known, we have not listed them below but have focused instead on a few more obscure medical benefits culled from the 1984-85 CDC bibliography. 
  1. Smoking improves human information precessing.
  2. Higher nicotine cigarettes produce greater improvements [in information processing]
  than low-nicotine cigarettes.
  3. Nicotine tablets produce similar effects.
  4. Nicotine can reverse the detrimental effects of scopolamine on performance
  5. Smoking effects are accompanied by increases in EEG arousal and decreases in the latency of the late positive component of the evoked potential." - 0574. University of Reading, Department of Psychology (England). Warburton., D.M.; Wesnes, K. "The Effects of Cigarette Smoking on Human Information Processing and the role of Nicotine in These Effects "

Here are some other citations regarding various other health benefits associated with tobacco smoking as well:

- "In general, motor performance in all groups improved after smoking." 0530. London University, Institute of Psychiatry. O'Connor, K.P "Individual Differences in Psychophysiology of Smoking and Smoking Behaviour

- "Smokers in general are thinner than nonsmokers, even when they ingest more calories." [Numerous studies, but only two are listed below] - 0885. Kentucky State University. Lee. C.J.: Panemangalore. M. "Obesity Among Selected Elderly Females In Central Kentucky." FUNDING: USDA 0942. University of Louisville. Belknap Campus School of Medicine.Satmford, B.A.; Matter, S.; Fell, R.D., et al. "Cigarette Smoking, Exercise and High Density LipoproteinCholesterol"  FUNDING: American Heart Association."

- " ...all smokers had less plaque, gingival inflammation and tooth mobility than nonsmokers and similar periodontal pocket depth." - Veterans Administration, Outpatient Clinic (Boston). Chauncey. H.H,; Kapur, K.K.; Feldmar, R S. "TheLongitudinal and Cross-Sectional Study of Oral Health: in Healthy Veterans (Dental Longitudinal Study)

- "Smokers have lower incidence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis than nonsmokers." - Guy's Hospital Medical School (England). Jones, R.M. "Influence of Smoking on Peri-Operative Morbidity."Hypertension (High blood pressure) is less common among smokers.

- "Hypertension prevalence rate among smokers was 3.94 percent; among nonsmokers the rate was 4.90 percent." - 0146. Shanghai Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. Chen, H.Z.; Pan, X.W.; Guo, G. et al. "Relation Between Cigarette Smoking and Epidemiology of Hypertension.

- "Hypertension and postpartum hemorrhage were lower in smokers."
0045. University of Tasmania (Australia). Correy, J.; Newman, N. Curran, J. "An Assessment of Smoking in Pregnancy."

- "RBCs [red blood cells] from cigarette smokers contain more glutathione and catalase and protect lung endothelial cells against O2 [dioxide] metabolites better than RBCs from nonsmokers." - 0759. University of Colorado. Refine, J.E.; Berger, E.M.; Beehler, C.J. et al. "Role of RBC Antioxidants in Cigarette Smoke Related Diseases." Jan 1980 - continuing. (A number of studies in the 1991 CDC bibliography describe the apparent protective effect of smoking with regard to mouth ulcers).

 I had no idea all of these health benefits could be attributed to smoking tobacco. All I ever knew from school, the Tell-A-Vision and the endless Public Service Announcements, billboards and magazine ads was the idea that smoking kills was an indisputable fact. But even if tobacco and/or nicotine may in fact be a beneficial substance in treating or protecting us from these various diseases doesn't account for a paradox.

Given the state of how Science is used and abused to make whatever case THEY want to make to scare we the sheeple into certain behaviors and modalities of thinking, I find these citations of numerous studies the world over that make the case that smoking may actually be good for you is not as shocking nor surprising as I once would have.


Anonymous said...


Definitely formaldehyde and probably a bit of methanol, as natural products of combustion.

Cadmium and arsenic? Depends on your soil composition.

Johnycomelately said...

As a cigarette smoker I enjoy your tobacco posts.

The most interesting aspect of nicotine is that it increases serotonin (as well as dopamine).

Now I was initially incredulous at the effects of serotonin and I scoured the web for research papers to make sure that I wasn't imagining things. The anti tobacco lobby's research just didn't click with personal observations (like everyone I know with lung cancer never smoked).

Well, apparently increased serotonin increases 'dominance' behaviour (their words, not mine) and improves socialization while simultaneously reducing violent tendencies and sugar cravings (complex process involving carbs, tryptophan and serotonin -

And guess what low serotonin does? Increases anxiety and fear!

So for all the gamers out there just light up, kick back and relax.

Make of it what you want but it certainly makes for interesting reading.

Unknown said...

I find caffeine and nicotine are the ultimate anti-depressants. And unlike the kind your doctor prescribes you, it doesn't kill your creativity or destroy your drive...

Anonymous said...

The series of three articles so far are a joyful read! Please, I hope your fourth will tell us that coffee is also indispensable for "longevity"! :)

And I wonder if coffee liquers count for good, as being not a beer/booze/wine fan, Kahlua or Baileys in the coffee would be the only thing I can think of that I would like. But I bet the "sweet drinks" probably don't count (...though! years ago I saved an article that said if you ever have a stroke to IMMEDIATELY make a STRONG IRISH COFFEE, swallow a few Melatonin tablets & a few Bayer aspirin. Maybe that "cocktail recipe" is still on the net somewhere).

That Oldest Smokers article you linked to was hilarious. Several of them said they had quit cigs 10 years or so before they died. Maybe if they had NOT quit they would still be with us! :)

The problem is where do you find "pure" anything these days (cigs, liquor, coffee, etc.)? They outlawed the cigs by mail, skyrocketed the prices, pollute the ingredients, etc. I had to switch to filtered cigars which they did NOT outlaw cigar tobacco by mail, & it is still reasonably priced. We need to ask WHY (conspiratorially speaking) "THEY" are allowing us cigar tobacco by mail but not cig tobacco products? And did you hear, the FDA is out to outlaw MENTHOL next (just saw a news clip re that about a week ago). If they say "it ain't no good for ya," it must be excellent for something! :) Maybe menthol clears lungs from chemtrails!
--Ms. Anon

Anonymous said...

I noticed the elderly lady in the photo with the cig & whiskey wears a cross. So obviously she doesn't fret re her "habits." It's probably the fretting that kills people. The Apostle Paul wrote, "What is not of faith is sin..." So I suppose she smokes/drinks "in faith." ;)

He also wrote, "All food is good if taken with thanksgiving..." -- so there goes the "you'll die unless you live on an all rawfood diet."

He also wrote, "Everything is lawful for me but not everything is beneficial..." -- so there's your "moderation" advice.
--Ms. Anon

Anonymous said...

A few more thoughts, if you don't mind. I seriously agree w/you "they" are wanting to kill off the boomers before SS age (& anyone else of "entitlement" age/necessity). A few months ago there was an article re the new "Age 50+ Death Test" >> so they can determine if you're "worth" spending "medical money" on if you're going to probably die earlier than normal anyway.

RE: CANCER (you mentioned lung cancer in the article). Never knew anyone close w/cancer until recently so went to work immediately researching alternatives & learned a lot. There wasn't enough time to help the loved one (she was gone in 5-mos., no chemo/radiation either, but pain meds, yes; ovarian cancer, age 58).
--The first info I came across was that by Dr. Hamer (German/Europe), if you've heard? &/or for your readers. Ask everyone you ever meet w/cancer if this has happened to them. Fascinating:
--Cancer is not due to diet, smoking, or anything like that, but is caused be severe emotional conflict/shock to the human system which literally causes a bullseye circle to appear on the brain (as proven in tens of thousands of MRI's) that then corresponds to whichever organ is directed by that spot in the brain, is where the cancer will appear.
--Example: Hamer, a cancer doc, got testicular cancer after his son was killed by gunshot. That got him thinking/researching back in the 70's if there was a connection between cancer & the "shock" of death of a loved one, since testicles/ovaries = life, & are both operated from the same area of the brain. He inquired in the cancer ward & yes, all ovarian/testicular cancer patients had lost a loved one before their Dx. (My relative, when I inquired when had her symptoms begun? had replied, "About a year." Her brother had died a year prior to her ovarian cancer Dx, in the exact same month! Oct.2011 he died, Oct. 2012 she woke up one night screaming in pain/dr appt/tests/cancer Dx/so far advanced they could not cut any of it out as it was everywhere, dr said. He gave her 6-mos. She died in 5; & yes, I sent all the Dr. Hamer info cross country to them but not enough time, I guess, or they didn't believe it; she was in bad shape after the exploratory surgery & tubes to be able to "function").
--Fast Forward re Hamer: He began documenting/testing patients, proved it all, European "AMA" dissed him, sued him, not for malpractice but literally because he refused to "change his mind" back to "orthodox medicine"! (talk about "Thought Police"!) They raided his patient files, prosecutor had 6,500 of his files & admitted in court Hamer had cured 6,000 of 6,500 of their cancers (tens of thousands since then). They have chased him all over Europe & he lives in hiding as a refugee, but his info is online. Google his name & he calls it "New German Medicine" NGM or GNM, I forget which.
--You may wonder what about other cancers, like lung, etc.? Hamer has a list of all body parts & which type of "conflict/shock" causes cancers in those organs (not all cancers are caused by a loved one's death = testicular/ovaries = for that). Other traumas/shocks/conflicts = other organs = other cancers.

Unknown said...

The one man anyone can trust, and who knows the most about life, is the man who smokes cigars.

blogRot said...

"...Oh you're telling me that if I took a seed from a natural, organic tobacco plant, and grew it in my yard, and than harvested the leaf..."

Quite possibly YES, as the nature of the tobacco plant will leach chemicals and elements from the soil/earth, water, and quite possibly the pot it is grown in.
I hesitate to comment as I can not site any sources at the present, but I live in DFW and when Carswell Airforce Base 'closed' down (converted to a much smaller Naval JRB) one of the proposals/plans/(rumor?) a former teacher of mine was working on involved planting tobacco on the areas contaminated with jet fuels and other chemical agents as a natural way to decon the ground, as a counter to (costly) large scale earth removal and transplant proposals. (Again, site-less hearsay:) I've read somewhere that tobacco plant will actually leach phosphates from nearby cement (I want to say this was a Texas A&M study, but I'm old and this was from long ago). The tobacco plant is just a natural sponge to what it is exposed to.

Again, hate to pollute the discussion with the hearsay above, but the point I want to make is that its the characteristic of the tobacco plant is the reason that so many trace carcinogens are present.

Magallanes said...

LOL I remembered the episode when House prescribed cigs to the Santa guy who was his patient for his inflammatory bowel syndrome.
To be honest, the new "safe" ecigs can be a lot more dangerous.
Guess what; when we were in the mental institution, we gave cigs as rewards and therapy for the patients - makes things a lot better.
And for God sakes the lifestyle of the modern western man is enough to kill him - why blame it on some other things? Yes smoking has negative effects, the ones sold in stores have chemicals and so on and SO are the meat that we eat and all of the other chemical ridden foods that we enjoy. We don't need the help of cigs to die young, we WILL

Lena S. said...

Have you seen the pictures they put on packs of cigarettes in Canada? I have to wonder why tubs of margarine and bags of potato chips don't have gruesome colour pictures of clogged arteries and people having heart attacks, but I don't want to give anyone ideas.

Anonymous said...

This article could have been written by Big Tobacco or someone looking for an excuse not to quit. Sure smoking is good for you, everyone I know who has smoked for years is now hacking, weezing and could not run more than about 500 feet if their life depended on it. Smoking the odd cigar or pipe is one thing, but I've never met a healthy regular smoker.

Unknown said...

No one is supposed to smoke two or three packs of cigarettes a day. Cigars and pipes have been around for a long time. Cigarettes, as far as I know, weren't invented until the early 20th Century, and they were passed out for free to our soldiers in WWI. Then - I'm shocked! Shocked! - there was an explosion of lung cancer.

Lena S. said...

Not to endorse one thing or another, just read this a while back and thought it interesting.

Dave said...

One of the sources mentioned nicotine tablets, and that they had the same effect as smoking tobacco.

With that in mind, could someone take these tablets(or the gum or the patch) as a sort of nootropic?

Keoni Galt said...

And guess what low serotonin does? Increases anxiety and fear!

Big Pharma has prescriptions for that!


Yup, same for moderate alcohol consumption. 3 beers after a hard days work is JUST PERFECT for me.

The problem is where do you find "pure" anything these days...

Yes, that is quite the challenge. I always try my best to do so, but must always remember that you can't let perfect become the enemy of the good.


Hmmm. Fascinating theory. I'm more inclined towards the idea that cancer is a failure of the immune system, in which the biggest factor involved is vitamin D deficiency. Don't forget to wear your sunscreen! Big Pharma is counting on it...


Says the guy with an avatar pic holding a stogie...


I get this. What I don't buy is that organic grown tobacco has anywhere near the content of Big Tobacco and all the fertilizer's and additives they use in their cigarettes. ""There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke and at least 69 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer."

And for God sakes the lifestyle of the modern western man is enough to kill him...

Absolutely! Which is why THEY don't want us drinking good quality alcohol in moderation and they don't want us smoking good tobacco. These things help us relax and deal with the stresses of the modern rat race!


Funny, isn't it? Also consider that heavy smokers are also least likely to be compulsive snackers.



Listen to the man smoking a cigar!


Anonymous said...

I'm that most common commentor Anonymous...seriously I am actually the person who left that comment about Price and TB.

Anyway, great article and you actually have me thinking about starting smoking.

I live in Aus where our nanny state has taxed tobacco to the point its $20 a pack of cigs.

I am going to try either a pipe or cigars. Obviously I want the best source and I am not going to touch mass produced cigarettes.
I do already have bad lungs but I am hoping smoking might be protective and might also give me more energy and mental focus.

As an aside, I work as a labourer and the hardest working men I know all smoke. Guys who seem to have an unstoppable energy and a lot of strength.

Even in high school the best athletes were the kids who smoked.

Of course you could argue the other way that the fittest, strongest kids take up smoking because to impress girls because they are more alpha than other boys and they end up working hard ass jobs etc.

If tobacco came from the Americas did people smoke anything before that? I've heard cocoa leaf was once smoked.

Also, what effect does smoking have on pregnant women?

Anonymous said...

You only live once, everything you consume had good and bad effect. Live mderately, know your limits and live happy regardless how long you live. Better have a short life happy, than a long life miserably. At 72 years, I smoked moderately since early 20 years old. I smoke cigars. I hate the taste of papers on cigarettes. After meals, frustrated, I light up a cigar to calm me down. Know you body and be happy.

Keoni Galt said...

Well anon, the best quality tobacco is usually reserved for the high end cigars, but smoking those daily can get quite $$$. That's why I started smoking a pipe.

Also, according to the research I cited, you have to inhale the smoke to get the benefits for your lungs.

As a pipe and cigar smoker, I don't generally inhale (especially cigars, that'll make you cough your ass off silly), but I'll occasionally inhale a little bit of my pipe smoke every once in awhile.

There was also another link I found elsewhere that stated that pipe and cigar smokers who don't inhale, generally absorb far more nicotine than cigarette smokers who if you're looking for the benefits of nicotine, pipes and cigars would be the best way to go.

That also makes some sense, when you consider that cigar and pipe tobaccos are usually 100% tobacco leaf, while cigarette tobacco is a blend of leaf and pulped tobacco plant stem.

IIRC, Tobacco leaf is highly alkaline, while the addition of stem pulp and other additives like ammonia makes cigarette tobacco more acidic. The acidic smoke makes it much less harsh on your lungs - hence cigars causing severe coughing spasms when you inhale while cigarettes don't.


Sure. Everyone I know who smoked Big Tobacco cigarettes for a number of years had essentially the same problems.

I also know a few who switched to Native American organic cigarettes and experienced much better breathing, lung capacity and their smoker's cough disappeared.

One more thing...we know Big Tobacco adds a lot of chemicals and substances to their tobacco, but I've also read a lot of theories regarding the cigarette paper and the fiberglass in the filters may also be culprits in causing smoking-related diseases.

In any case, I don't worry about this, since I don't smoke cigarettes, and I don't use filters or cigarette paper to smoke the tobaccos I favor.

Keoni Galt said...

As for pregnant women...well, I wouldn't recommend it, that's for sure.

The book I cited for this post supposedly cites research that tobacco use by pregnant women had beneficial effects...

...but I dunno, I wouldn't take the chance. Afterall, you don't NEED alcohol or tobacco to have a healthy pregnancy.

Hell, you don't NEED it to experience longevity. I just believe for many folks, it helps to relax, and lower their stress levels when used moderately.

There are certainly folks who never smoke or drink that attain long lives as well. I would bet they are also folks that have other means of dealing with stress and have other longevity promoting behaviors associated with their lifestyle.

As always, YMMV.

No one is saying drink a 5th of booze and chain smoke 2 packs of cigarettes everyday to achieve a long life.

SarahsDaughter said...

My Dad has COPD, however it wasn't bad or even noticeable until he quit smoking (He worked in a papermill as well). Now he's been smoke free for 5+ years and can't go outside on a humid day. He and his wife have both become unpleasant people since they've quit smoking - withdrawn and irritable.

I didn't quit smoking for any of my pregnancies. Two weighed 8lbs and one 7. My doctor was well aware and told me stress would be more harmful to the babies. She suggested I not try to quit while pregnant but to instead stay under 1/2 a pack/day.

Anonymous said...

It's not widely known, but the Third Reich was the first government to promote anti-smoking campaigns. A lot of our anti-tobacco laws in America are basically the same as theirs: exorbitant taxes that are funneled into welfare programs; no smoking inside enclosed spaces, &c. were all Nazi innovations.

Isn't it interesting too that a lot of Nazi scientists who immigrated here during Operation Paperclip went to work for Big Pharma too? LOL

During the war, the Nazi Propaganda Ministry made a point to depict the allied leaders as smokers: Roosevelt was always pictured with a cigarette; Stalin with a pipe, and Churchill with a cigar. Now, the PC liberal boneheads airbrush pictures of these men to remove all references to tobacco---LOL nothing like progress!

Anonymous said...

Our state legalized marijuana last year. In the city of Seattle, it's legal to smoke marijuana in public places, but illegal to smoke tobacco. Pot's also taxed at a lower rate; and it's easier to get a business license to sell marijuana than it is to sell cigarettes.

Anonymous said...

You addressed disease, but what about nicotine addiction?

Hearth said...

Anecdotal only: I am personally highly aversive/allergic to cigarette smoke... cold symptoms if I'm forced to be around it very long.

BUT I find this only really hits me when I also have to breath SoCal air. I spent two years in Santa Cruz hanging out with smokers - and was only bothered when I was in a closed room with them for an extended period of time.

Connection? My theory is that the air quality is so rotten that any little irritant (smoke is an irritant) kicks you over the horizon very quickly. My body is already dealing with about 110% of what it can deal with as far as air-borne annoyance. The last thing I need is more smoke!

But if I moved to somewhere with clean air... that might change. (I eat a nutrient dense diet, so that's not a variable).

This may also explain why California is so very VERY anti-smoking. It really *does* make me miserable when you're smoking 25 feet from me, outside. :p

Take it FWIW.

PS- I find taking high doses of Vit C helps out with the air-quality allergies. I snagged that from a "more Vit C will help you with your smoking related ailments" blurb I read somewhere, and it has stuck. My doc thinks I'm nuts, but hey.

Lena S. said...

Hearth, if you have allergies you might want to try a probiotic supplement. I find it helps.

HanSolo said...

Thanks for adding us to your Mo'olelo 'auana. We will add you to our blog shortly.

And FTR, I think the manmade portion of global warming is exaggerated.

Keoni Galt said...

@ Hearth - As a pipe and cigar smoker, I find cigarette smoke highly irritable as well. I notice regular Big Tobacco cigarette smoke really lingers, and smells acrid and bitter. Not so with the pipe tobacco.

While I don't smoke cigars indoors, I often smoke my pipe indoors. I, nor my wife (a total non-smoker of any sorts) ever notices a lingering smoke smell indoors.

I think Big Tobacco cigarette additives have something to do with it.

@ HanSolo - No problem Han...didn't even come across your guys blog until Vox put you in the Top 10 Game blogs list yesterday. Always happy to link to red pill blogs as I come across them!

Keoni Galt said...

"You addressed disease, but what about nicotine addiction?"

What about it?

I've found it to be no problem whatsoever....but then, I've also read that nicotine addiction is more a function of a cigarette smoker inhaling smoke on a habitual basis, rather then nicotine itself being "as addictive as crack cocaine or heroin."

I've smoked pipe/cigars for 3 weeks straight on a daily basis, then abstained completely for 5 days straight without any problem or withdrawal symptom whatsoever.

Johnycomelately said...

The one issue I definately have found with cigarette smokers is emphysema.

The main issue seems to be that filters produce fine particulate which lodges in the lungs and obstructs breathing. (yeh, not a good site but I was too lazy to rummage through my bookmarks to find research papers).

Filterless hand rolling is time consuming and Filterless tubes for make your own aren't common yet.

Cigars are expensive (damned Australian bureaucrats and their taxes, 30$ for a stogie!) and pipes are no good for a quickie.

So I have been researching 'e-cigarettes' and lo and behold (HL, you might find this interesting) they are being banned as a drug delivery mechanism! I guess they're too difficult to tax. Don't want the serfs getting their dirty little hands on cheap nicotine...

SpikeGomes said...

I've smoked a huge bowl of Dunhill Nightcap in my car when it was raining. I thought I would never get the smell of Latakia out. It was gone by five days later. Not that I would mind if it didn't!

Anonymous said...


You mean like Rush Limbaugh?

bw said...

If no one's mentioned it, Dr William Campbell Douglas wrote a book about the subjuect called "The Health Benefits of Tobacco".

Anonymous said...

Hi there very controversial arguments made, as a trained doctor myself this goes against everything we have been taught. I would love to delve deeper into your research but the referencing is quite terrible. Would you mind adding in the Year of Publication at least for all sources quoted?

Keoni Galt said...

Anonymous trained doctor - I provided a link to the online book where most of the citations come from:

Johnycomelately said...

Just a word of warning for the budding commercial cigarette smokers out there.

Commercial cigarerettes are made with fire accelerants (as tobacco naturally absorbs moisture) to increase burn rates, to get a crisper smoke and of course more smoking.

Now anyone who has smoked a cigar knows that untreated tobacco naturally extinguishes itself if there is no draw, leave a cigar in an ash tray or stop puffing on a pipe and it extinguishes in due course.

Now according to libtards apparently all fires known to man kind are attributable to lit cigarettes, the response? Put flame retardants (with toxic chemicals) in the cigarette papers. That's right, fire accelerants in the tobacco and fire retardants in the paper! The fact that smokers swear the new 'fireproof' cigarettes make them sick doesn't matter.

So stick with MYO (make your own) if cigarettes are a must.

Or (Catholics avert your eyes) have a go at snuff, apperently it was worked for monks, Popes and saints alike.

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t_biggs said...

Anecdotal, but it still makes me wonder:

My parents each lived to be 80 years old. Both smoked two packs a day for most of their adult lives. My mother was born prematurely in 1925 - surviving that was an achievement in itself - but it left her vulnerable to lung issues all her life. Even so, she took up smoking at 16, and never quit.

My mother cooked a somewhat healthier than average version of the Standard American Diet. Neither of my parents were any less well on average than anyone else we knew.

My father got prostate cancer when he got older, but so do many other men. It eventually spread. When he was 79 he was urged to undergo chemopoisoning, but he declined, saying he'd had a good life and it was time to go.

I have a suspicion that my mother lived as long as she did because she stopped going to the doctor when she was 61. The doc gave her a stern, I'm-the-authority lecture that she'd have to quit smoking or he'd stop seeing her. She said "Screw that guy" and stopped seeing him, instead. So she lived another 19 years, possibly because she was never prescribed all those "life-saving" (mostly poison, IMO) drugs the docs hand out so freely.

I'm tempted to take up smoking... mostly for the anti-anxiety effects.

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nickpwns said...

Niacin and Nicotinic acid are also by products of the oxidation (burning) of nicotine. Nicotinic acid is part of the B family of vitamins. Nicotinic acid has many noted positive effects:

"Niacin is a dietary precursor for the coenzymes NAD+ and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), which are involved in a number of metabolic functions such as DNA synthesis (Hageman & Stierum 2001), glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis and cellular respiration (Kobayashi & Shimizu 1999). NAD+ exerts potent effects through a number of enzymes that alter protein function, regulate apoptosis, DNA repair, stress resistance, metabolism and endocrine signalling (Sauve 2008). NADH, the reduced form of beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is also synthesised from niacin (B3) and is required to supply protons for oxidative phosphorylation (Depeint et al 2006). Like chromium, vitamin B3 is an important component of glucose tolerance factor. Niacin can also be preferentially converted from tryptophan, and as a result a deficiency of niacin can impact on other functions of tryptophan, such as neurotransmitter production."

Iurnman83 said...


Stumbled across this article today, thought you might find it interesting considering this subject:

Take it or leave it, but considering the government's stance on everything else, perhaps this is more evidence in tobacco's favor.

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CaseyD said...

I can personally attest to the absence of a smokers cough after switching to American Spirits. And as far as the addictive nature of nicotine, you'll miss it emotionally if you quit, but there are no significant physical withdrawals.

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jhon said...

I would recommend reducing your intake to a cup a day or a soda a day. In most cases your body will tell you it has had enough, just heed the warnings.
quit smoking today

Timmy said...

I've been a Respiratory Therapist for 12 years, witnessing the DEVASTATING effects of smoking. Our lungs were NOT designed to inhale anything but air; certainly not burning plants. Forget about lung cancer, mouth cancer, tongue cancer, esophageal cancer, etc; slowly suffocating from COPD is one of the most heartbreaking conditions to witness. Being chained to an oxygen device is so much fun! Not being able to do the activities you love is a hoot! Bronchospasm's are so exhilarating!

Most of the patients have deep regrets, wishing they had never started to smoke. Nicotine is nicotine, very addictive. IF so called "organic" tobacco was less harmful than industrial tobacco, what happens when you can't find any organic leaf and are now addicted? You will go out and get whatever you can. Why would you encourage anyone, esp. a child who might be reading this article, to start smoking? Shame on you.
By the way, I am a former smoker of 6 years myself, before I became a respiratory therapist and saw first hand how horrible this is. I can vouch first hand how hard it is to quit.
Spend a few days in your local ICU or emergency department and watch how fun it is to suffer the consequences of smoking.