Smoking is... good?

[nicklebleu]

I am not sure if Nicotine is effective in treating Parkinson's disease, it seems to reduce the likelihood of developing it, which is not the same. There seem to be very little studies examining this and the results seem inconclusive (see here). The other thing is that maybe it is not Nicotine itself - or not alone - so maybe taking Nicotine as a patch might not get you any - or only reduced - benefits as compared to smoking.

If the person already has Parkinson, why not start smoking and see if there is a change for the better?

 

[LQB]

I am not sure if Nicotine is effective in treating Parkinson's disease, it seems to reduce the likelihood of developing it, which is not the same. There seem to be very little studies examining this and the results seem inconclusive (see here). The other thing is that maybe it is not Nicotine itself - or not alone - so maybe taking Nicotine as a patch might not get you any - or only reduced - benefits as compared to smoking.

If the person already has Parkinson, why not start smoking and see if there is a change for the better?

Yes, and maybe add MCT oil and transition to keto diet for the neuro-protective benefits. Theanine and phosphatidyl serine supps may be worth a try.

 

[Rhythmik]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

 

[stardust]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

I don't really think that they will be able/allowed to do such a thing as claiming that smoking is good...
They could have to face so many attacks that it would be economically dangerous for them and they can't say that they're providing something good for health as they put in other hand so much additive in their no-free additive products...

Do you see how much decades it have taken to simply recognize that fat is good ? And it is just the first steps...

 

[A Jay]

Thanks for your input.

I have smoked for about one year and a half and the "problem" seemed to have accumulated. In the beginning, even though having been an absolute newbie, I can't remember having had much difficulty. On the contrary, smoking seemed to make me more aware and awake (I am near-sighted and I even had the impression I could see better into the distance).

It came bit by bit, and my cigarettes got smaller and smaller, like yours, Ascien. Walking AND smoking became impossible (I had done that in the beginning), I had to sit. And then, at some point, the anxiety started. I am Keto since April, but even though I experienced A LOT of health benefits immediately, it did not change anything with the smoking. In the end, it took me 15 minutes to recover from a cigarette and I stopped.

I prefer the Manitou Organic, but have tried other additive free brands (strong and not so strong), without noticing much difference on the anxiety front. I have never tried the mixing, Magpie, so that might be something to look into.

I always enjoyed the aspect that Itellsya above mentions, the welcome "break" in between tasks. Mechanically I am rushing from one thing to the next, this is a strong program, and the cigarette helped to break it, so I am missing this aspect.

Subjectively it feels when smoking a curtain is drawn away and "something" is allowed to enter, and I think, that's why I resonated with this attachment theory.

M.T.

I'm experiencing something similar in terms of anxiety issues since going keto again back in April.

I've been smoking consistently for at least 2 years, but since this latest round of ketosis there's been this energy in my abdomen, the best word to describe it would be along the lines of anxiety, that seems to be 'activated' by smoking. This energy doesn't bother me if I'm active (such as at work) or if I'm not smoking, but once I light up the energy spreads and becomes over-whelming. Not sure what's going on, but I can mitigate the 'anxiety' by staying in my body and watching my posture/belly breathing. However, this seems more like suppressing what's actually going on than actually dealing with it.

I don't want to give up my tobacco, but it seems like the best way to keep symptoms under control until I get things figured out. Any thoughts?

 

[A Jay]

Thanks for your input.

I have smoked for about one year and a half and the "problem" seemed to have accumulated. In the beginning, even though having been an absolute newbie, I can't remember having had much difficulty. On the contrary, smoking seemed to make me more aware and awake (I am near-sighted and I even had the impression I could see better into the distance).

It came bit by bit, and my cigarettes got smaller and smaller, like yours, Ascien. Walking AND smoking became impossible (I had done that in the beginning), I had to sit. And then, at some point, the anxiety started. I am Keto since April, but even though I experienced A LOT of health benefits immediately, it did not change anything with the smoking. In the end, it took me 15 minutes to recover from a cigarette and I stopped.

I prefer the Manitou Organic, but have tried other additive free brands (strong and not so strong), without noticing much difference on the anxiety front. I have never tried the mixing, Magpie, so that might be something to look into.

I always enjoyed the aspect that Itellsya above mentions, the welcome "break" in between tasks. Mechanically I am rushing from one thing to the next, this is a strong program, and the cigarette helped to break it, so I am missing this aspect.

Subjectively it feels when smoking a curtain is drawn away and "something" is allowed to enter, and I think, that's why I resonated with this attachment theory.

M.T.

I'm experiencing something similar in terms of anxiety issues since going keto again back in April.

I've been smoking consistently for at least 2 years, but since this latest round of ketosis there's been this energy in my abdomen, the best word to describe it would be along the lines of anxiety, that seems to be 'activated' by smoking. This energy doesn't bother me if I'm active (such as at work) or if I'm not smoking, but once I light up the energy spreads and becomes over-whelming. Not sure what's going on, but I can mitigate the 'anxiety' by staying in my body and watching my posture/belly breathing. However, this seems more like suppressing what's actually going on than actually dealing with it.

I don't want to give up my tobacco, but it seems like the best way to keep symptoms under control until I get things figured out. Any thoughts?

Upon further reflection, I'm wondering if this isn't a physical manifestation of my present state; where I'm not sharing my knowledge effectively to be of best service to the group/universe as I could be and as a result this stuck energy I've been hoarding is 'anxious' to get free. Would be an explanation that fits the C's "group work" response to my question about anxiety back in April:

Q: (A Jay) I've got a question. Would doing more spirit release therapy and EE help with my overwhelming anxiety, or is there anything in particular that would work best?

A: Partly. Diet is important as is group work.

 

[nicklebleu]

Not sure what's going on, but I can mitigate the 'anxiety' by staying in my body and watching my posture/belly breathing. However, this seems more like suppressing what's actually going on than actually dealing with what's going on.

Quite the contrary, I think what you are doing is quite beneficial. Dealing with anxiety - or any unpleasant emotion - is to allow it to be there, but in a non-judgemental way. Patrick Rodgriguez emphasises this very much in his work - It is safe to feel the way that I feel, it's ok to have these feelings - because these feelings are there anyway.

The way we were taught to "solve" issues is to push them out of our consciousness, to just ignore them. We just want them to be gone! This doesn't help, and may make it worse over the long run.

Breathing helps, because it helps focus your mind and reduces the arousal reaction associated with anxiety, fear etc. - especially pipe breathing activating your vagus nerve. So you will be able to better let things come up and look at them in a more impassioned way.

Of course having a session with Patrick and Heaer can greatly facilitate this process.

 

[rymw]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

Perhaps you should this thread in its entirety to understand the low-down on what smoking is good really means in this forum.
As you yourself has mentioned, 'additive-free tobacco'. We're not talking regular cigarettes here, so just how many additive-free tobacco producing companies do you think there are and we're not even including the organic ones, which further narrows 'good tobacco' down to only non-GMO, pestiticide-free stuff that none of the capitalistic cigarette/tobacco companies can stand up for. So yes, smoking is good provided you smoke what is produced naturally by the good earth.

 

[pete02]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

To put it simply, smoking stimulates thinking. They don't want people thinking. They'll manage to get their profits elsewhere believe me.

 

[Voyageur]

I am not sure if Nicotine is effective in treating Parkinson's disease, it seems to reduce the likelihood of developing it, which is not the same. There seem to be very little studies examining this and the results seem inconclusive (see here). The other thing is that maybe it is not Nicotine itself - or not alone - so maybe taking Nicotine as a patch might not get you any - or only reduced - benefits as compared to smoking.

If the person already has Parkinson, why not start smoking and see if there is a change for the better?

Yes, and maybe add MCT oil and transition to keto diet for the neuro-protective benefits. Theanine and phosphatidyl serine supps may be worth a try.

There is not a lot I can do as a third party. I'll pass along thoughts and suggest trying one thing at a time while eliminating others. The keto diet alone would have benefits and would be an ideal baseline to first establish to check results.

Thanks you both for your suggestions.

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

Of course this is a good question that has occupied some peoples thinking. There are many possibilities, however, one thing to consider or not is the interconnected relationship of big corporations: tobacco, food, big-agra, chemicals, financial/banks/investors...and then the sciences: funding, labs, regulatory political aspects...media, global trade and domestic/foreign policies (such as the WHO/WTO), and the overall generator of tax revenues that governments could point to and would need to get by other means if not for the creation of "SIN" taxes. Tobacco works so well for them, as does alcohol for a tax base (in many places). Also, with all the interconnected toxins people get from so many sources, tobacco still works well at deflecting away attention - like it was agreed upon.

When interconnections are as vast as surly they are, it would likely be no trouble for one sector to forgo another as a type of scapegoat to promote rising alternatives. Smoking will still exist, yet now many more chemicals are sold to the manufacturers and lands gobbled up from simple farmers who once could compete naturally. Perhaps while the strategies were being worked out years ago, the insiders moved their perfered stocks and investor capital around to the new sought aftereffects of what had been agreed upon, such as big-medicine, big-pharma etc. - don't know for sure.

As Pete said, too, smoking cessation may simply stimulate in some people their own mental cessatation, and of course polical leaders bank on this.

Further still, you might want to read this SoTT article, by Laura, from 2005: Aliens Don't Like to Eat People That Smoke!

Acetylcholine acts on nicotine acetylcholine receptors to open a channel in the cell's membrane. Opening such a channel allows certain types of ions (charged atoms) to flow into or out of the cell. ...When ions flow, there is an electrical current, and the same is true in the nervous system. The flowing of ions, or the passing of current, can cause other things to happen, usually those "things" involve the opening of other types of channels and the passing of information from one neuron to another.

 

[James Henry]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

I agree with Pete and rymw.

I also think some of it has to do with simple greed. Tobacco companies are about profit--not mental health care. Their 'process' of pesticide ridden shredded stems with hundreds of chemicals added, is more addicting and cheaper to produce volume than organic whole leaf.

 

[Mr. Premise]

The thing that confuses me about this is: If additive-free tobacco made a huge difference, and smoking isn't nearly as harmful as we're led to believe, wouldn't the tobacco companies be all over this? With all their resources shouldn't they fund studies that show the truth, in turn greatly maximizing their profits once smoking tobacco has been proven to not be dangerous?

To put it simply, smoking stimulates thinking. They don't want people thinking. They'll manage to get their profits elsewhere believe me.

There's that, but the immediate reason is that in the US it's illegal for the tobacco companies to claim their product is "safer" than another tobacco product. It's really crazy, because if they could advertise that, they would spend more money developing safer products. In fact, to a small extent, they are, by creating tobacco hybrids that produce less TSNA's (Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines) and modifying curing practices to reduce those. They are formed in tobacco by the breakdown of another nicotine-like alkaloid, nornicotine, I believe. In Sweden, the produce their Snus with no TSNAs by controlling the temperatures during processing. But in the US, since they can't advertise that, they won't invest the money. It's crazy, all tobacco products have to be considered equally deadly. Same with organic, additive-free tobacco, they have to put disclaimers in American Spirit ads saying that it's not safer, when clearly it must be safer.

 

[A Jay]

Not sure what's going on, but I can mitigate the 'anxiety' by staying in my body and watching my posture/belly breathing. However, this seems more like suppressing what's actually going on than actually dealing with what's going on.

Quite the contrary, I think what you are doing is quite beneficial. Dealing with anxiety - or any unpleasant emotion - is to allow it to be there, but in a non-judgemental way. Patrick Rodgriguez emphasises this very much in his work - It is safe to feel the way that I feel, it's ok to have these feelings - because these feelings are there anyway.

The way we were taught to "solve" issues is to push them out of our consciousness, to just ignore them. We just want them to be gone! This doesn't help, and may make it worse over the long run.

Breathing helps, because it helps focus your mind and reduces the arousal reaction associated with anxiety, fear etc. - especially pipe breathing activating your vagus nerve. So you will be able to better let things come up and look at them in a more impassioned way.

Of course having a session with Patrick and Heaer can greatly facilitate this process.

As per your suggestion, I remembered back to my session with Patrick and Heather, specifically when they spoke of experiencing emotions that come up, and whenever I smoke I've made it a point to allow my repressed emotions to surface and give them space to breathe, so to speak. Since adding this practice to my smoking sessions I've not had any major anxiety episodes, and I'm feeling a lot more calm and focused in my down time. Smoking has once again become a pleasant practice for me! :D

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Minas Tirith]

As per your suggestion, I remembered back to my session with Patrick and Heather, specifically when they spoke of experiencing emotions that come up, and whenever I smoke I've made it a point to allow my repressed emotions to surface and give them space to breathe, so to speak. Since adding this practice to my smoking sessions I've not had any major anxiety episodes, and I'm feeling a lot more calm and focused in my down time. Smoking has once again become a pleasant practice for me! :D

This is interesting, because exactly what my husband assumed. He said that smoking relaxes me which brings the emotions to the surface, there is, so to say, no barrier anymore that can hold them back. I used to repress my anxiety all my life by just pushing through and until lately praised myself for doing so well without ever seeing a doctor or taking a single pill.

Also I was never interested in drugs like weed or other stuff, even though I mostly had friends who did these things. I could have just asked and gotten whatever I had wanted, but never even considered it. I wonder if this is related and my machine had a *good* internal defense mechanism, knowing not to get near anything that could bring trouble.

M.T.

 

[mocachapeau]

I would like to ask if there is any kind of general consensus here about the electronic cigarette. I have used the search function but have not come up with anything very definitive.

My general understanding goes a little like this:

There is not enough data to indicate whether they are healthy or not because they haven't been around long enough for significant testing to be done.

If propylene glycol is harmless (as it has been suggested on the forum) then the e-cigarette is probably a good method for getting nicotine into your system, although not as efficient as actual smoking.

Although it may be a good delivery system for nicotine it obviously does not provide any of the other benefits that come from smoking. I believe it has been discussed that smoking can provide a certain level of protection from radiation because of the coating it deposits in our lungs, and other inner tissues.

I have purchased an e-cigarette because I feel that I just smoke way too much. I figured it would be a good way of cutting down the amount that I smoke without cutting down on nicotine. But this raises another question in my mind: could it be harmful to be mixing the two together? Could the combination of the smoke and the vapor create some other kind of accumulation that isn't so good?

Any thoughts?