Category: Hookah How To

Shisha, Tobacco, Sheesha: Many different names and different types for your Hookah

The tobbaco you use to smoke is what can make or break your hookah experience. I’ll try to give you a bit of background here to help you choose what kinds you want to try first, although I encourage everyone to make it a habit to try a new ones just as often as they get the old ones. Ask for suggestions from those shopkeepers who have been smoking since they could stand up at the living room table.

Alright, firstly there are many different names for tobbaco used for this style of water pipe. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but let’s give it a try anyways: Narghile, Shisha, Sheesha, Nargile, Tobacco, Tobamel, Maasel. So there you have it, a very short list. This type of tobbaco comes in boxes and usually has some egyptian writing on the side. YOU ARE GOING TO BE SURPRISED HOW WET THIS STUFF IS! It isn’t like a cigarette, and this isn’t meant to be burnt. Shisha just warms up and then gets sucked down into the chamber, so just sit back and relax while the coals do the bizness. Truthfully, I don’t know if there is much more to say about this except to experiment and try as many as you can and don’t forget to mix them as well for interesting new flavors. Personal Note: My favorite is mint and it will clear up a cold in no time. Check out this excerpt from Wikipedia about shisha:

‚ÄúThe most commonly-used hookah tobbacos (known as tobamel or maassel) are produced using a 1:2 mixture of shredded tobacco leaf mixed in with a sweetener such as honey, molasses or semi-dried fruit. Originally, tobacco was mixed with one of these sweeteners to form jur?¢k (e.g. Zhaghoul brand), a flavorless, moistened tobacco. The now-popular, fruit-flavored hookah tobaccos got their start in the late 1980s when Egyptian tobacco companies began experimenting with flavored tobacco as a way to sell more of their products to women. Due to the popularity of flavored hookah tobaccos, many modern manufacturers have begun to use glycerin as the primary sweetener in hookah tobaccos because of its humectant qualities and subtle sweetening properties that accentuate the various tobacco flavorings. Today, shisha tobacco is often mixed with dried fruit, natural extracts and artificial flavorings to produce a varying assortment of tobacco flavors, such as apple, double and triple apple, strawberry, mango, cappuccino, vanilla, coconut, cherry, grape, banana, kiwi, blueberry, tuti fruity, Arabian coffee, mixed fruit, cola, lemon, apricot, licorice, and mint, which has a cooling effect on the throat. This proliferation of flavors is rather new, starting perhaps in the mid-1990s.‚Äù

Thanks to Wikipedia for parts of the above info…

Smoking Hookahs and Your Health

People can be very polarized when it comes to the health effects of smoking a hookah. Almost everyone can agree that it isn’t as bad as smoking a cigarette, a pipe, a cigar, and definetely not as bad as smoking a clove (one of my personal favorites). However, smoking a hookah can cause problems over a lifetime. I think the the tradeoff is well worth the smoking, and I dare anyone to tell me that eating ice cream throughout my life doesnt cause some health problems, but I am in no hurry to stop eating ice cream. Anyways, below is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the health effects of smoking a Hookah:

‚ÄúA hookah’s ability to produce pleasant, non-irritating smoke has led many to believe that hookah smoking is less detrimental to one’s health than most other methods of smoking tobacco, such as smoking cigarettes. Unlike cigarettes, where smoke is produced by the ignition and burning of tobacco, hookahs produce a dense, flavorful smoke by heating moistened tobacco. Research has shown that fewer cancer-causing carcinogens are produced because the tobacco is heated, rather than burned. In addition to fewer carcinogens being produced, nicotine production is reduced by the lower temperatures at which the tobacco is heated. Lower nicotine production, when compared to cigarettes, means addiction to tobacco among hookah smokers happens significantly less frequently ‚Äî though this may be due to cultural views and other limiting factors, such as the time required to prepare a hookah for use.

A review published in the medical journal Pediatrics[3] found that the concentration of cancer-causing and addictive substances in water-pipes may be equal to those found in cigarettes, with the heat involved being sufficient to generate carcinogenic nitrosamines, and the smoldering charcoal adding some carcinogenic hydrocarbons as well as heavy metals to the smoke. Similarly, a study in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Periodontology[4] found that the impact of water pipe smoking is largely the same magnitude as that of cigarette smoking. Ironically, use of the hookah may increase the smoker’s toxic exposure, in that studies have shown that the typical hookah smoker spends more time per episode of smoking than do other smokers, presumably because the smoke is less immediately harsh or irritating. Thomas Eissenberg, a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University co-authored a hookah study which found that a session of hookah smoking which lasts about 45 minutes, delivers 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide and 70% more nicotine than a single cigarette. A study in the Journal of Periodontology found that hookah smokers were five times more likely than non-smokers to have signs of gum disease. This is of concern to doctors in America as 86% of colleges and universities are located in close proximity to one or more hookah lounges. A study of Egyptian couples found an association between water-pipe smoking and infertility. However, many objections to the methods used in these studies have been raised. None of the existing studies took into account past tobacco or other drug usage, so it is unclear what ill-effects were directly related to water-pipe smoking, as opposed to past cigarette usage.

Quoting from one of the studies cited below, the quick-lighting charcoal used by many hookah smokers may be “the biggest hazard for hookah users” because it produces greater levels of carbon monoxide and other dangerous substances than all-natural, non-additive charcoal. The quick-lighting charcoal is produced by mixing powdered-charcoal with various chemicals that allow it to be quickly and easily ignited. Ignition of a quicklight coal normally results in the emission of sparks.‚Äù

Does Smoking a Hookah Make You High?

Does Smoking a Hookah Make You High?

There are many variations on this question out there, and also many different answers. I’ll let you know what I think from my experience:

Smoking a hookah, even just tobacco, does make you high!

But, it is a special type of high. If you can remember the head rush that you got from smoking your first cigarette, then you an have an idea of what it’s like. Hell, sometimes the feeling is so strong that I can barely stand up afterward.

The type of shisha you are smoking can make a big difference. I’ve found the cleaner tasting shishas (like mint, and not something like pineapple) can cause you to get a bit more high. Maybe I only think that because I like those better and can take deeper puffs. Also, although this idea hasn’t been tested, I am pretty sure that just taking a lot of deep breaths gets you a little headdy feeling. If you want to try something fun, do this:

Take 7 deep breaths breathing fully out and fully in with each breath and then on the 7th breath, hold your breath for as long as you can.

I learned this trick from Kundalini Yoga (a very ool practice by the way). Kundalini says that if you do this 3 times in the morning while watching the sun rise, then it will make you be happy all day. I’ve never tried it, but I know that doing it once anytime can make me feel great for a few minutes.

Happy Hookah Smoking!
https://www.thehookahlounge.org

Hookah Smoking Dangers

People can be very polarized when it comes to the health effects of smoking a hookah. Almost everyone can agree that it isn’t as bad as smoking a cigarette, a pipe, a cigar, and definetely not as bad as smoking a clove (one of my personal favorites). However, smoking a hookah can cause problems over a lifetime. I think the the tradeoff is well worth the smoking, and I dare anyone to tell me that eating ice cream throughout my life doesnt cause some health problems, but I am in no hurry to stop eating ice cream. Anyways, below is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the health effects of smoking a Hookah:

‚ÄúA hookah’s ability to produce pleasant, non-irritating smoke has led many to believe that hookah smoking is less detrimental to one’s health than most other methods of smoking tobacco, such as smoking cigarettes. Unlike cigarettes, where smoke is produced by the ignition and burning of tobacco, hookahs produce a dense, flavorful smoke by heating moistened tobacco. Research has shown that fewer cancer-causing carcinogens are produced because the tobacco is heated, rather than burned. In addition to fewer carcinogens being produced, nicotine production is reduced by the lower temperatures at which the tobacco is heated. Lower nicotine production, when compared to cigarettes, means addiction to tobacco among hookah smokers happens significantly less frequently ‚Äî though this may be due to cultural views and other limiting factors, such as the time required to prepare a hookah for use.

A review published in the medical journal Pediatrics[3] found that the concentration of cancer-causing and addictive substances in water-pipes may be equal to those found in cigarettes, with the heat involved being sufficient to generate carcinogenic nitrosamines, and the smoldering charcoal adding some carcinogenic hydrocarbons as well as heavy metals to the smoke. Similarly, a study in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Periodontology[4] found that the impact of water pipe smoking is largely the same magnitude as that of cigarette smoking. Ironically, use of the hookah may increase the smoker’s toxic exposure, in that studies have shown that the typical hookah smoker spends more time per episode of smoking than do other smokers, presumably because the smoke is less immediately harsh or irritating. Thomas Eissenberg, a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University co-authored a hookah study which found that a session of hookah smoking which lasts about 45 minutes, delivers 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide and 70% more nicotine than a single cigarette. A study in the Journal of Periodontology found that hookah smokers were five times more likely than non-smokers to have signs of gum disease. This is of concern to doctors in America as 86% of colleges and universities are located in close proximity to one or more hookah lounges. A study of Egyptian couples found an association between water-pipe smoking and infertility. However, many objections to the methods used in these studies have been raised. None of the existing studies took into account past tobacco or other drug usage, so it is unclear what ill-effects were directly related to water-pipe smoking, as opposed to past cigarette usage.

Quoting from one of the studies cited below, the quick-lighting charcoal used by many hookah smokers may be “the biggest hazard for hookah users” because it produces greater levels of carbon monoxide and other dangerous substances than all-natural, non-additive charcoal. The quick-lighting charcoal is produced by mixing powdered-charcoal with various chemicals that allow it to be quickly and easily ignited. Ignition of a quicklight coal normally results in the emission of sparks.‚Äù