These pro smoking statements are basically slants to make smoking look like it might be good for you. While some of it might be true. It is in a context that doesn't tell the whole story.
It is true that niacin was discovered in nicotine. Also it is true that nicotine is in nightshade foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants etc.
WhyQuit.com as an article talking about this.
Yes there is nicotine in night shade foods. The amount though is so small that there is no effect. It is a trace amount. It is so small in fact that when it was discovered in nightshade foods that they thought that the farmers might be using nicotine as a pesticide since it is naturally the tobacco's plant insecticide.
It is possible that if a person ate a very large amount of nightshades that cotonine( a byproduct of nicotine showing that nicotine has been metabolized) might be present. To be clear though, the actual nicotine would be so small it wouldn't cause the effect of withdrawal.
Also nightshade foods can be bad for people. Nightshade foods are the natural foods that seem to give people the most problems. People who suffer from arthritis, bursitis, eczema, acid reflux disease, lupus and many other diseases and conditions, are reccomended to remove all nightshade foods from their diet. Once nightshade foods are eliminated from their diet, a lot of people report improvemnet of their ailments.
While in trace amounts nicotine is no big deal, just like flouride, in larger amounts it becomes toxic. 60mg of nicotine(3 drops) can kill a person. So to use smoking as a health benefit is deceptive at the very least and saying it is dangerous is an understatement. It is like saying swallowing larger amounts of flouride is going to make your teeth stronger. When in reality, flouride makes a great rat poison.
To tell someone to smoke to get Vitamin B3 is ridiculous. Niacin and nicotine actually create different effects. Niacin increases the diameter of veins promoting better blood flow. That's why some people become flush when they take it. Nicotine on the other hand, restricts arteries. It raises the heartbeat by around 20 beats a minute and a chemical interaction in the body causes the body to release it's own stored fats and cholesterols. The carbon monoxide from combustable tobacco (natural or not) poisons the blood's ability to carry oxygen. A smoker who is thin, will probably have a higher bad cholesterol count and higher blood pressure and poorer circulation
People can get there daily need of Niacin just from eating fish and poultry. You don't need to smoke to do it. Smoking actually hampers Vitamin C. Also eating fish will give the person the essential oils they need.
Don't be too hyped up about Niacin. Niacin itself can be dangerous. If people continue to take Niacin at higher doses. Doses that it is sold at in drug stores, it can cause liver damage. Niacin in natural foods is enough.
We do not have receptors specifically made to receive nicotine. They are specifically made for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotine mimics this and it releases a large amount of dopamine. Sound positive? Well the problem is, the brain needs to regulate this. It cannot regulate nicotine as it is a foreign substance(poison) so it has no other choice but to turn down it's own sensitvity to acetylcholine. This make the smoker rely a lot more on the cigarette to feel good or more accurately, feel nicotine normal. I see no benefit to hamper our own natural neurotransmitters only to rely on a poison to give us a false sense of accomplishment. To make us think we feel better when we do smoke.
Smoking does not make people calm. It only relieves withdrawal. A withdrawal that was never there before we smoked. This is what smokers focus on. The relief of withdrawal instead of realizing it was the previous cigarette that created the stress.
Read my post on Stress and quitting and you'll see the illusion that smoking causes smokers to believe about this.
I don't know about Swedish researchers and their findings, but nicotine hamper's Vitamin A and new research has shown that nicotine on it's own can malform cells, and might be tied to at least one form of lung cancer. Also most deaths are from circulatory conditions and not Cancer.
Now as far as asthma. I have a friend who by the way is a triplet. He smokes a lot of marijuana. He suffers from asthma. His other 2 brothers do not smoke. They have no problems. Their sister smokes cigarettes. She suffers from asthma. Coincedence?
Also their is a disease almost exclusive to smokers called Buergers Disease. It is a circulatory condition that causes loss of circulation, gagne green and amputation of extremeties. The interesting thing though is that when the person quits smoking before gagne green sets in. The condition usually fully reverses itself, but once they start to smoke again the condition comes back very quickly and with full force.
You can't argue with the fact that natural tobacco is better than major label brand cigarettes. When you remove most of the chemicals it will make smoking safer, but it will not make smoking safe.
Smoking kills cilia. Natural tobacco or not. By saying that firewood is harsher or that people cooked with it, doesn't make a valid point that smoking is good for you. Even if it is true, at best it says that smoking is not as bad as huffing away on firewood. Saying one thing is bad does not make another thing good.
He mentioned that smokers were the most social people you know. He's right, smoking is social, when you're around other smokers! Other than that, I see smokers as being some of the most anti social people around.
The HIV case is not the first that a person has had it and then become HIV negative. There are reports on this and researchers have found that it might have to do with some people having a missing part of a chromosome. This makes it so the HIV virus cannot attach itself to the cell and it ends up dying. The HIV virus needs a host. Scientists believe that it is the same missing link that makes it so that some people seem immune to chicken pox.
While research has shown that small amounts of nicotine produces positive reactions in research to people suffering from Parkinson's and Alzheimers and even Schizophrenia. One thing to note. Smoking has been tied to memory loss and depression. Most shizophrenics are smokers and 70% of those smokers are heavy smokers. So what came first? The chicken or the egg?
Even if there are no health hazards to smoking (hypothetically). Is being addicted to a substance a way to live. Is Smelling like smoke sounding appealing? Is paying thousands of dollars a year to smoke, for the rest of your life a great way to spend your money? Even if there weren't hazards to smoking, a person is still left with negatives about smoking.
He gives a few examples of people living long lives. There are 50,000 centurions in America. Out of all of them how many do you really think smoke? My great grandad lived until he was 97. He didn't smoke.My step great aunt is still going strong at 95 right now. She detests it. The real facts are that people's life spans are starting to become longer in general.
From my own personal experience, my life has become so much better since I quit smoking. I feel better. I have been able to buy new things for myself. I have more energy. I can breathe way better. I feel more confident and calm. I'm experiencing life alot more now. How bout you fellow non smokers?
Even if smoking did make a person live longer, who wants to live longer when they're not living life each day to the fullest? I have saved over 10,000 by not smoking. 10,000 dollars?! I would have spent over 10,000 for what?! Nothing!!
Eric