The white clouds of smoke, the beautiful coloured sheeshas are perfect for a night out. Hookah bars are the ‘in’ thing.
Hookah is an ancient practice, a physician Hakim Abu’l-Fath Gilani, at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar I (1542 – 1605 AD) invented it. Smoking hookah seems to have no age limit.
Walk into any ‘hookah bar’ and you see 13 year-olds enjoying a hookah! But before picking up those non-tobacco hookah flavour’s take a look at the ingredients. They contain tobacco besides many chemicals for that addictive and delicious flavour! Most experts say hookah is more harmful than cigarette smoking.
Even though a hookah contains only 0.5 per cent of tobacco compared to cigarettes. But the water pipe for smoking hookah makes one inhale the smoke of a 100 cigarettes! And it contains the same hazardous components found in cigarette that are linked to major health ailments like heart disease, cancer and nicotine addiction.
The charcoal that gives hookah its unique flavour contains abundant hazardous chemicals like carbon monoxide. Such chemicals are not present even in cigars or cigarettes. Here is how to quit smoking:
• Try using smoking substitutes: Carrots mint or chocolate can help curb that craving. However, if you still feel the urge try nicotine patches or e-cigarettes.
• Take up a hobby: Take up a new hobby that helps you meet new people and keeps you busy. Cooking, wwimming anything as long as it interests you.
Hookah might be fun but it is as addictive as smoking. So, next time pick a coffee bar over a hookah bar to lounge!
