Most of us have been lucky enough to be blessed with five senses; touch, taste, smell, sight and sound; making life that little bit more interesting! Surely no one would want to risk going through life without them if they could help it?
Pleasing aromas, delicious foods and wondrous sights are all available to enjoy thanks to our senses, so it figures that we need to take good care of them as much as we possibly can.
However, the smokers amongst us may be horrified to find out the proven effects on three of our most important senses that cigarettes can have.
Studies have indicated that smoking is one way to destroy your senses, and hence if you’re looking for motivation to make the switch to vaping, then this is surely it.
Read on to find out exactly what the death sticks are doing to your body.
Smell
Shutterstock/Carlos Yudica
The way in which you smell is as follows; olfactory nerves located in the back of your nasal passage, transmits messages to the brain each time you take a whiff of something. However, cigarettes and all their nasties will cause damage to these nerves in the long run, making our nerves find it difficult to pick up what you’re smelling. When these nerves are dulled, your ability to smell will be quelled. According to a recent study done by the American Council on Science and Health, a frequent smoker is twice as likely to experience a reduced level of ability, compared to someone who does not smoke.
Imagine not being able to smell freshly cut grass or just-out-of-the-oven baked bread? These small pleasures in life could be taken away for the sake of a poisonous habit – so why risk it?!
Switching to vape pens will allow your olfactory nerves to regrow; ex-smokers have reported an increased sense of smell as one of the first things they noticed when quitting smoking!
Taste
Shutterstock/Alliance
As most of us are aware, sense of smell is directly related to taste – hence destroying your olfactory nerves (for smelling) will in turn ruin your sense of taste, too.
But this isn’t the only effect that smoking has on taste – as cigarette smoke is inhaled directly into the mouth and makes contact with the tongue, your taste buds are damaged by the chemicals contained in the smoke.
How exactly does this work? According to a study done in Greece (by researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the taste buds of smokers were significantly flatter than those of non-smokers. This means that smokers will not taste food as intensely, as the flattening of their taste buds has dulled their ability to do their job!
The good news is, taste buds are able to regrow, so by switching to vaping, ex-smokers will be able to properly taste their food again in no time!
Sight
Shutterstock/Ramona Heim
Not one that may people associate with smoking, but sight is a sense that cigarettes can have a serious negative impact on.
Smoking has been linked to macular degeneration (blind spots) as it effects the centre of the retina. It has also been linked to cataracts, and studies have shown that people who smoke double their chances of forming cataracts, and the risk continues to increase the more you smoke.
So, are you ready to quit?
The effects of smoking on the body aren’t limited to just cancer and lung disease; there’s no end to the negative things cigarettes can do to your body. Switch to vaping today and begin to feel the benefits of a healthier lifestyle immediately!
