More and more people are trying to quit smoking these days. In the 21st century, the health risks associated with tobacco use have led many smokers to seek out ways to if not quit cold turkey, at least swap it for less dangerous alternatives.
Nicotine replacement therapies have proven to be successful in helping people break addiction, and nicotine gum and vaping have emerged as the most popular options by a mile. On the one hand, the former has been available for decades and has been traditionally seen as somewhat of a go-to option for those trying to ditch cigarettes. On the other, the latter has provided smokers with a new alternative, one that offers more options and potentially has fewer negative side effects.
What was once the default option, now has a rival, with multi-use or disposable vape pens slowly but surely being more widely used to quit smoking.
With more and more people trying to make the choice between the traditional approach (the gum) and the new one (the vape), understanding the advantages and disadvantages of both is increasingly important.
Pros and Cons of Nicotine Gum
The one indisputable pro of nic gum is that it’s well-tested. It’s already been proven time and again that it can help alleviate cravings and withdrawal symptoms when quitting. Nicotine content varies and allows the user to control the amount they’re using, enabling the reduction to be comfortably gradual.
Another pro is its wide availability and reliability. After being so thoroughly tested, it’s considered as safe a replacement therapy method as can be. In most countries, it’s available over the counter, is relatively cheap, and can be used alongside other anti-smoking aids, like patches or lozenges. It’s also comfortable and flexible in use – you’re allowed to chew one in most public spaces and can pop one into your mouth whenever you feel the urge to smoke.
Interestingly, some minor studies (like the one conducted in 2021 by Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Annika Theodoulou et al.) have shown that replacement therapy methods, including nic gum, can help avoid the weight gain associated with quitting smoking, at least short term. However, due to the lack of research, it’s unclear whether the effect lasts long-term.
That said, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and using it does have several cons.
The worst one is that you may be swapping one addiction for another. Admittedly, nicotine gum addiction hasn’t been well-studied, but there have been a few studies exploring the liability of users to abuse them. One such study researching abuse liability of various nicotine delivery systems by Christ Campbell et al. showed that a comparatively small, but still significant portion of test subjects used it for longer than the recommended transitory period of 3 months, and users were less likely to fully stop tobacco usage than those who quit without the aid of supplement therapy.
That said, its adverse effects are considerably lower than those of regular tobacco, so if quitting “cold turkey” isn’t working out, switching to alternatives is still a safer choice long-term than continuing with cigarettes. Luckily with the rising popularity of e-cigarettes, more people are getting access to the replacement therapy option that has, as of now, demonstrated fewer adverse side effects.
Why Vaping Could Be a Better Choice When Trying to Quit Smoking
While the effectiveness of vaping as a tobacco use replacement therapy hasn’t been fully studied yet, what little research there is has been promising. At least, with the information we have right now, we can say that vapers have quite a large chance to avoid some of the pitfalls that come with using nic gum.
Firstly, the same study by Campbell et al. that reviewed nicotine gum addiction chances, demonstrated that e-cigarettes are more effective at suppressing urges to smoke. Nic is absorbed into the bloodstream much faster – so the urge to smoke is curbed much faster as well.
Secondly, what little research we have indicates that switching to e-cigarettes has a higher chance of helping with quitting (e.g. 2021 study by Boyce et al, “Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation”). It’s not just faster nicotine delivery (though that helps), but also sensory and behavioral similarities between vaping and smoking.
There is also a possibility that nicotine not being a necessary element of the vaping experience helps. While the most popular high-PG e-liquids are nic salts, there is a large range of nic-free vape juices on the market these days. Shortfills (the most popular high-VG juice) for example, are completely nicotine-free and require adding a separate shot. The setup allows for a customizable experience, where a user can slowly cut down on the doses, even going completely free with time. And they would still receive the sensory/behavioral inputs associated with standard cigarettes to satisfy some of the urges. You can learn more about the benefits of vaping right here.
The one downside of speaking about vaping is that we cannot speak of the long-term effects just yet. There simply hasn’t been enough large-scale long-term research. But with what little we have? We can say that vaping seems to be a more effective and less harmful replacement therapy tool.
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