While some people find that quitting smoking with the aid of the electronic cigarette is easy, others experience some difficulties making the switch from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes. If you find yourself in the second category, don’t worry. Millions of people around the world have quit smoking with the help of the electronic cigarette and you can too. Below are seven tips that will help you successfully quit smoking.

1. Allow yourself time to become accustomed to the e-cigarette. Like anything new, it takes some time to get used to the electronic cigarette. Be patient and stick with it.

2. Experiment with different flavours and nicotine strengths until you find the combination that works for you.

3. Many people continue using tobacco cigarettes while using the e-cigarette, at least in the initial stages of the quitting process. Don’t feel as though you have failed in your attempt to quit smoking if you keep smoking. Remember, the goal is to quit eventually, not necessarily immediately.

4. Do not place ultimatums on yourself; quit in the way that feels best and works for you.

5. Set yourself goals, but make them realistic. Take into account how long you have smoked for and how many cigarettes a day you smoke on average. If you have been a heavy smoker for many years, it might take you a few weeks or even months to quit with the electronic cigarette.

6. Improving your general health will help you quit smoking. Improve your diet, drink plenty of fresh water and start doing some physical activity. Eliminate or reduce alcohol, coffee and unhealthy food. Take a holistic approach to your health.

7. Make sure that you get plenty of sleep, at least eight hours a night. Instead of watching television at night, go to bed earlier.

Electronic cigarettes, sometimes referred to as e-cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that are specifically designed to be smoked just like a traditional tobacco cigarette. Unlike conventional tobacco cigarettes, these devices contain a liquid instead of dried tobacco leaves. The liquid is heated to produce a vapour that is inhaled and produces a feeling that is similar to inhaling cigarette smoke. Electronic cigarettes are increasingly being adopted by people as an alternative to the tobacco cigarette because they have a number of benefits.

Health benefits

This is the most significant benefit of e-cigarettes. They do not have any negative health effects to their users, unlike traditional cigarettes which cause cancer and heart and lung disease. This is because electronic cigarettes contain three harmless chemicals: vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol and food flavour. The traditional cigarette, on the other hand, contains harmful chemicals such as acetone, arsenic, cadmium, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and a host of other carcinogenic substances. All of these chemicals are very harmful to your health.

No passive smoke

E-cigarettes do not produce smoke. This means that people around an electronic cigarette user will not be inhaling any harmful substances. As the vapour is produced, it vanishes into the air unnoticed by anyone. You can smoke e-cigarette freely around children and at work without worrying about adversely affecting those around you.

Not a fire safety hazard

Electronic cigarettes do not require a lighter or a matchstick to light them. In fact, they do not have a real flame, which means that the possibility of a cigarette fire or even a cigarette burn is eliminated. As you might suspect, they will not trigger fire alarms.

Odourless

You can easily tell who smokes tobacco cigarettes simply from the way they smell. Cigarette smoke gets into clothes, hair, furniture, car upholstery and even house walls! The vapour from e-cigarettes is very feint and can hardly be noticed. It will not leave a smell on you or anything around you. Even someone standing next to you would probably not notice the smell of the vapour.

Most people want to be more productive in their work life. Modern technologies such as computers and laptops, mobile phones and especially the internet have enabled people to do many tasks much faster than previously and to also multi-task. Another new technology – the electronic cigarette – can play a role in improving workplace productivity as well.

Most importantly, e-cigarettes eliminate the need for cigarette breaks. Since all workplaces must be tobacco-free under legislation in all Australian jurisdictions, cigarette smokers must leave their workplace to indulge in their habit. Not only is time wasted getting to and from a suitable smoking area, but time is also squandered while smoking the actual cigarette. Imagine how much more time a smoker would have to actually get their work done if they did not smoke, or could smoke inside of their workplace. The electronic cigarette actually allows you to smoke inside of an office or any other work area because it does not produce smoke or any harmful vapours. It is entirely safe and almost entirely odourless. Employees who have staff who work might want to encourage them to switch to the e-cigarette as a healthier and more productive alterative to tobacco cigarettes.

Not only does the electronic cigarette eliminate the need to waste time on smoking breaks, it will improve the health of employees which will in turn make them more productive. Smokers have a greater risk of developing various chronic and acute respiratory ailments. They are especially prone to getting colds and flus, requiring them to take days off of work to recover. A non-smoker is sick less often and thus a more productive worker. Switching to the e-cigarette will reduce the number of sick days that a person takes.

Smokers aren’t always the most popular employees as many people do not like the smell of tobacco, which permeates clothing, no matter how much the person tries to cover it up with fragrances. Smelling of cigarette smoke does not convey an impression of professionalism.

For all of these reasons, the electronic cigarette is a better alternative to real cigarettes in the work environment.

Millions of people throughout the world want to stop their smoking habit. The health problems that smoking can cause are well-known, but people are not always able to quit because of the highly addictive nature of nicotine, which is in tobacco. The question that most smokers who are considering quitting smoking ask is: “What is the best method to stop smoking?” Many common quit smoking aids – such as gums, lozenges and patches – contain nicotine in an attempt to help the person deal with nicotine withdrawal symptoms. These aids, which are referred to as Nicotine Replacement Therapy Products, help satisfy the craving for nicotine.

The problem for many smokers, however, is that the habit of smoking is an overall “experience”; it is not only about the nicotine hit. Smokers also enjoy the physical act of raising a cigarette to their mouth and inhaling and exhaling the smoke. The smoking act is linked to a pleasurable experience, like having a smoke with a cup of coffee, or after a meal. The experience combined with the nicotine make cigarette smoking an extremely difficult habit to break.

There is a fairly new product on the market that is gaining in popularity. It’s called the electronic cigarette – or e-cigarette – and it makes a lot of sense as a method to stop smoking. The electronic cigarette is a battery operated cigarette-like device that gives smokers the feeling of smoking a regular tobacco cigarette without all of the harmful toxins. The electronic cigarette looks and feels very similar to a regular tobacco cigarette. It has a chamber that turns liquid nicotine into a puff of vapour, giving the sense of smoking a regular cigarette without all the chemicals that are present in regular cigarette smoke. Smokers get the nicotine hit and the smoking experience without all of the health risks of cigarette smoking.

Electronic cigarettes contain nicotine cartridges, which are interchangeable and available in different strengths. This allows a person to gradually reduce the amount of nicotine they consume by switching to liquids with less nicotine content. The cost of electronic cigarettes is much less than regular tobacco products. You can even purchase the cartridges in different flavours and have a customised smoking experience.

Although electronic cigarettes are much healthier than tobacco, nicotine is an addictive substance. If you are not a smoker, you should not start. If, however, you are a smoker and you are looking for a way to reduce or quit smoking, the e-cigarette may well be the way to go.

Partly because e-cigarettes have been around for only a few years, there is not a great amount of scientific research into their safety and effectiveness as a quit smoking product. This has led some people and organisations to express caution about electronic cigarettes, with some even taking a critical stance towards them. Some countries have even gone so far as to ban them. The scientific evidence that does exist, however, is very positive and supports the contention that e-cigarettes are both safe and effective. The following discussion is a review of the results of two recent experiments into electronic cigarettes.

University of Catania study

The first study was conducted at the University of Catania and was headed by Dr Ricardo Polosa. It found that 8.7 per cent of participants stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes for a period of at least 12 months. The quitting rate was 4 per cent for those who did not use nicotine, but rose to 13 per cent if the participant used nicotine. The subject population consisted of 300 Italian men and women, and the research was conducted over a two year period from 2010 to 2012. In an interview with Reuters, Dr Polosa stated that “I think the main message of the study is that we can use these products as an extraordinary tobacco control tool”.

University of East Anglia study

A second experiment was conducted by researchers at the University of East Anglia. The subject population consisted of 1,347 people and was spread over 33 countries. The researchers found that 70 per cent of participants reported a reduction in their urge to smoke. More importantly, 74 per cent reported that they had either quit smoking or reduced their consumption of tobacco cigarettes after a six week period. The study also found that those who quit smoking with the e-cigarette, were able to quit using the e-cigarette at a later date.

Conclusions

It should be noted that these are only two experiments on electronic cigarettes out of many more. They have been chosen because of their large number of participants and because they were published recently. Of course, they are not the final word on e-cigarettes; indeed, the University of New Zealand in Auckland has recently announced that it will be conducting research into e-cigarettes. The research will involve 650 participants and will look at the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as a quit smoking tool in comparison to nicotine inhalers, gums and patches. The results should be very interesting.