When I first started smoking hookah, I believed that it was definitely safer than smoking cigarettes or a regular pipe. Mostly, I believed this because I had heard it from a number of people, and in some ways, it just seemed to make sense. The smoke from a hookah has a much longer distance to travel from the bowl to the end of the hose, letting it cool much more than smoke from a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. It also made sense that the water in the vase would cool the smoke as it was sucked through. I had also heard that the water will filter out some of the more harmful aspects of hookah smoke.
None of that is based on any sort of study, it just just seems to make sense to me. In recent months, many news sources have picked up on the WHO article regarding health risks of hookah tobacco. It can be found here. While many news outlets have cited this as a scientific study, it is actually an advisory note, merely requesting the scientific community to do more research on the matter.
The note contains a section on health risks from hookah smoking that only addresses the amount of smoke inhaled by a hookah smoker. It makes no attempt to assert what the actual composition of this smoke is, other than to say that the water in the hookah vase actually does filter out some of the nicotine (p. 3). Clearly, more research is needed on the matter before anyone can say one way or the other if hookah smoking poses the same risks as other types of smoking.
As the debate on the dangers of hookah smoking begins to heat up, there are a growing number of people who believe that herbal (tobacco free) shisha makes a great substitute for hookah tobacco , with none of the negative effects of regular shisha. Herbal shisha is made from an herbal substitute for tobacco leaves, and you can buy it in any hookah store . Generally, other leaves that smoke in a similar fashion to tobacco leaves are best. I’ve heard of people using mint leaves as a substitute for hookah tobacco, but I’ve never tried that variation myself. The most common herbal shisha is made from tea leaves and is covered in flavored molasses, just like regular hookah tobacco.
There are several obvious advantages to herbal shisha. Herbal shisha does not contain tobacco, and therefore does not contain any nicotine. Without nicotine, herbal shisha does not have any addictive properties. Also, because there is no tobacco in herbal shisha, there is less tar, heavy metals, and other harmful chemicals than in regular hookah tobacco. This means that the long term health effects of herbal shisha are less than those of typical shisha made from tobacco. However, there are health risks associated with inhaling smoke of any kind, though the risks may vary.
I’ve smoked my fair share of both regular hookah tobacco and herbal shisha. There are two major differences in these two different varieties of shisha. The first thing you notice when you smoke herbal shisha for the first time is that the smoke clouds aren’t as big. The second thing you notice is that it doesn’t give you the same buzz that smoking hookah tobacco does. This should have been obvious, since herbal shisha doesn’t contain tobacco, but somehow it caught me by surprise the first time I smoked herbal shisha. Herbal shisha is covered with the same varieties of flavored molasses that hookah tobacco is, so smoking it tastes nearly the same as smoking regular shisha.
In short, the jury is still out on the health risks of smoking any kind of hookah shisha. For the hookah smoker who would prefer to avoid nicotine, herbal shisha is a fantastic substitute for conventional hookah tobacco.