Lauren Carlstrom, O+ Team Member |

Why Smokers Need Oxygen

It's widely known that smoking cigarettes and cigars significantly impact lung and circulatory function. But did you know that smoking cannabis and vaping can produce similar effects to cigarettes in terms of how the substance impacts the body's oxygen supply? Even occasional use can inhibit the body's ability to take in and use the oxygen needed for optimum cellular function. That's why those who vape or smoke tobacco and marijuana need to learn how what they are choosing to inhale can affects the body, and how they can still get the oxygen their body needs to function at peak levels.

Chemicals 1, Oxygen 0

Burning tobacco or marijuana causes numerous harmful chemicals to enter your body. In the case of cigarettes, more than 7,000 chemicals are released every time you light up (What's In a Cigarette?). By far the most dangerous of these is carbon monoxide. When this "silent killer" enters your lungs, it does so in place of the oxygen that would have entered. Not only that, but carbon monoxide successfully impersonates the oxygen molecule and attaches itself to red blood cells, preventing them from carrying the good stuff (oxygen) to various body tissues (Bryant).

While, overall, cannabis and vaping are considered safer than cigarettes - and, in some cases, are medical aids or prescriptions - cannabis and vaping have a similar depleting effect on your body's oxygen levels as cigarettes. In fact, studies show that smoking marijuana can release far greater amounts of carbon monoxide than a similar amount of tobacco (Wu et al). And while e-cigarettes may be smoke-free, vaping releases nicotine into the lungs, which inhibits their ability to take in oxygen. In fact, a recent study has shown that even nicotine-free vaping can cause lung inflammation and loss of barrier function (Schweitzer et al).

How to Feed Oxygen-Starved Cells

In all of these cases, people who smoke and vape are significantly reducing the amount of oxygen their body can take in. Smoking a pack of cigarettes in a day can reduce your oxygen levels up to 15 percent (Bryant). These low levels can lead to symptoms such as shortness of breath, brain fog, coughing and wheezing that hinder physical performance and mental clarity. It can also lead to you breathing faster to get the oxygen you need as well as your heart pumping faster to deliver it throughout your body.

As a result, to enhance their overall well-being, more and more regular and occasional smokers and people who enjoy vaping are turning to portable oxygen canisters to get more O2 to their brain and body. Recreational oxygen canisters, like Oxygen Plus (O+), are designed to quickly restore your body's depleted oxygen levels back to normal, healthy levels. By keeping these lightweight canisters on-hand, professional athletes and wellness-minded cannabis users alike can feel and perform better - whenever, where ever, whatever their up to.

O+O+O+O+

"What's In a Cigarette?" American Lung Association. Web. 4 May 2017.

Bryant CW. "How Does Smoking Starve Your Heart of Oxygen?" HowStuffWorks.com. 8 Sept. 2008. Web. 4 May 2017.

Moss MC, Scholey AB, Wesnes K, "Oxygen Administration Selectively Enhances Cognitive Performance in Healthy Young Adults: a Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Crossover Study," Journal of Psychopharmacology, 1998 Dec;138:27-33

Schweitzer KS, Chen SX, Law S, Van Demark MJ, Poirier C, Justice MJ, Hubbard WC, Kim ES, Lai X, Wang M et al, "Endothelial Disruptive Pro-Inflammatory Effects of Nicotine and E-Cigarette Vapor Exposures," American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 2015 Jul 15;309(2):L175-87

Wu TC, Tashkin DP, Diahed B, Rose JE, "Pulmonary Hazards of Smoking Marijuana as Comparted With Tobacco," New England Journal of Medicine, 1988 Feb 11;318(6):347-51