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The hookah is an Indian or Persian “appliance” that is used to smoke tobacco. Tobacco smoking is not native to the Indian subcontinent and was introduced by Europeans when they came to trade. The hookah however was invented by the Indians because it was considered a better way to smoke tobacco than in the form of cigarettes or cigars.

There is some confusion as to who exactly invented the Hookah, and that its origins could either be Indian or Persian. Be that as it may, the bottom line is that the hookah system is native to India and Iran and the region in-between. The hookah was considered a better way to smoke because the water in it was supposed to ‘purify’ the smoke. Also other flavous could be added to the smoke by mixing fruit juices, mint etc to the water.

Although the hookah died down in popularity and was used only in small, traditional pockets, it is now once again becoming popular, and there are a number of ‘hookah parlors’ where people come to relax and smoke. The common belief is that the hookah is not as harmful as the cigarette.

Before we go into that, let us first look at what exactly the hookah is.

What is the hookah?

The hookah is actually quite a simple contraption. Most of the complication comes from the design of the elements to make it look better. It consists of a bowl or water jar at the bottom that contains the water. The upper part of this jar contains the outlet for the pipes from which the smoke is drawn out. The ‘body’ or the stem which brings the smoke down into the water jar also comes down into the jar so that it opens out under the level of the water in it.

The upper part of the stem is shaped into the form of a bowl into which the tobacco is placed. There is a metal mesh or perforated plate that is placed above the bowl where the heated coals are kept. Lastly the coals are covered by a cap that prevents wind from going in and increasing the rate of burn of the tobacco.

The outside is usually very elaborately decorated and the construction can be out of anything, starting from clay to metal or even ceramic.

Is smoking from the hookah better than smoking cigarette?

Most people think that this is fact. Actually the statement is both true and false. This is because volume for volume, the hookah has much less nicotine in it than cigarette smoke does. It is also totally false because other things such as tar and carbon monoxide are much higher.

What most people think is that it is the nicotine in the cigarette that is bad for you. While it is the nicotine that gives the ‘pick-me-up’ that is associated with the cigarette, the cause of all our health problems are the tar and carbon monoxide that we inhale along with the nicotine.

Also most people don’t seem to realize that when we use the hookah we inhale much more smoke than we do when we smoke a cigarette. Research as showed that most average cigarette smokers inhale between 8 and 12 puffs per cigarette each puff translating to about 50 ml of smoke. The total volume of smoke inhaled is therefore between 400 ml and 600 ml.

A hookah however lasts much longer, from anywhere between 35 min to a hour. Also the volume of smoke that is inhaled per puff is much larger and studies show that a hookah user inhales about 500 ml of smoke per puff. And considering the duration for which a hookah is smoked this can be between 150 – 200 puffs. Work out how much more smoke you are inhaling with a hoohak.

Smoking one cigarette usually gives about 1.74 mg of nicotine, while one puff of the hookah gives about 2.96 mg of nicotine. Considering that one puff of a hookah is equal to one whole cigarette, the difference in the volume of nicotine is not that high which is what gives rise to the myth that the hookah is safer. What is not calculated is the total number of puffs on the hookah that is taken which means that the total volume of nicotine inhaled is much higher in a hookah.

Then comes the tar and carbon monoxide. One cigarette gives about 22.3 mg of tar while one session with a hookah can give more than 800 mg of tar. The tar that you get (and it is the tar in the cigarette that is carcinogenic) from the hookah is equal to about 36 cigarettes, and most of us don’t smoke that much every day.

The amount of carbon monoxide that you get is also 8 times more than you get from a single cigarette.

And the hookah is just as addictive as a cigarette because it gives you so much nicotine in one session. Most cigarette smokers do not smoke so many cigarettes within a span of 1 hr.

So while ml for ml, hookah smoke may contain less nicotine, considering the amount of smoke that is inhaled the hookah actually gives you more of everything that a cigarette gives. And this is without taking into consideration the heavy metals that are vaporised from the coal and from the use of metal plates. Although there is not much research on what exactly the effects are of these heavy metals on our health, most heavy metals are considered carcinogenic to us.

So in short, the hookah is just as bad if not worse than smoking cigarettes. In fact we will go one step further and say that any kind of smoking is bad for health.

Related articles

• Understanding Nicotine Addiction (everydayhealth.com)
• The “New” Cigarette We’re All Smoking (Myself Included) (fancyayancey.wordpress.com)
• Are Herbal and ‘Natural’ Cigarettes Safer? (everydayhealth.com)

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Hummus is a native middle eastern food that is eaten by almost all cultures that are in the region. In fact it is considered a staple in many of the countries where it is natively eaten. Lately however in the west, hummus has caught the fancy of diet planners because it is a very healthy food and is supposed to be low in calories. Also it is available in stores pre-cooked, which makes it all the more easy to eat.

Most serious weight watchers though understand that there is really no “free” food. Everything we eat has calories in it and it is basically up to our diet plan to ensure that we get the right amount of calories without sacrificing any of the essential nutrients that we need. In this light, how good is hummus really?

This is what this article is about.

What is Hummus?

Hummus is a dip that is made from chickpeas and tahini which is nothing but sesame seed paste. There are other ingredients too like ginger, garlic and olive oil, which are added for taste and flavor. Also because it is so widely consumed there are minor variations and additions to this base which results in geographical differences in the taste of the hummus.

Most of the ingredients that go into hummus, apart from the chickpeas, tahini and the olive oil are so sparingly used that they are of no consequence in calorie counts. Unfortunately though, all three of the important ingredients are also very high in fat content.

Yet it is still a very healthy food because of its nutritive nature. Chickpeas for example is very high in protein and fiber apart from giving you unsaturated fats which are much healthier than saturated fats. The same is the case for the olive oil and the tahini. So there is really nothing unhealthy about it.

What is the calorie breakdown of hummus?

If you are serious about including hummus in your diet, then the best thing that you can do is to make it yourself. It’s not that difficult and will also ensure that you can mix and match to get the taste you want with the lowest amount of calories. This is because one scoop of a canned hummus will give you roughly about 25 calories. Considering that most people liberally spread the hummus on their crackers, bread or chips just 4 scoops can give you 100 calories which is not that good.

Most of these calories come from the proportion of the ingredients. For example one half cup of hummus will give you about 9.5 gms of protein and 17.5 gms of carbohydrates. It also gives you 7.5 gms of fiber that makes you feel full for much longer by slowing down the digestion of the carbohydrates. This means that you get about 30% of the daily required dose of dietary fiber, quite a bit of protein and only about 200 calories from a half cup of hummus.

And this is with normally prepared hummus with a liberal inclusion of both olive oil as well as tahini. If you are going to reduce the amount of tahini, or even cut it out altogether you can reduce a lot of the calorie content in the hummus. You can also reduce the amount of olive oil used. The oil only gives the texture, and if you are ok with plain water, you will be cutting a lot of fat and calories from your meal.

So is hummus good or not?

Well, the simplest answer is that hummus is a very good, healthy food to eat. As to whether it is fattening or not depends a lot on where you get your hummus from and how much you eat. If you are an average person and you are trying to cut down on your intake to reduce, then you are probably looking at about 1500 calories a day. So if you are going to use hummus sparingly, or are going to use it as a dip or spread and are not going to use more than a half cup of hummus then it integrates very well in your diet plan.

If on the other hand you are using store bought hummus, even if you use the same amount of hummus, the calorie count will be higher. And the more of it you eat, the more calories you get. This puts pressure on your diet plan because you have to eat food that gives you other nutrients too without going over the target calorie count.

Hummus is very good food, but when eaten in large quantities may not be all that good for you, especially if you are trying to cut down on your calorie intake. If you are relatively fit and work out regularly however, it can be very beneficial to you because it gives you so much more nutrients than most other food. Especially for vegans, this is a very good thing because finding a good source of protein without eating meat is not an easy thing.

Related articles

• Hummus in 10 Minutes! (foodsventures.wordpress.com)
• The Prudent Pantry: Ideas for Healthy Snacks While on a Diet (savings.com)
• Spicy Garlic Hummus (spicesandspackle.com)