Cigars, which probably originated in Spain, have been embedded in popular culture and social life all around Europe and America for several centuries. Today cigar smoking is considered to be as elitist as wine-tasting. It has become one of the idiosyncrasies of those in the upward rungs of society.
The major attraction of cigars is in their method of manufacture. Even today, most cigars are wrapped by hand. Cigars contain three types of tobacco leaves – one for the external wrapping, second for the inner filler and a third one for binding the filler together. Hence, cigar smoke contains a unique blend of three types of tobacco flavors, quite unlike cigarette smoke which contains only one type of tobacco.
Cigars can be flavored. There are chocolate, apple, vanilla and coffee-flavored cigars. People who smoke cigars savor these various essences. A good quality cigar smoke will have just a fragrant flavor without any smoky aftertaste. Classic Cuban cigars, in fact, have no smoky taste at all.
However, the tobacco leaves that go into the making of a cigar contain nicotine. Nicotine is an artificial stimulant of the nervous system. It creates a false feeling of euphoria. More dangerously, nicotine is an addictive carcinogen. Cigar smoke also contains ammonia, tar and benzene. Ammonia is known to increase the addictive nature of tobacco. Tar is a sticky substance which can cause paralysis of the lung. Benzene is a carcinogen. Smoke emanating from a cigar also contains harmful metals like lead and cadmium, both of which are banned in food products in many countries. In all, there are about 4,000 chemicals in cigar smoke, 43 of which are proven carcinogens.
Cigars are smoked in a unique manner. A cigar smoker swirls the smoke inside the mouth and then exhales it. A connoisseur of cigars would never inhale the cigar fumes. This has led to the misconception that cigars are harmless. However, it has been seen that cigars also cause of cancers, emphysema and cardiovascular disorders. The incidences of death are fewer than those among cigarette smokers, but higher than those of nonsmokers.
Also, a cigar is smoked for a longer period of time. A single cigar can introduce as many of the harmful ingredients within the body as a whole pack of cigarettes. Even though cigars may use filters and flavors to mask the disastrous effect, they are still fatally addictive.
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