Are You A Post-Meal Smoker? Here’s What You Should Know!

Are you the one who can’t resist a smoke after having each meal? Do you belong from the section of people who need their mandatory ‘cigarette break’ after they are done with the ‘lunch break’ at their workspace! Well, this article is for you! Though smoking is anyway bad for your health, it affects your health in all the more negative ways when you take that puff post-meal. The damage is so dangerous that scientists say that one cigarette after a meal is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes.

If you happen to be a regular smoker and think that you are smoking only 1 cigarette after each meal, you are actually close to smoking around a pack of 20-30 cigarettes!

If you were still unaware of how smoking slowly damages your health, many health organizations have said that smoking is still the biggest cause of death and illness in most parts of the world, including India. The number of smokers in the country is increasing, and every smoker out there would agree that they get an uncontrollable urge of smoking a cigarette right after each meal. Well, there are proven theories to back up the statement that smoking after a meal is more harmful than just regular smoking.

Have you ever wondered why does the packet say – ‘smoking is injurious to health’? Well, there is no health benefit attached to smoking, and it leads to various respiratory problems, obesity and cancer.

Let’s look at what exactly happens after having a post-meal smoke:

You must know that the digestion process doesn’t start from your stomach; it begins as soon as your food is in your mouth! The enzymes present in your saliva initiates the digestion process. When your food enters your stomach, your stomach turns the food into a juice-like substance known as chyme. The process of absorbing the food begins in your small intestine. So your food spends roughly 4 hours in your stomach and around 3-4 hours in your small intestine. So what happens if you smoke during that period? Well, the first thing that happens is if you smoke right after a meal, your body is unable to take out all the nutrients from your food, missing out on the whole point of eating. As soon as you start eating, your digestion process gets activated. If you smoke just after finishing your meal, your body starts absorbing all the nicotine from the cigarette, and the nicotine binds with your blood. In simpler terms, your food’s nutrients are wasted, and all your body consumes is nicotine.

Another reason how post-meal smoking is bad for your body is because of the fact that your internal organs are likely to get affected due to the outburst of nicotine they are receiving. Apart from causing problems in the digestion process, post-meal smoking might also increase the chances of lung cancer and worsen bowel syndrome.