How Safe Is Vaping Without Nicotine?

There’s a famous quote about cigarettes: People smoke for the nicotine, but they die from the tar. The quote refers to the fact that nicotine isn’t the primary harmful component of tobacco smoke – it’s just the primary addictive component. Although nicotine isn’t without its risks, it’s also not the main element of cigarette smoke that sends millions of smokers around the world to early graves every year.

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Medical experts are largely in agreement that vaping products from vape shops such as Simply ELiquid are dramatically less risky than cigarettes. Although vape devices do traditionally contain nicotine, they don’t contain tar. They also don’t contain the many thousands of other harmful chemicals present in cigarettes.

Switching from smoking to vaping is likely to have a dramatic effect on your long-term health outlook. You’ll also feel better in the near term – and you’ll save a lot of money as well. Once you’ve made the switch successfully, though, another question might come to your mind. Is it possible to reduce your health risk even more by switching to nicotine-free vapes? Could it even be possible that it’s completely safe to vape if you don’t use nicotine?

In this article, we’ll attempt to provide a balanced view on the potential health effects of vaping without nicotine. The short answer to your question, however, it this: Whether nicotine-free e-liquids are safer to use than regular e-liquids hasn’t been definitively established. Although researchers haven’t made a full determination on the safety profile of nicotine-free vaping, though, we can at least provide some useful background information that might make the decision easier for you.

What Are the Known Side Effects of Nicotine?

Nicotine may not be the thing that causes most smokers to die early, but that doesn’t mean it is without risks. Here are just a few of the prominent known side effects of nicotine use.

  • Nicotine passes to the unborn foetus during pregnancy and can cause birth defects. It also presents certain health risks for the child later in life, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
  • Nicotine can also cause circulatory problems for those who use it, such as hypertension, coronary artery disease and poor blood flow to the brain.
  • Nicotine causes insulin resistance and can lead to the development of diabetes.
  • Nicotine harms sleep quality and can cause sleep disturbances, insomnia and abnormal dreams.

The current view of the World Health Organization is that nicotine does not cause cancer. However, the above side effects are certainly very serious for those who experience them. Vaping without nicotine would mean that you’d eliminate or heavily reduce those risks.

Is Vaping Without Nicotine Better?

So far, you’ve learned from reading this article that vaping without nicotine could have the potential to eliminate any risks of vaping stemming solely from the consumption of nicotine. However, that doesn’t mean vaping without nicotine has no risks whatsoever. Even nic free, vaping still means that you’re inhaling vegetable glycerine, propylene glycol and flavouring chemicals. Thinking about the situation logically, it seems highly unlikely that inhaling any substance not found naturally in the environment could be as safe as inhaling plain air. So, while using a nicotine-free vape may safer than using nicotine, it’s very unlikely to be completely safe in absolute terms.

Since vaping exists primarily as a way to help smokers discontinue their usage of tobacco, the only extensive studies that have taken place so far have evaluated the safety of vaping with nicotine because that’s the way most people vape. The exact risk profile of nicotine-free vaping is still unknown.

One of the reasons why people want to know if vaping without nicotine is safe is because they aren’t smokers and want to try vaping for other reasons – as a diet aid, for instance, or simply because they want to enjoy the different flavours. Given the fact that vaping without nicotine is not without risk, the only logical position to take here is that you shouldn’t vape if you don’t smoke. If you’re a smoker, switching to vaping definitely reduces the risk to your health. Vaping if you aren’t a tobacco user, on the other hand, adds a new risk that’s completely unnecessary.

Nicotine-free e-liquid exists as a way to wean yourself off of vape juices with higher nicotine levels, potentially helping you reach a point at which you’re no longer using nicotine at all. Some people who switch from smoking to vaping continue to vape indefinitely and have no interest in quitting; they’re happy just to have quit smoking. Others, though, want to eventually stop using all forms of nicotine. The easiest way to do that is by gradually reducing the nicotine strength of your e-liquid until you reach a final strength of 0 mg/ml – no nicotine at all. At that point, you can simply quit vaping if you like.

Is Vaping Without Nicotine Satisfying?

One of the reasons why many vapers are hesitant to try nicotine-free e-liquids is because they’re worried that the experience won’t be satisfying. How could vaping possibly be satisfying if vaping doesn’t do anything for your nicotine cravings and doesn’t replicate the throat hit of smoking? As it turns out, though, it’s actually possible to use nicotine-free vape juice while addressing both of those issues. Here’s how to vape without nicotine and still be completely satisfied.

  • Reduce your nicotine strength very gradually. Unless you’re one of those people who can stop using nicotine right off the bat – and there are a few people for whom that’s the case – you’ll want to wean yourself off of nicotine as slowly as possible. Buy e-liquid with lower and lower nicotine strengths until you’re ready to make the final jump to nicotine-free vape juice.
  • Use a powerful vaping device to generate the biggest clouds possible. Vape mods are the most popular devices among those who vape without nicotine. If you’re not using nicotine, using a device that delivers bold flavours will make the experience as satisfying as it can be.
  • Consider using a high-menthol e-liquid. Even in a vape juice without nicotine, menthol creates a strong sensation in the throat that’s similar to the throat hit produced by nicotine.

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