Does Pipe Smoking Reduce Stress and/or Blood Pressure?

[rick3wood]

“I don’t inhale” is a classic example of pipe smokers justifying a bad habit

 

[bullet08]

“I don’t inhale” is a classic example of pipe smokers justifying a bad habit

Wait! I heard that before! Let me think.. Slick Willie!!!

 

[Merton]

I can admit that (pipe) smoking is a harmful and unhealthy habit that can potentially lead to the deterioration of health. But I believe that the biggest plague of our times is stress, anxiety and loneliness. I believe that the one who eats well, smokes well and lives in peace will probably be healthier than those who live in a squirrel wheel under constant stress and pressure while maintaining a superficially healhty lifestyle.

Yeah we shouldn't kid ourselves into thinking that pipe smoking is something healthy on its own. But don't forget that there are thousands of people out there who kid themselves into thinking that the only thing they should do for the sake of their health is avoiding alcohol, red meat and smoking. I'm telling you, the biggest murderers are stress, loads of stress and isolation, loneliness, the lack of joy and peace.

Great picture. frank, of course, was a cigarette smoker (Camels) but early in his career he idolized Bing and would sometimes smoke a pipe. Both Frank and Bing were great! I am very familiar with the stress reduction benefits that pipe smoking yields in our profession.

 

[Lumbridge]

Tobacco use just isn't healthy, and that's a fact.

Eating fast food frequently, drinking large volumes of alcohol, and sitting all day are all probably even worse for one's health than pipe smoking, but many people who would frown on tobacco might also readily partake of those.

Smoking a pipe has a 100% chance of putting me in a better mood. I don't really do it that much, but I enjoy it immensely when I do, so it's a risk that I've decided I'm willing to take. The benefits outweigh the risk, in my mind, but trying to rationalize an unhealthy behavior by pretending that it is healthy is just nonsense.

 

[OverMountain]

Funny this thread popping back up. I was looking for something else in the last few weeks and stumbled on an article I will link below. It was specifically about pipe smoking, and even mentions a common refrain given by smokers (that it's healthier than cigarettes), which is apparently a misunderstanding of the original study. Though an interesting tidbit at the end: "Evidence suggests that while cigarette smoking has dropped 39% from 2000 to 2015, pipe smoking has jumped 556.4%."

It's just boggling to me that people try to justify vices, or feel the need to. Some things aren't healthy, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as you've made that informed choice for yourself and understand the risks. Which are just that, risks and not guarantees. And there's nothing wrong with trying to be safer or healthier in your vices (like through moderation for example), but it does nobody any good to try to bend over backwards and kid yourself about realities.

Here's the article:

Why Pipe Smoking Is Still Bad For You, Even If You Don’t Inhale

There are a lot of myths about pipe smoking being safer than other kinds of smoking. In reality, pipe smoking exposes you to many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking does.

www.healthline.com

We pipe smokers are an insidious lot…

 

[Ash Cooper]

What a helpful thread! Thanks everyone for posting.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

To answer the original post, threads like this do nothing to reduce stress, and only add to people's increase in blood pressure as it can be a sensitive subject for some and a heated subject for others. LOL
Just enjoy what you want and live how you want to live.

 

[Servant King]

Enjoy your pipe in silence.

Most "medical" information nowadays is bullshit anyway. So why bother and STRESS about trying to fit within some parameters that somebody arbitrarily designed as "healthy"?

Modern and contemporary medicine is flawed right from the get-go by focusing solely on the lesser component of a human being, and a little bit on the second lesser. Medicasters conveniently ignore the major two.

A human being is made of Spirit, Soul, Mind, and Body—listed in order of importance there, yet most people concern and obsess themselves over the last named, and a bit about the Mind.

Pipe smoking affects and effects all four. There's more to stress relief than just blood pressure, just like there's more to you than just the things you can see and gauge.

Whatever the truth is, the establishment is NOT going to accept it, because it's inimical and inconvenient to their aims and goals. NOBODY is going to fund an honest study. Forget it.

Focus on your personal experience with your pipe. You'll be less stressed out that way.

^^^^ THIS

 

[Laurent]

I’m no doctor but, I feel that maybe the part of smoking a pipe to relieve stress is not the tobacco or even smoking the pipe that relaxes you and may lower your stress. It’s the fact that many of us have a place we feel comfortable in and doing something we enjoy therefore, removing us from the worries of the world for a moment. We put on music, or a movie, or read a book while smoking. We stop thinking about our problems for a moment. I’ve read all kinds of articles showing benefits of nicotine, hell even during Covid and how maybe it helped but, I’m not a doctor. Theres all kinds of arguments people could make, but I think it’s just finding something that makes you happy in life. Anxiety and stress exist when we don’t face our problems head on.

 

[Laurent]

Here’s a funny tobacco to life story. My grandpa smoked cigarettes until he was 45. After he quit he started chewing. When he started chewing and therefore spitting, my grandmother yelled at him and told him he had to quit if he was going to be spitting all over. My grandpa lived to 90 and chewed up to the day he died, skoal was his choice. He never spit only when he was done. I’m assuming he swallowed all that juice. Now I now there’s a pun here about my grandpa spitting or swallowing, but either the man had good genetics, stomach of steel, or that’s his luck. Who knows

 

[Tate]

My average resting heart rate has dropped pretty impressively since switching from cigarettes to only a pipe. Average blood pressure hasn't changed but still in optimal range.

I think it's a mix of better lung function and pipe smoking is more relaxing. Just my experience now that I'm about 3 months in.

 

[Zero]

I have a pretty low resting heart rate at the age of 51 and so does my sister and mother. But what makes me laugh at myself is when I'm smoking a pipe while driving to work and I find myself cussing and flying the bird at all these dumbasses and assholes on the road. I think to myself that this is suppose to be a relaxing event, I'm not representing being a pipe smoker very well I had a high sodium diet this day before bed and my BP is elevated, but my resting hr is low.

 

[Python 357]

it definitely raises my BP, as the wife always yells at me when I smoke in the house. Lol

 

[Zero]

it definitely raises my BP, as the wife always yells at me when I smoke in the house. Lol

Yeah, I can recall being able to feel my pulse pound in my neck and a ringing in my ears when my wife would yell and nag. Ugh...I eventually learned meditation techniques to not be so reactive to her tone, pitch, and relentless bitching. Go to your happy place...