Tobacco Smoke And It's Effect On PUFA

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Cigarette smoke negatively and dose-dependently affects the biosynthetic pathway of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid series in human mammary epit... - PubMed - NCBI
"The data indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke negatively affects the synthesis of n-3 LC-PUFA from the precursor in mammary gland cells."

The in vitro effects of cigarette smoke on fatty acid metabolism are partially counteracted by simvastatin. - PubMed - NCBI
"CS decreases PUFA conversion and its effects are modulated by the opposite effect of statins. It can be speculated that statin treatments in smoking patients may provide some beneficial effects on PUFA metabolism in addition to lowering cholesterol levels." hahahah nooooo are you kidding me they ****** recommend givings smokers statins, my god.

Effects of cigarette smoke on cell viability, linoleic acid metabolism and cholesterol synthesis, in THP-1 cells. - PubMed - NCBI
"In conclusion, CS affects lipid metabolism, inhibiting LA conversion and desaturase activities. CS also shifts the "de novo" lipid synthesis from free cholesterol to TG and CE, where LA is preferentially esterified."

Basically cigarette smoke effects the conversion of shorter PUFA's to longer PUFA's. I really have no idea what this would mean in the live organism. The ROS from the cigarette smoke might balance out or it might not with the effects it has on PUFA, probably not imo. I would recommend not smoking, I smoked for over a year, it was meh.
 

michael94

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The carbon monoxide is important too. Google for carbon monoxide friend or foe. Im on mobile
 

michael94

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Hestia is a good brand for organically grown cigarettes. I emailed them to confirm that theyre in process of certification. Taste nice
 
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BigYellowLemon
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When I used to smoke cigarettes I was also eating extremely high amounts of PUFA, a huge portion of which was DHA and EPA (eek!).

Perhaps in the context of a low-fat diet, cigarettes would be helpful.

Pros:
1. Extremely high amounts of CO2
2. Lowers the synthesis of PUFA
3. All the potential benefits of nicotine (which are too much too cover in this list)
4. Harmalines, MAO inhibitor
5. Raises DHEA, pregnenolone, and testosterone, lowers estrogen, lowers prolactin, lowers nitric oxide
6. HDAC inhibitor

Cons:
1. Carbon monoxide (don't know the levels, might not be a bad thing)
2. Possibility of burnt particulates

However, look at this link: http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm.152.2.7543345?journalCode=ajrccm (The "scientists" say that reduced NO is a bad thing)

It lowers nitric oxide over the long run. It also lowers prolactin over the long run.

And considering so many centenarians (around 50% IIRC) smoked cigarettes, it is probably not nearly as harmful as people make it out to be.

Cigarettes may increase lipid peroxidation, and may increase ROS, which I am not a fan of, but they might also balance out.
 
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BigYellowLemon
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The carbon monoxide is important too. Google for carbon monoxide friend or foe. Im on mobile

I've read from a guy named "nightlight" that low doses of carbon monoxide might have some health benefits, like increased vascularization. I don't really see that as a benefit. However carbon monoxide might increase oxygen delivery to tissues IIRC.

I'll google it and get back to you.
 
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BigYellowLemon
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Hestia is a good brand for organically grown cigarettes. I emailed them to confirm that theyre in process of certification. Taste nice

That's what I've heard. I saw them recommended to Edward. I usually smoked American Spirits.
 
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BigYellowLemon
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Interestingly, I started smoking because I was thoroughly convinced at the time of the health benefits; I didn't start for any reason other than the idea that it could improve my health and cognition.
 

Peata

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Interestingly, I started smoking because I was thoroughly convinced at the time of the health benefits; I didn't start for any reason other than the idea that it could improve my health and cognition.
Did it improve them?
 
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BigYellowLemon
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Did it improve them?

At the time I was under a hell of a lot of stress and eating the most disgusting and unhealthy food (lots of canned fish, raw broccoli, fried foods), wasn't getting good sleep, consuming copious amounts of coffee. I was following the Jack Kruse diet like a fool.

At the beginning of last summer I started followng Ray Peat's dietary advice somewhat, but didn't get enough calories and was still drinking a fuckload of coffee which was very stressful.

So it's hard to say. There's too many confounding variables to say if it hurt or helped.

I'll be embarking on a PUFA-depletion diet soon, either tomorrow or the next day, and I'll probably be experimenting with cigarettes again, maybe.

Cigarettes definitely improved my cognition. When I used to drink a lot of coffee and smoke like a chimney I was in this weird hyper-focused state. My mood was usually ***t and I was neurotic like hell but it definitely helped me make connections and learn. And a major reason for feeling like ***t at the time was probably because I was unhealthy for other reasons than cigarettes and coffee, but they may have made things worse.

I seem to have retained a lot of the improvements in cognition because even when I don't use nicotine or caffeine I still possess laser like focus and attention to detail. My father, who smokes, has retained a very high level of cognition even though he drinks a bit, has sleep apnea, and eats an absolute ***t diet.

You could probably get a majority of the benefits just by using nicotine.
 
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BigYellowLemon
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Realistically I don't see cigarettes causing much problems if the organism is PUFA depleted.

Without PUFA it is very hard to create meaningful inflammation and damage, from what I know.

Most proteins and any SFA should be extremely stable, and I don't see them being damaged with normal levels of smoking.

But if there's PUFA in the body, I can see tobacco smoke definitely breaking that double C=C bond and the reactive products of that broken PUFA would be horrible for the organism.
 
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BigYellowLemon
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What do you think of snus?

I've toyed with snus, camel snus is sickly sweet and gross, general snus original flavor is expensive and gross but I bet mint tastes good.

The "benefit" of snus is that it's unfermented and pasteurized, so you can swallow the spit (which is a horrible sensation, the feeling of nicotine at the back of my throat is unpleasant).

IMO if you're gonna use tobacco orally, you might as well use nicotine gum or lozenges.

Snus and dip stain the teeth and just make your mouth kinda gross and it's a hassle messing aorund with your spit.

I like the taste of dip though, and it can be convient to use indoors, but overall gum or lozenge is better imo.

Now if you're talking health effects, I'd say I have no idea, but it's probably not great for your gums.

I think acetylcholine can be harmful if not controlled by the brain, but it is necessary for cognition, and nicotine seems to have some of the benefits of acetylcholine without some of the drawbacks.
 

ilikecats

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I've been experimenting with nicotine for the last six months. In the form of patches, gums, and snus. In my opinion it's not good. I mean there are some benefits on paper and I don't know think it's "bad" for you but it's just not optimal in my opinion.
 

ilikecats

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And nicotine gum caused severe teeth pain... and I was using the gums without the toxic artificial sweeteners (nicorette original). Yeah nicotine/tobacco does some peaty things but ray would never recommend it. That's where the benefits most likely come from... There's better ways to do the same things I think. With better results.
 

ilikecats

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Have you read rays thoughts on acetylcholine btw? He has an article called "learned helplessness: the dark side of stress" that talks about it. I think nicotine raises histamine too... I still get watery eyes from it. Haidut posted some info on how nicotine inhibits androgen synthesis. Smokers are probably able to maintain normal test levels (as seen in most studies I believe) because it's an aromatose inhibitor. See what I'm getting at? It's not bad. It's just not optimal and can maybe be problematic for certain people. That's kind of what I think about Edward Edmonds diet too lol. I mean you seem to have a better understanding of this stuff but I think these are still valid points.
 

tyler

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If by pufa depletion, you mean low fat, I wouldn't recommend it.

Low fat and tobacco is an awful combination, in my experience. I'm a regular smoker and in combination with a super low fat diet, cigarettes gave me a low mood, jitters, nervous feeling... one cigarette had me feeling like I had just ripped a hookah for a half hour.

However the buzz provided without restricted fat intake is a totally different experience. Mellow, uplifting, makes me sociable, etc.
 

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