Benefits of Stopping Smoking and Switching From Cigarettes
Smoke-free alternatives are not cessation aids, but if you’re not ready to stop smoking, there are many benefits of switching from smoking cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives instead. An important factor in the case of many smoke-free products, such as vapes and heated tobacco products, is they do not work in the same way that cigarettes do. Smoke-free products typically work without combustion, and they do not burn tobacco. When a cigarette burns, the cigarette smoke releases thousands of harmful chemicals. This poses irritation not only to you but to others around you, too. By removing the burning, the number of harmful chemicals is reduced.
The main benefit of stopping smoking is the reduced risk. Health risks won’t disappear overnight, but they could decrease with time. After the first few days of quitting cigarettes, an adult smoker experiences a significant reduction in exposure to toxicants. Within three to six months, potential effects of quitting smoking include decreased coughing and shortness of breath.
How Are Smoke-Free Alternatives Different to Smoking?
For adult smokers looking to quit smoking, the best decision is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether. However, for those adult smokers switching to a smoke-free alternative, there are several options available that are overall a better choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes. These smoke-free alternatives may offer a number of improvements from continued smoking.
Heated tobacco products heat tobacco instead of burning it. This differs from cigarettes, which undergo combustion to deliver tobacco to the adult smoker.
Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, heat up and vapourise e-liquid to produce vapour for consumption. Common e-liquid ingredients include Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerine, nicotine and flavourings. Some e-liquids contain tobacco flavourings – a key difference from tobacco-containing cigarettes. Furthermore, vapes do not involve combustion as they heat e-liquid instead of burning it.
Nicotine pouches are an oral smokeless cigarette alternative. Adult users place a pouch in their mouth where it delivers nicotine. Nicotine pouches typically do not contain tobacco. They usually contain nicotine, flavourings and a gum base.
Smoke-Free Alternative: IQOS
For those adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes, exploring IQOS smoke-free alternatives may be one option. In fact, the majority of smokers who switch to IQOS completely quit cigarettes.* IQOS is a heated tobacco product that utilises heat not burn technology to heat tobacco instead of burning it. This prevents combustion, one of the most harmful factors in a cigarette.
* PMI Financials or estimates, IQOS user panels and PMI Market Research.
IQOS Benefits to the Adult User
Harm Reduction
A reduction in harm is one key difference when comparing IQOS to smoking cigarettes. The reduction of risk that comes with IQOS - when compared to the risk of continued cigarette smoking - can be a significant factor in an adult smoker’s decision to switch. It is important to note that the best way to minimise smoking-related risks is to quit tobacco and nicotine consumption altogether. Smoke-free products are not risk-free and contain nicotine, which is addictive.
IQOS has extensive and robust clinical evidence* showing that using IQOS presents less risk to your health than continuing to smoke combustible cigarettes.
Harm reduction is not the only potential improvement from cigarettes when it comes to IQOS. Other elements to consider as an adult smoker switching to IQOS are the hygiene, convenience and taste-related benefits.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: IQOS is not risk-free and provides nioctine, which is addictive.
* Based on the totality of evidence available for IQOS in comparison with continuing to smoke.
Taste
IQOS delivers real tobacco taste, without the smoke.* Studies showed that the satisfaction of those who completely switched to IQOS is comparable to those who continued to smoke cigarettes.*
* 3 month clinical studies conducted in US and Japan with 160 adult smokers each under conditions (ambulatory).
Hygiene and Convenience
IQOS produces less smell than cigarettes*, and IQOS leaves less lingering smell on hands, hair and clothes than cigarettes.* IQOS produces no ash and, unlike cigarettes, IQOS has no risk of burning others around you, pets, clothes, and furniture as there is no lit end. Adult smokers who switched to IQOS say that their breath smells better than it did with cigarettes.*
Teeth stains are another aspect that may be of some interest to adult smokers making the switch from cigarettes. Did you know IQOS leaves significantly less stains on your teeth** than cigarettes? Furthermore, IQOS will not stain your fingers.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If teeth are already stained, switching to IQOS will not reverse the colour of those stains.
* Market research studies conducted in a number of countries with Iegal age nicotine users that either currently smoke cigarettes or smoked cigarettes in the past.
** Non-clinical laboratory study conducted in Switzerland with IQOS aerosol on human teeth and the most widely used dental composites. Contrary to real world conditions, teeth were not exposed to other staining substances which may influence the results.
Examples of Harm Reduction in IQOS
When we consider harm reduction, this essentially involves reducing any damaging and harmful factors that pose a risk. Although switching to IQOS heated tobacco from continued cigarette smoking does not remove the risk completely, it may reduce some of these risks.
Harm Reduction From Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide, abbreviated as CO, is an odourless, colourless toxic gas. It is produced in large amounts when some things burn, like fuels, wood, or the tobacco in cigarettes; and it is so famously harmful that most of us have alarms to warn of its presence in our homes.
When CO is inhaled, it is absorbed through your lungs into your bloodstream and reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to your body, affecting your brain, heart and muscles.
This may result in the heart working harder to get enough oxygen to all parts of your body. Your heart itself receives less oxygen, which may contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases.
Many people wrongly assume that the same must be true of any smoking alternative that uses tobacco. However, IQOS doesn’t burn tobacco, but heats it, producing on average 98% less carbon monoxide and significantly lower levels of other harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes.*
Therefore, switching completely to IQOS significantly reduces the level of carbon monoxide in your body compared to continued smoking.
Learn more on the important information page.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This does not mean a 98% reduction in risk, and carbon monoxide is only one of many harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke. IQOS is not risk-free, and provides nicotine which is addictive.
* We measured the levels of certain harmful chemicals prioritised for reporting by renowned public health organisations, and these are reduced on average by 95% compared to the smoke of a cigarette (nicotine excluded).
Impact on Others
Cigarettes expose others to cigarette smoke – IQOS doesn't. IQOS doesn’t produce cigarette smoke or second-hand smoke. It produces a tobacco vapour that contains significantly less harmful chemicals*, resulting in less impact on the air around you and others compared to cigarette smoke.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: IQOS is not risk-free for you or others around you.
* Average reductions in levels of a range of harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) compared to the smoke of a reference cigarette.
Discover how to switch to heated tobacco. Or, switch from cigarettes and shop for IQOS ORIGINALS DUO today.
IQOS smoke-free alternatives are not alternatives to quitting and are not designed as cessation aids. IQOS is not risk-free and provides nicotine, which is addictive.
Smoke-Free Alternative: VEEBA
For an adult smoker considering a vape device, VEEBA is a disposable vaping product that may offer potential benefits over continued cigarette smoking. VEEBA is a better choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes. What potential benefits may an adult user expect?
Smell
As an adult smoker, recurring cigarette smells may be an issue. It could be interesting to know that VEEBA produces less smell than cigarettes.* As VEEBA produces less smell than cigarettes, it is less likely to bother people around you.** Furthermore, VEEBA does not leave bad odour.*** Consumers who switched to VEEBA say that their breath smells better than it did with cigarettes.****
* 95% agreement amongst 311 adult consumers in Canada, 2022.
** 94% agreement amongst 311 adult consumers in Canada, 2022.
*** 91% agreement amongst 311 adult consumers in Canada, 2022.
**** 86% agreement amongst 311 adult consumers in Canada, 2022.
Enjoy taste consistency every time with VEEBA. Shop for VEEBA online.
VEEBA is not risk-free as it provides nicotine, which is highly addictive. VEEBA is not an alternative to quitting and is not designed as a cessation aid.
Learn more about heated tobacco, the switching journey and the different IQOS products available.
