Snus side effects and long-term effects

Snus is originally a sucking tobacco from Scandinavia. If you want to buy snus today, you also have to look at the tobacco-free variants. In fact, there are now also tobacco-free variants called nicotine pouches, as the contents are packaged in small pouches that are shoved into the mouth. Here you can find out what side effects these nicotine pouches have and why they are less harmful to health than cigarettes.

What are nicotine pouches made of and how do they work?

Instead of tobacco, as in classic snus, nicotine pouches use plant fibers. The nicotine enters the fibers as an additive in the form of nicotine salts. These are then enriched with water and humectants as well as flavorings.

The pouches are placed between the oral mucosa and the upper lip. When the plant fibers become moist, the nicotine and flavor are released. The nicotine passes through the mucous membrane into the bloodstream and finally into the brain, where it releases the happiness hormone dopamine and triggers a good feeling. Thus, the effect of nicotine pouches is exactly the same as smoking cigarettes.

What are the side effects of nicotine pouches?

While the effect is the same as smoking, the side effects of nicotine pouches are very manageable, unlike cigarettes. When consuming snus in the form of nicotine pouches, only nicotine is absorbed by the body, reducing the side effects to just this one harmful substance: It is addictive and can cause vasoconstriction, which promotes cardiovascular disease.

All the other pollutants contained in cigarette smoke, however, are not produced in the first place because the plant fibers in the pouches are not burned. Cigarette smoke contains an abundance of pollutants that are created by the combustion process. One of these pollutants is tar. It gums up lung tissue and is responsible for lung cancer.

In Sweden, where the consumption of Swedish snus has been very popular for several decades, the smoking rate is lower than in other EU countries (cf. 7% in Sweden, 24.5% in Germany). The number of lung cancer cases measured by the number of inhabitants is also significantly lower in Sweden than in many other EU countries, as in statistics already documented has been shown.

It can be concluded that the consumption of snus is less harmful than the consumption of cigarettes, which is also obvious, because nicotine pouches contain only nicotine as a pollutant. This variant of tobacco or nicotine consumption is therefore also described by scientists as the least harmful, because the combustion process is omitted.

What are the long-term consequences of using nicotine pouches?

Nicotine is an addictive substance. Therefore, similar to smoking cigarettes, the consumption of nicotine pouches also creates dependence and habituation of the body over time.

Depending on the strength of consumption, a yellow discoloration of the teeth may also occur, but this is less intense when using nicotine pouches than when smoking cigarettes. Other advantages that nicotine pouches have over cigarettes are:

• no yellow fingers
• no smell of cold smoke
• no danger to bystanders (as with passive smoking)
• no need to go to smoking areas for consumption
• no interruptions at work, because pouches can be consumed discreetly

Make sure that the nicotine content is appropriate when selecting the product

If you want to buy snus in the form of nicotine pouches, you should pay attention to the nicotine content so that the side effects can be kept within limits. Many stores offer numerous different nicotine strengths from "light" to "extremely strong".

The light variants usually have a nicotine content of 6mg to 8mg per Pouches. The Extreme Strong variants on the other side of the spectrum have a nicotine content of 21mg to 65mg. By comparison: An ordinary cigarette has a nicotine content of 9mg.

First-time users therefore prefer to select a light variety, while professionals or heavy smokers who want to switch can reach for a stronger variety. For everyone in between, varieties with a moderate nicotine content of 20mg or less are suitable, such as the tobacco-free snus from Velo.