OUR BELOVED POISONS

SMOKING

I will start nice and easy and start with what cigarettes are. They are basically rolled up paper with tobacco leaves inside. The main active ingredient in tobacco is nicotine. Nicotine is a toxic, colorless, or yellowish oily liquid that acts as a stimulant in small doses but in larger doses blocks the action of the autonomic nerve and skeletal muscle cells. Nicotine has two different effects on the body. The first are pharmacologic effects: increase heart rate, increase heart muscle oxygen consumption rate, and increase stroke volume of the heart. The second effect of nicotine are psychodynamic effects: raised level of alertness, euphoria, and sensation of being relaxed. This second effect is the addictive properties that keep people smoking for years. (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240820.php)

So now that we are addicted to smoking let's talk about to what actually happens when you inhale tobacco smoke. Let's start with the first stop for tobacco smoke. When you inhale oxygen the air goes into your lungs and you exchange this good air with the built up CO2 in our lungs. So the lungs are the main organs that bring in oxygen and as we learned a couple weeks ago, this brought in oxygen provides us with energy (VERY IMPORTANT!). So when we breathe in tobacco smoke this smoke goes into our lungs and into the small sacs called aveoli. These small sacs is where the gas exchange actually happens. Tobacco smoke damages these small sacs (think of little balloons) by making them more rigid and inflexible. This severely cuts our ability to exchange the good air for the bad air. This means that you won't be able to exchange and move oxygen near as well and as we learned before, this means that you won't be able to create as much ATP or energy. You will cause you to feel out of breath much quicker than normal.

Alveoli look like a bundle of grapes.

Another consequence of smoking is the damage it causes to the normal cleaning and repair system of your lungs. Your lungs and trachea are covered in tiny little hairs called cilia and also are covered in a thin layer of mucus. This mucus helps trap the dirt and particles that you inhale and the cilia will move that dirt back up and out of the lungs. These two little mechanisms help keep your lungs clean and healthy. When you smoke you destroy the cilia that line your trachea and lungs. This means that the dirt and pollution will get trapped in the mucus but will not be able to move back out of your lungs. Your lungs will try to move it out but the only way you can usually get it out will be by a forceful cough (aka. smoker's cough). Since you can't move it out easily you will have more dust, pollution, and chemicals from the cigarette in your lungs. These particles can put you at a higher risk for COPD, bronchitis, chest infections, and chronic cough.

Atherosclerosis- The whole red ring was the functional blood
vessel but now it is only the white area at the top.

These are two main consequences from smoking cigarettes but the cigarettes damage is far more than just in the lungs. One other main issue of cigarettes is the effects on the heart and blood vessels. The chemicals in cigarettes (which there are around 4,800 different chemicals, 70 of which are known to cause cancers) harm the blood cells. With this damage to the blood vessels in the body, a buildup of plaque can occur and this is called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a buildup of plaque in the tiny blood vessels can cause blockages of blood flow and major problems such as Coronary Heart Disease and Peripheral Arterial Disease. This disease can be a big factor in heart attacks, stroke, chest pain, numbness, and more.
(http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/smoking-health/index.html)

Smoking can cause major damage to your heart and lungs but some people will say that "I only smoke every once in a while" or "I don't smoke but my boyfriend does" I have some news for you. According to the National Institute of Heart, Lungs, and Blood, "Any amount of smoking, even light smoking or occasional smoking, damages the heart and blood vessels. For some people, such as women who use birth control pills and people who have diabetes, smoking poses an even greater risk to the heart and blood vessels." NIH Smoking Once again smoking does not only damage the heart and lungs but effects every single cell in the body including and can cause a large variety of issues in the body including:

• Osteoporosis and bone damage
• Heart Diseases
• Lung Diseases
• Vision Damage
• And has been found to cause these types of cancers:
• Lung
• Trachea
• Bronchus
• Esophagus
• Oral
• Lip
• Nasopharynx
• Nasal Cavity
• Larynx
• Stomach
• Bladder
• Pancreas
• Kidney
• Liver
• Uterine Cervix
• Colon 
• Rectum
• http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/smoking-health/

So obviously smoking can damage a very large part of your body and is not just limited to your lungs. These problems have also been found to occur in people that ingest secondhand smoke. So even if you don't smoke but are inhaling smoke from others you are very likely to see some of these problems as well as the smoker next to you. Secondhand smoke causes over 3,400 lung cancer cases and 46,000 heart disease deaths PER YEAR!! California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant: Executive Summary. June 24, 2005.

The last thing I will share about smoking is that smoking-related diseases are the number 1 preventable cause of death. So, smoking causes more deaths than any other preventable source. Around 446,000 people die each year from smoking related, preventable diseases EACH YEAR!! Around 8.6 million people have at least one serious illness at any time. Lastly, smokers die significantly earlier than nonsmokers: around 13.2 years for men and 14.5 years for women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs — United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. April 12, 2002; 51(14):300-3.)

Twin A is a non-smoker and Twin B smokes. Look at the difference!

Lastly, smoking has ZERO nutritional or positive benefits for your body and gives nothing that the body needs. There is NO reason why anyone of any age should be smoking, and quitting today would be the best decision for your life.


ALCOHOL

Now alcohol is a much more controversial topic. The first thing I will say about alcohol is that it should not be your primary beverage choice due to the high amount of calories in most alcoholic beverages. Once again you should not be drinking your calories and so sticking with water is your best way to keep off those extra pounds.

• Dry White Wine- 70 calories per glass
• Vodka- 70 calories per shot
• Guinness- 210 calories per drink
• Strongbow Hard Cider- 110 calories per drink
• Red Wine- 85 calories per glass

The next issue that comes with alcohol is the damage that it can do to your body. Now this is where some controversy comes in. Some research will say that alcohol only damages the body after repeated years of drinking or after a severe binge while others say that one drink can cause harm to the body. I would lean towards the repeated or excessive side of this but just know that alcohol is a toxin that you are putting into your body.

The main organ that alcohol damages when you drink to excess or for long periods of time is your liver. Your liver's main job is to filter the blood that is coming from the digestive tract. It also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs in your system. The liver is a VERY important organ of your body and will clean out your blood and keep you safe and healthy. By drinking to excess your liver will not be able to handle the amount of chemicals in your blood. The liver cells will then directly absorb the toxins in your blood and become damage and die. If this problem goes on too long (alcoholics) the damage can become permanent and your liver is now functioning at a lower level. 

When your liver is functioning at a lower level it becomes susceptible to diseases and other major issues due to alcohol. A few main problems are fatty liver disease- buildup of fat in the liver and can cause fatigue or weakness, alcohol hepatitis- liver swelling and damage and can cause nausea, vomiting, fever, jaundice, and alcoholic cirrhosis- scarring of liver which is permanent damage which can cause liver failure. All of these are very serious and the first can be reversed by a stopping of drinking alcohol. If you develop these and continue to drink, alcohol-related liver disease complications can arise such as: 

• Buildup of fluid in abdomen
• Bleeding from veins in the esophogus or stomach
• Enlarged spleen
• High blood pressure in liver
• Brain disorders and coma
• Kidney failure
• Liver cancer
• http://www.liverfoundation.org/abouttheliver/info/alcohol/

Alcohol can affect the brain by disrupting and damaging neural pathways and connections which can change your ability to think, feel emotion, process tasks, and it can damage coordination. The heart can also be affected and cause cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure, arythmias, and strokes. Another area that alcohol can damage is the pancreas. Alcohol will cause the pancreas to produce a toxic substance that can cause pancreatitis, which is a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels that can restrict proper digestion. Alcohol, since it is a toxin, has also been found to be linked to a variety of cancers including mouth, liver, esophogeal, breast, and throat. 

Remembering to drink in moderate amounts is very important! Remember that most of these issues can be caused by one night out drinking to excess! Here are some blood alcohol content levels and the various effects that each one can have:

• .04-.06: Feeling of well being, euphoria, relaxed state, behavior can become exaggerated
• .1-.125: Significant impairment in motor control and judgment. Speech, vision, hearing is impaired
• .16-.19: Nausea and dysphoria (feeling unhappy or unwell), "Sloppy drunk"
• .25- All mental, physical, and sensory functions are damaged. Serious risk of choking on vomit or injuring yourself from a fall.
• .35: Coma is possible and this is the level of surgical anethesia!
• .35+: Coma and possible death due to shutdown of organs including respiratory arrest
• http://www.brad21.org/effects_at_specific_bac.html

Now all of this might sound scary to you but just remember. MODERATION. If you drink every once in a while or on the weekends you have a couple drinks most research shows that you will be totally fine. But if you go out and party really hard and drink to excess there are possible lasting damages that can occur. Or if you are a one or drink a night type of person there is a much higher risk for developing a dependence on alcohol and future damage due to excessive use. So be smart and drink in moderation. 

Also, this might be my favorite meme ever...

But underage drinking is no laughing matter...

But he is just so cute looking...

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK:

This workout has three steps. A cardio portion, a pyramid, and another cardio portion.

1. Run one mile (or 3 miles biking)
2. Pyramid counting down from 10 to 1 of:                                                                                             (So do 10 reps of each, then 9 reps of each, then 8 of each, etc..)
1. Pushups
2. Jump Squats (Example)
3. Sumo Squats
4. Jacknife Crunches(Example)
5. Dips (on edge of couch or bench)
3. Run one mile (or 3 miles biking)

NEXT WEEK: HOW TO TRAIN FOR A HALF MARATHON