Cigarettes - what is their real effect on the health of an athlete?

Smoking is one of the most common addictions not only across the fitness community, but also in the general public. Even fans of a healthy lifestyle often reach for a cigarette in an attempt to fight off cravings, especially during various weight loss diets. But what are the negatives of cigarette smoking? And aren't there any positives? That's what we're going to talk about in today's article, in which we look at cigarettes based on scientific studies.

What effect does smoking have on an athlete's health?

Although smoking is often demonised by many experts, journalists and nutritional therapists, today's article will try to be completely objective and unbiased. The truth is that everyone has an addiction - whether it's to caffeine, sugar, alcohol or anything else. So we're not going to try to convince you that each additional cigarette will shorten your life by dozens of hours, or that you'd better stop smoking and start bingeing on sweets instead. Let's take a look at the different organ systems that smoking affects (not only) in relation to performance and muscle growth:

Respiratory system

The respiratory system is used to exchange gases between the blood and the external environment. It consists of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. And how does smoking affect it? There is no doubt that it causes lung cancer in some individuals, it has been shown to cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and it may even influence the susceptibility of children to develop asthma if their parents smoke. For athletes, in addition to the aforementioned, the reduction in lung capacity is also problematic , affecting your endurance and proper breathing.

The respiratory system is of course primarily affected by cigarette smoking.

The digestive system

The digestive system is primarily responsible for the proper digestion of food, absorption of minerals and excretion of indigestible food residues. It therefore begins in the oral cavity, continues through the oesophagus, the pancreas, the liver or the intestines and ends in the rectum. Even in this system, the impact of smoking is quite significant, according to scientific studies - according to available data , cigarettes are responsible for up to 30% of all cases of pancreatic cancer. Smokers are also at risk of developing oral cancer and even diabetes , according to experts. Diabetes, if any, makes it much more difficult for not only athletes, but de facto all people, to eat and to gain muscle mass under a strict diet.

The reproductive system

The reproductive system ensures the formation of sex cells and the ability to reproduce sexually. As you can probably guess, there is a negative correlation with smoking here as well. Existing information shows that smoking can negatively affect fertility, reduce libido and cause erectile dysfunction, which can occur even in really young people. Thus, although potentially smokers risk infertility, there are studies that do not show any staggering reduction in biologically active testosterone fractions in smokers. So this means that the hormonal problems associated with muscle gain may not be so staggering, although the effect on potency is almost certain.

While smoking may not have any dizzying effect on the level of active testosterone fractions, it may still cause infertility.

The skin system

The skin is our largest organ and its task is seemingly simple - to protect the body from toxic substances, radiation and animals, to maintain a stable temperature and to transmit reactions to certain sensations or sensations to the sensory system. In the case of this system, cigarettes again have a negative effect - they have been shown to cause hair loss, premature ageing and there is a confirmed correlation between smoking and skin cancer.

Muscular system

Although there are three main types of muscle (skeletal - those we strengthen, smooth - the organs and cardiac muscle), cigarettes have the ability to negatively affect all of them. In fact, there is research pointing to the ability of cigarettes to impair oxygen and nutrient delivery to skeletal muscles (which of course makes training harder and delays desired results), as well as a number of studies pointing to an increased risk of heart damage. The negative impact (especially through the development of cancer) of the various organs made up of smooth muscle is perhaps not even worth mentioning.

Nervous system

The nervous system ensures that our body is able to respond adequately to stimuli from the environment. So, for example, if you put your hand on a hot plate, the nervous system is responsible for getting it back out of the heat as quickly as possible. Nicotine, which is most often mentioned in connection with smoking, is a relatively effective and fast stimulant of the central nervous system. Unfortunately, its effect wears off relatively quickly and can subsequently have the opposite effect. In practice, however, some people find cigarettes useful in this respect, especially during the period of dieting before a hard workout.

What to take away from today's article?

Although smoking and a healthy lifestyle do not go together very well, a number of other addictions offer quite possibly comparable effects. But sugar addiction, for example, is much less researched compared to tobacco. But the truth is that cigarettes have been shown to cause a range of cancers, chronic conditions and may even cause infertility. So while they may provide a mild stimulation before training and, in the case of some athletes, prevent cravings for sweets or food in general, the negatives definitely outweigh them many times over. For clarity, we'll look at how they radically limit endurance and make it harder to gain muscle mass in a separate article on the subject.