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Monday, December 17, 2012

A Look At Hookah

By John McCree


Hookahs are commonly used devices to smoke flavorful tobacco. A hookah has a water basin that purifies the smoke before inhalation. The components of a hookah are rather basic and straightforward, but the art of constructing hookahs has been perfected over centuries around the Middle East, and the highest quality hookahs continue to be manufactured in this area.

Components

Basically, smoke generated from the burning tobacco is passed down via the body, the end of which is immersed in the water jar. As the smoke exits the base of the body, it is purified by the water and stored in the air chamber directly above the water. An additional positive side effect of the smoke going through the water is that it is cooled to a temperature more comfortable for the lungs. The hose is located on the top left section of the water jar. It isn't shown in the picture, but the length of the hose is around one meter. As the smoker puffs on the hose, the purified smoke exits the air chamber and is breathed in by the smoker from the hose. After inhaling, the smoker exhales clean and fragrant smoke. Generally, people smoke hookah while sitting in groups with their friends on family taking pleasure in their company.

What Is the Smoke Made of?

Hookahs are traditionally used to smoke flavored tobacco known as "shisha". Today these things are used to make shisha: tobacco, treacle (uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar), honey, sugar, molasses, glycerin, nicotine, dried fruit and distilled water.

Shisha is generally fruit flavor based. But, nowadays most of the popular manufacturers are testing with off-shoots of these fruity tastes, for instance Peaches 'n Cream, or Banana Split.

The tobacco flavors have become increasingly adaptable because of the convenience of flavoring during production. Any ingredient can be mixed in dried tobacco during the production to create unique flavors.

The Origin of Hookahs

The very first hookah was designed by a Persian physician known as Abul-Fath Gilani in the 1500's. The term hookah originates from the indian name of this device "huqqa." He invented the hookah to create a mechanism to purify smoke by passing it through water, thereby eliminating the many health threats of smoking. However, it is conflicted, since some people say that hookah already existed in areas of Persia before Abul-Fath Gilani built it. Anyway, hookah started to gain acceptance in the nearby lands of Pakistan and Iran from where it arrived at Turkey and Lebanon. Hookah acquired fame throughout the Middle East after reaching Turkey. As it spread through Middle East, it began to become popular in areas of northern Africa. Now, it has become quite popular around the globe.

Through its journey, the hookah has picked up several additional names:

Nargile (also pronounced Argilee) - used in a lot of Mediterranean nations from Italy to Turkey to Israel

Narguile - used in Spain

Lula (or lulava) - used in Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina

Sheesha - used in Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Qalyan - used in Iran

Karim Khan - used in Russia, Belarus

Chillim - used in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan

Huqqa - used in India and Pakistan

Gudugudaa - used in Maldives

Marra Pipe - used in the UK

Where Can You Purchase A Hookah?

Just like many consumer products these days, hookahs can be purchased in-person or online. Since the beginning of this century, the number of hookah shops and hookah bars in the U.S. has exploded. If you reside in or near a more populated urban atmosphere or college town, your chances of finding a hookah shop are much better. Hookahs are gaining acceptance in the U.S., but they are not as popular here as in the Persian Gulf.

If your options are limited, or you just prefer the ease of shopping on the web, there are also many resources available to help you select your hookah pipe and shisha tobacco.

What You Should Know About Health Hazards Before Beginning to Smoke Hookah?

Whether smoking hookah is safer than cigarette smoking is still not known. Inhaling just about any smoke is detrimental for lungs but the people in favor of hookah say that the smoke is cleaner and as compared to the smoke of a cigarette. On the flip side, the people against hookah point out that it has all the dangerous and cancer causing chemicals found in cigarettes. One more argument is that hookah smoking sessions last 60 minutes or longer, so the amount of smoke breathed in is far greater than cigarette smoking. On the other hand, hookah smoking is considered less addictive than cigarettes, and lots of hookah smokers do it on a far more casual or social basis, rather than many cigarette smokers who typically smoke multiple cigarettes daily.




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