Choosing the right nicotine strength is key if you want to kiss cigarettes goodbye. Cigarettes and vaping both contain nicotine but smoking provides a different experience due to the thousands of other chemicals in cigarettes. What vaping can do is provide nicotine without all of the extra nasty stuff. As you may already know, nicotine is the main reason why smokers wake up in the morning and crave a smoke. This stresses the importance of choosing the right nicotine strength if you want to successfully stay away from smoking cigarettes.
You want to choose a nicotine level that is a happy fit for you. Too much nicotine and you won’t enjoy the vaping experience and having too little can result in going back to smoking.
There are 3 main factors to take in consideration before choosing the right nicotine level:
- Understanding the differences between smoking and vaping
- Different vaping devices effect nicotine strength
- Smoking habits can determine what nicotine strength to choose
The final factor you want to consider before choosing a nicotine strength is your smoking habits. Listed below is a general guideline that the vaping community follows:
Smokers who want to quit nicotine completely (Not for first time vapers switching from cigarettes): 0 mg
Light smoker (Less than half a pack): 3 mg
Moderate Smoker (Half a pack): 6 mg
Heavy Smoker (Full pack): 12 mg
Remember, these are broad guidelines and choosing the right nicotine strength will vary from person to person. Heavy smokers may be satisfied with 6 mg since some may prefer a lighter throat hit to enjoy the flavor more than getting nicotine.
Another thing to take into consideration depends on the type of cigarettes you smoked. Not all cigarettes are created equal and some may have more nicotine than others. For example, if you smoke half a pack of full flavor cigarettes, 12 mg may be a better fit than 6 mg.
It will also depend on your vaping usage. For those who vape sparingly, they may want to opt for a 12 mg nicotine strength and consume less vape juice. It may take some time to figure out what works best for you so don’t give up and experiment!
DIFFERENCES IN NICOTINE ABSORPTION: VAPING VS SMOKING
Getting the right nicotine strength is tricky because vaping and smoking absorb nicotine differently. Many smokers will choose a nicotine strength based on how much nicotine is in a cigarette. Unfortunately, it’s not the right way to go about it since you don’t absorb the same amount of nicotine.
On average, the amount of nicotine found in one cigarette is around 10-14 mg and you only absorb about 1-1.5 mg of nicotine. Furthermore, vaping doesn’t deliver the same amount of nicotine in the bloodstream as cigarettes.
In a study done by Dr Farsalinos, researchers have found that even after an hour, vaping doesn’t deliver the same amount of nicotine in the bloodstream as one cigarette.
Out of the 4000 plus chemicals in cigarettes, some of the chemicals exist to solely boost the effects of nicotine in smoking. Cigarettes may seem archaic but they are highly engineered to deliver nicotine as efficiently as possible.
With e-juices only containing 4 main ingredients (PG, VG, Flavoring, and Nicotine), this is one of the many reasons why it is hard to compare cigarettes with vaping. It also explains why other nicotine replacement treatments have shown low success rates.
On a positive note, the study above showed that newer generation devices increased the nicotine levels in the bloodstreams by 35-72%. After 35 minutes, the nicotine levels were the same as smoking a cigarette in the first 5 minutes. What this shows is that smoking a cigarette immediately gives you your nicotine satisfaction whereas vaping can take a little longer for the nicotine cravings to subside. This leads to the next factor you want to consider before choosing a nicotine strength that is right for you.
