New Australian study: e-cigarettes far less damaging to gut health than cigarettes

*Smoking is harmful to health, e-cigarettes are prohibited for minors and not recommended for non-smokers
Recently, the international authoritative medical journal "Nutrients" (Nutrients) published a paper pointing out that e-cigarettes on the intestinal health of the damage is far less than cigarettes, cigarettes will disrupt the intestinal flora of smokers, inducing obesity and enteritis, colon cancer and other diseases, e-cigarettes will not change the intestinal microbiome.

Imbalance of the intestinal flora is a danger sign of impaired intestinal health, which not only causes metabolic disorders, but also induces a variety of intestinal and lung diseases. The study, led by the University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney and other Australian universities, focused on the effects of e-cigarettes on the gut flora of mice. By experimenting and observing mice for up to 16 weeks, the researchers confirmed that e-cigarettes do not alter the gut microbiome.
"Cigarettes contribute to gut flora imbalance and a range of intestinal chronic diseases, so we all defaulted to the idea that e-cigarettes would have similar effects. But over the course of the study, we really didn't observe any e-cigarette-induced changes in the gut microbiome. That's kinda surprising." The authors wrote in the research paper.

In fact, back in 2021, research from Newcastle University in the UK confirmed that e-cigarettes don't disrupt the gut flora. The study compared the different effects of cigarettes and e-cigarettes on human gut flora, and found that cigarettes significantly reduced the beneficial bacteria in smokers' intestines (the absence of which can cause obesity) and increased the harmful bacteria that can cause colon cancer. In contrast, the gut flora of e-cigarette users did not change significantly and was essentially indistinguishable from that of non-smokers.


"Our study shows that e-cigarettes are less damaging to gut flora than cigarettes. This will make more smokers willing to voluntarily switch to e-cigarettes and to reduce harm and quit with the help of e-cigarettes." Dr. Christopher J Stewart, first author of the research paper, said.
The World Health Organization's website describes quitting smoking as "Quitting tobacco" because the main hazards of cigarettes - more than 4,000 chemicals and 69 carcinogens - are produced in the combustion of tobacco. E-cigarettes eliminate the tobacco combustion process, reducing the harm of cigarettes by 95%. Several studies have been conducted globally to confirm that smokers who have completely switched to e-cigarettes have experienced effective improvements in their health.


"There is no doubt that e-cigarettes reduce harm. The problem is that morality, profit, and ideological limitations restrict those who oppose e-cigarettes from seeing or even willfully ignoring their benefits." Colin Mendelsohn, president of Tobacco Harm Reduction Australia, said. In Australia, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are regulated as medicines, which makes him anxious.


"The emergence of new technology always causes fear and suspicion. Coffee, refrigeration and other new things that are widely accepted today had strong opposition when they were first introduced. But we shouldn't be afraid of new technology." He said, "While the UK promotes e-cigarettes and has succeeded in reducing smoking rates, we are struggling with willful cessation laws and refusing to accept harm reduction as a new paradigm for tobacco control. It's so ironic."