Benefits of smoking cigarettes?

It should be really telling that you can’t find anything positive about cigarettes online, even when you specifically search for positive aspects.
They cause cancer and you smell disgusting after smoking them. Just listen to your girlfriend on this.
- I'm not addicted, they just help me get through the day
  
  I'm not addicted it's just a habit!
  But it was true though I quit after 30 years of smoking - just went cold turkey. First few days were a bit rough because you have those moments during the day when you light one up (after eating, leaving work, ...), habits.
  But it's been a month so 💪
  
  That's actually true I could stop anytime I want to I just don't want to right now.
- You can't think of any benefits without googling for it?
  If you didn't have breakfast yesterday, how would you feel today?
- You sound just like my girlfriend she's always nagging like that "They make you smell bad and cause lung cancer" and "I feel like I'm starting to not love you anymore" stupid stuff like that.
  
  Maybe you should take what she says seriously.
  
  From someone who smoked for 15 years and has successfully stopped, you smell like an ashtray.
  
  You’re trolling right?

I’m not addicted but it does help me get through my day.
Yeah... you're addicted.
- I'm not addicted I could quit if I wanted to.
  
  I stopped telling myself that twenty years ago... at one point or the other, even I couldn't believe it any more.
  
  every single addict ever
  
  Clearly.
  
  Prove it. Quit for a month. Then you'll have proven you're not addicted. And by that time you'll also have realized that you don't really need it after all.
  
  Do it then
  
  Same, I could quit Lemmy if I wanted to. I just don't want to be bored so I spend 24 hours a day doom scrolling Lemmy. I'm totally not addicted!
  /s
  
  Then do it.

Here's a positive: cigarettes make a great mosquito repellent, because nicotine is a natural insecticide and the smoke/odor repels them. It also repels girlfriends and other humans, but still.
- So you're saying cigarettes filter out dweebs. How is that a bad thing?

You want to kill germs? Use mouthwash. There’s pretty much nothing beneficial about smoking cigarettes.
Even when you take the health considerations out of account, you will reek. I assure you, nobody wants to spend time around a partner that emits a nauseating scent. It’s a bad habit in every sense of the term.
Yes - nicotine can be a quick stress reliever. That’s about al it’s good for.
I understand that you need something to help you get through the days, but there are tons of other things that you could do.
Heck, even switching to vaping will improve your health outcomes considerably. And you won’t smell.
I don’t know why you’re fighting your girlfriend on this, it seems like she’s genuinely concerned and you’re being so stubborn as to look online to justify your addiction. Yes, you are addicted. You smoke more than a pack a week and refuse to quit or offer a compromising alternative. If I was her, I’d leave you.
- She keeps asking me to switch to vaping and even though I like cigarettes I might do that eventually if she's actually serious about leaving me. I just need to find the cartridges with the best nicotine so I can still get the health benefits from it.
  
  "so I can still get the health benefits from it"
  Seriously, you aren't getting healt benefits. You might feel better but that is the nicotine, it's a psychological effect not something that is improving your physical health in any discernable way.
  Just understand, people don't smoke because it's good for their bodies, people smoke because it feels good, it's an important distinction.
  
  There are no health benefits to smoking or vaping as opposed to just not smoking. I don't know how directly this needs to be told to you, but I think right now you're too deep into addiction/denial to see it.
  If you love your girlfriend, sometimes it's okay to trust them on something, especially if everyone else is also telling you the same thing, even if it's not what you want to hear.
  
  The health benefits you can't find any evidence of? Yeah, those benefits.
  
  With a name like lappland, you could also try snus? I know a lot of people in Sweden who have replaced smoking with snus.
  It's better for your lungs, you still get the nicotine, and you won't smell and upset your partner. It's very easy to get into, you don't have to do a whole bunch of searching to find the perfect vape.
  
  If you want liquid that will hit hard, get nicotine salt based eliquid.
  If you want to make your own, Caroline extract can’t be beat (in the USA)

Is this serious, or joking/trolling? Smoking is expensive, and stinky. It is without any tangible benefits. You are being silly.

This is obvious trolling, but everyone here is so sincere.

Cigarettes aren't good for you and it sounds like you're not ready to hear this, but you are addicted.
- Cigarettes have done me more good than therapy
  
  Sounds like you need either a better therapist or to actually take therapy seriously.
- If I was addicted I would smoke more than a pack every day. It just helps me get through the day I could stop anytime I want.
  
  So try that. Go a week without smoking and see if you can do it.
  I roll the occasional smoke after lunch but it's less than one a day. That's how I know I'm not addicted: I go multiple days between having a smoke, I can smoke with friends on the weekend, but then not smoke by myself on weekdays. Try that to know if you're really not addicted.
  
  so stop
  
  "I"
  "could"
  "stop"
  "any"
  "time"
  "I"
  "want."
  Did you really say that with a straight face? I thought that was just what people said to mock people who were clearly addicted.

think about it. Even online, where there are all kinds of stupid misinformation, you couldn't find any info to back your claim.
maybe she's right and she loves you enough to threaten you to do something good for your health
- maybe she's right and she loves you enough to threaten you to do something good for your health
  Yeah, this is a good thing OP. She cares enough to have an uncomfortable conversation with you.
  In your shoes I'd show her I really wasn't addicted by stopping.
  
  yes! He should quit smoking and her too :)
- If he didn't care about me he wouldn't get so mad
  you sound just like a battered wife, stop condoning controlling behavior
  
  you write like you live with a battered wife?

If you don't like living, this is a good way. Please try to give it up.
- I don't like living with how my girlfriend is nagging me over me smoking all the time which is why I came here to ask about the benefits.
  
  You're going to have to give up one or the other.
  Also: "I can’t find any info online to back that up" Is a clue. Asking randos online isn't going to change the lack of evidence for what your want to believe.
  
  There. Are. None. Sorry, but you won’t find any.
  
  There are none. It is carcinogenic.

You sound like a teenager. As an almost 20 year smoker, if you're "not addicted" then quit now.
Health benefits aside, it's a massive pain in the ass and a money pit. Everyone (rightfully) talks about getting lung cancer, but no one talks about how fucking annoying it is to have to stop what you're doing every 2 hours to feed your cravings.
- I'm not spending too much money on it I smoke under a pack a day, I could quit whenever I want to right now but I'll just do it later.
  
  Literally what I told myself when I was 16 lmao.
  Buddy, you are not immune to nicotine addiction. You do not need to smoke a pack a day to be addicted, I currently smoke half a pack a day and am most definitely addicted. Test yourself, go a day without and see if you don't get irritable and have cravings.
  There are no benefits to smoking. Any benefits you percieve are the cigarettes relieving withdrawl symptoms.
  
  As somehow who lost a close one to cancer, quit now and not later. The more you wait, the greater the chances you'll get cancer. Don't wait and regret it.
  
  Ok, you have to be trolling. Are you? No one uses “I could quit whenever I want to right now but I’ll just do it later” seriously.
  
  Let’s assume a pack of smokes is only $7. In just one year of a pack every other day, that adds up to $1,277.
  Is that yearly subscription worth it?

I’m reading through the comments and every reply of yours is like another stroke of the paint brush. I will watch your dark art from afar.
- Right? This is classic trolling.
- The one comment telling someone that their useless reply isn't helpful was definitely correct. Otherwise....

There is no way this is a real thought process lmao.

Well, for one, you’re reducing your lifespan, so you’ll be less of a burden on the healthcare system later in life because you’ll be dead. But that’s obviously ignoring the massive burden on the healthcare system you’ll be when you’re being treated for various cancers.

https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-3-health-effects/3-28-health-benefits-of-smoking-
There's reason to believe there are specific benefits from smoking tobacco. It's just that they are pretty much always outweighed by the negative effects of smoking in the long term.
- Thank you for actually helping me find some useful and true information.
  
  From their link:
  Important note: smoking may offer a limited degree of protection in some individuals against the development of a small number of diseases, outlined below.
  However, this information is of little relevance to public health, given that the amount of disease that tobacco may be said to prevent is insignificant in comparison with the far greater incidence of disease caused by smoking. Tobacco products kill one in two of their long-term users.
  Why don't you just get the health benefits in other ways that don't include cancer?
  Nicotine patches are better than cigarettes and vaping.
  
  You're welcome.
  I quit after over 20 years. It was really, really hard. I still crave them. Won't start again, just because quitting was so incredibly difficult. But, yeah. I, uh, think about it... Both sides of it.
  Be aware, I cherry picked the information you had asked for from a much larger work. Just "Chapter 3 - The health effects of active smoking" has 37 sections. Everyone but the one I linked above has a list of negative effects. Have a look at the rest of it, too.
  Chapter 3 Index: https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-3-health-effects
  Don't just confirm your biases. Look at the whole picture.
  Wish you the best.
  
  When presenting the information to your girlfriend, please be completely honest and make sure to also show the Important Note that the researchers put at the front.
  Important note: smoking may offer a limited degree of protection in some individuals against the development of a small number of diseases, outlined below. However, this information is of little relevance to public health, given that the amount of disease that tobacco may be said to prevent is insignificant in comparison with the far greater incidence of disease caused by smoking. Tobacco products kill one in two of their long-term users.
  Half of long-term smokers die to smoking. Even if you think you can quit, the point of this study is to show that even having looked for benefits, they could only find a negligible amount of benefits compared to the harms of smoking.
  
  Seriously tho, you just want/hope to find something that justifies you continuing smoking. The truth is, you have to stop. No kind of smoke is good for the lungs; cigs, weed, vape, etc. Stop before it’s too late, and it’s not just cancer that can kill you

Guys please stop downvoting this post, that is some hilarious shit here 🤣
- Nothing can top that legendary 3 day challenge 🤣

No benefits at all really. The smoke contains poison that causes cancer and nicotine causes vascular disease. If you really could quit anytime you should. But you can’t because you’re an addict. You should listen to your GF and quit. Otherwise you’re destroying your health and your relationship.
- Source?
  
  For the very well known health concerns of smoking?

Pack a week smoker here, you're addicted or at the very least habituated. Even if the physical withdrawals are minimal, the mental association of smoking with a positive feeling is immense.
There are very few upsides to smoking and a heap of downsides. Take this opportunity to reflect, and see how you can actively cut down (or stop) and replace it with a healthier alternative. Even if you can't stop, practising moderation is helpful for you in the long term.

This is satire, right?
- C- level trolling I think.
- I am seeking serious advice here.
  
  The advise is unanimous: “stop smoking”

As someone who smoked Camels for years and is now just as addicted to vaping, there are no benefits. Zero.
When I smoked cigs, I stank constantly. Even if I sprayed perfume or had a mint. My fingers always smelled.
I did 12 straight years of choir, but now I have a much smaller vocal range. I'm not as active because I get winded. Now that I vape and have constant access, I get cranky after like 30 minutes of no nicotine.
My blood pressure is higher. I can't be on the type of birth control that gives me less side effects because my smoking makes it higher risk.
I'm raising my risk of cancer. I'm spending a fuckton of money on flavored air.
There is literally no positive and I wish I had never touched it.
- I had success quitting vaping by switching to nicotine lozenges. Try it, they are cheaper than most vapes.

I want to prove to my girlfriend that smoking cigarettes is actually good for you
jesus christ you are beyond saving
- That isn't very helpful.
  
  Reading these comments and your replies to them is actually painful. You’re being deliberately obstructive to prove something that isn’t true. The only literature you might find that describes any health benefits of smoking would be funded entirely by tobacco companies. There is not a single good thing about smoking cigarettes and every person here is telling you that.
  Stop being a dick and either take everyone’s advise or admit you don’t want it.

Smoking is extremely unattractive because it heavily stinks like shit.
Additionally, what you describe, is your lack of dopamine. You have build up your normal dopamine level way too high. Meaning that, to feel normal or satisfied, you need to smoke cigarrettes or do heroin.
A normal person who isn't addicted could look at cat pictures or look at a beatiful park and be happy for that day because his normal dopamine level is way lower. (If he isn't depressed or not addicted to tiktok, etc)
You either understand the serious health downsides and want to quit, or you will never be able to quit because you feel like you are right with cigarretes, then a different girlfriend who smokes too would be more appropriate.

Have you looked at this from her standpoint? Cigarettes cause cancer, and second-hand smoke can lead to cancer as well, or at least serious health issues. Her being with you in the long run may mean she might get it, or you get it, or both of you get it. All outcomes are really bad for both of you, physically, emotionally/mentally.
I’m not sure how serious you two are. But if you are, maybe start to work on it. If you say you can stop, prove it to her and yourself. If you say you don’t have an addiction, test that theory, for both you and her. If you want to meet her half-way, maybe consider cutting back or switching to vape.
- vape
  that's great advice "don't smoke this natural substance instead inhale this concoction of mystery chemicals assembled as cheaply as possible in a country that can't even make safe baby formula"
  I'll trust mother nature over whatever give vape users (vapists?) popcorn lung.
  
  Poison ivy is natural. Disprove that.
  
  You know what's also a natural substance? Snake venom.
  I get what you're saying about how vape juice is produced, but tobacco isn't automatically better just because it's natural.
- why should it matter what he does to his own body. I don't know why so many people in this comments section are condoning this controlling and borderline abusive behavior. Regular ultimatums are not part of healthy relationships.
  
  Then this relationship is already not healthy. If OP refuses to compromise, that is also not a good sign for the relationship. Yes, OP should be allowed to do whatever they want with their body, but not to the extent of potentially hurting others around them, especially knowingly so. And relationship is a 2-way street that needs communication, understanding and compromise. If OP wants to continue smoking, they can do so, but should understand their partner’s point of view and the consequences.

Dude, i saw my grandpa die of lung cancer, chemo did nothing to help him and the cancer literally propagated to the bones making him suffer with pain until he died. He smoked from 12 years old till he was 60, he always told everyone in my family to not smoke.

The only benefit is weight loss and that is minor and nowhere nearly as bad as the negative consequences. Even if you think you're magically immune to things like cancer and COPD, you'll smell like shit if you are a smoker. You don't notice it because you always smell like it, but everybody around you notices it.
- I started smoking in the first place because my girlfriend wanted me to lose weight so that was certainly a benefit but I am trying to find more beyond that.
  
  Sawing off your leg or getting tapeworms also helps you lose weight. I wouldn’t call those benefits tho.

Lol, based on your post and comments it sounds like you should keep smoking. Hopefully then your gf will wise up and leave.

Read Allen Carr’s Easy Way. It’s not a great piece of literature, but it’s the best book to help you wrap your head around why you smoke and whether you actually want to.
Can’t recommend it enough.
- It took me three tries. Took it back up during tough times. Found some better ways to cope, mostly Stoicism. I've recommended it to at least a dozen others over the years with about 90% success.
  
  I started smoking when I was 15.
  A while later, someone gifted that book to me. I barely started it and put it away, and it was lying around the appartement for 2 years. One day I randomly picked it up and finished it that day. Went from 20 cigarettes a day to 0 overnight. That was like 13 years ago, and I never wanted a cigarette since.
  That 90% success rate seems to be the case within my friend group as well :)

The biggest benefit is having a much better idea of how you'll die, and knowing that you won't have to deal with getting so old that everyone you know dies before you

They make you look cool in photographs

For your sake, stop. My granfather died a slow and painful death that took about half a year due to lung cancer. Nobody should die like that.

You seem pretty stupid to me. There is nothing about smoking that is good for you. Your girlfriend deserves better.

This post is obviously trolling, but if they’re not then OP you’re an addict and your GF is right to leave you. She’s better off finding someone who isn’t going to smoke themselves to death and saddle her with crippling medical debt when you inevitably get cancer and die a slow and horrible death, drowning in all the tar you coated your lungs with.

Are you serious? Take it from a fellow smoker, there are zero health benefits (I've dug that hole as deep as it can go) and if you're not addicted now, it's only a matter of time before you are. If you can stop whenever you want to, you should, and if you don't want to, guess what: that's what being addicted means.
To be fair: nicotine is a mild stimulant, which could be a good thing. But caffeine is stronger, easier to regulate dosage, cheaper, less addictive, tastes a lot better, isn't socially frowned upon, helps you to shit and doesn't give you cancer. So smoking for the stimulant effect is a stupid thing to do.

It makes your bones more porous and lighter, like a bird
- Is that good?
  
  If you want to use muscle power to fly then it might get you at least partly there. Especially if you smoke excessively and avoid any calcium uptake.

It's apparently a great way to become single, soon.

Lmao nice b8, m8

I think I can help but it will take more than just words. It will take a demonstration and I will need your help to convince your gf.
But you can say that cigarettes make you better in bed. If you gf is hot and you can convince her, I'm willing to sleep with her and do a bad job to help you look good. After a few sessions to rule out one-off performances and so on, I am confident she'll be convinced.

Try a vape, preferably an unflavored one. Or something administered orally, like nicotine pouches/gum or snus. Anything but smoking actual tobacco.
- Mother nature never gave me popcorn lung. Vapists are like a cult

Mostly, it helps you look cool - very cool. Cool and potentially cancerous, but, cool nonetheless.
- It does I started to look cool and because my girlfriend wanted me to lose weight, I mean all the people and icons back in the fifties did it and they were fine.
  
  Yeah, those people and icons from the fifties were all totally fine. Here's a list of some people who died from throat or esophageal cancer or heart attacks caused by smoking (which causes blood clots) or emphysema:
  Humphrey Bogart
  Spencer Tracy
  Sammy Davis Jr
  Gary Cooper
  Walt Disney
  Groucho Marx
  George Harrison
  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
  Clark Gable
  Lucille Ball
  Desi Arnaz
  Lana Turner
  Robert Mitchum
  Babe Ruth
  Joe DiMaggio
  Dean Martin
  Betty Grable
  Yul Brynner
  Buster Keaton
  Ed Sullivan
  All 4 actors who portrayed the Marlboro Man
  Nat King Cole
  Tallulah Bankhead
  Johnny Carson
  Duke Ellington
  King Edward VIII
  King George VI
  Michael Landon
  Lemmy Kilmister
  Andy Kaufman
  Vincent Price
  Jean-Paul Sartre
  Rod Serling
  
  nah they weren't fine, shirley temple is the first example that comes to mind

Healthcare in the US is absolutely bonkers. Here in the UK I've paid 0 (!) quids for my lung transplant. They only required me to take a break from smoking for about 6 months (that sucked, lol).

Cigarettes are a nootropic which increases your cognitive ability, increases free testosterone, helps with weight loss too.
My grandfather grew his own tobacco and drank a flask of rum and smoked a cigar every day and he lived to 102, don't listen to all the CDC FUD in the thread!
- Nice anectdote. Decades of medical research must be wrong.
  
  so does tobacco not cause an increase in free testosterone, cognitive ability or help with weight loss? I can dig up studies to prove my claims but I want to see you disprove them first.
- Are you aware that not a single "nootropic" has ever been shown to make a difference in controlled studies? Forget just nicotine, even using the word "nootropic" is like saying "detox juice" or "chakra alignment". It immediately lets everyone who hears you know that you're the most gullible person in the room.
- Are you aware that not a single "nootropic" has ever been shown to make a difference in controlled studies? Forget just nicotine, even using the word "nootropic" is like saying "detox juice" or "chakra alignment". It immediately lets everyone who hears you know that you're the most gullible person in the room.
- Thank you for supporting me in this. Everyone back in the fifties smoked, even famous people. Its only now that you're there's bad health associated with it.
  
  Only now? We've known from the very beginning that it was unhealthy. It was never a secret. What sort of brainrot is this?

Why is no one talking about the controlling girlfriend? If - hypothetically - smoking was bad for you, he'd only hurt himself. So why does she care??
- Second-hand smoking. Not only is it bad for you, it is also bad for your entourage. Numerous countries are forbidding smoking in the same space as children for that exact reason.
  
  I've never talked about smoking used cigarettes. Of course that's bad for you, duh...