How does Shisha work
Tobacco is placed in the head of the shisha and covered with thin, perforated aluminium foil. Burning charcoal is placed on top of the foil. Water half fills the bowl, and the smoke (which comes from both the charcoal AND the tobacco) enters the water in a submerged pipe, but leaves from an unsubmerged pipe. The size of the shisha, number of hoses and other features can differ widely1. Contrary to popular belief, the water does NOT filter or purify the smoke, it merely cools it. It is one of our many myth busters surrounding shisha.
Types of Tobacco
There are three main types of tobacco used in shisha:2
1Moassel
About 30% tobacco, 70% honey – flavoured with apple, mint, lemon, grape and many more. This is the most common type of tobacco used in cafes and at home. Also known as molasses – in arabic, ‘assel’ means honey, and ‘moassel’ means honeyfied.
2Tumbak/Ajami
Pure, dark paste of tobacco. Rarely seen in modern shisha cafes. They are found more locally amongst traditional smokers.
3Jurak (mainly of Indian origin
An intermediate form, often containsfruits or oils but that may also be treacled and unflavored.
Regardless of the type of tobacco, tobacco contains nicotine which is an addictive substance. Can people actually get addicted to shisha? Check out our section on Addiction. Tobacco is also the leading cause of preventable death in the world, and contains many harmful chemicals in addition to nicotine, such as those causing cancer. Also, the charcoal itself releases many chemicals which can damage your body. One expert even goes as far to say that these chemicals are so bad that you might as well sniff the fumes from a car exhaust3. Remember, in most cases, smoking shisha is smoking tobacco.
Types of charcoal
There are two main types of charcoal used in shisha, and both have negative health effects on your body:
1) Natural charcoal
2) Quick-light charcoal
The quick-light charcoals are considered a lot more unhealthy than natural charcoal, even though BOTH contain chemicals harmful to you. Some people say that the aluminium foil keeps the charcoal smoke away from actually entering the shisha, however the aluminium foil is usually pierced with tiny small holes which means the smoke from the charcoal mixes with the smoke from the tobacco.
But my shisha contains no tobacco
Firstly, double-check this is true. Unfortunately, many shisha cafes claim that their shishas are tobacco-free, but they do not show the customers the original packaging of their ‘tobacco-free shisha’. Problems with regulation of shisha tobacco has resulted in many false claims from cafes.
Even if the packaging has small amounts of tobacco, be wary because even small amounts of tobacco can cause problems. In cigarettes, there’s only so much tobacco you can have, but in shisha you can keep on smoking it until your body feels like it’s had enough. This effect, known as ‘titration’, is what makes even small amounts of tobacco in shisha quite dangerous.
And as for herbal shisha…well even if it doesn’t contain tobacco, it won’t stop you from having the health problems linked with charcoal use, nor the health problems linked with sharing the pipe and spreading infections like oral herpes…but so far there has yet to be any scientific research on the use of herbal shisha. Herbal shisha is rare, and is not traditionally seen in shisha cafes
نوٹ: انگریزی میں کاپی پیسٹ کے لئے معذرت۔ اگر خلاف ضابطہ ہو تو حذف کردیں