Tuesday, 18 December 2012

A Look At Hookah

By John McCree


A hookah is a device used in smoking flavorful tobacco, allowing for purification of the smoke with a water basin prior to inhalation. The components of a hookah are relatively simple and straightforward, yet the art of constructing hookahs has been improved over centuries in the Middle East, and the best quality hookahs are still produced in this area.

Components

Essentially, smoke generated from the burning tobacco is passed down through the body, the end of which is immersed in the water jar. When the smoke exits the bottom of the body, it is purified by the water and stored in the air chamber right above the water. Another positive side effect of the smoke going from the water is that it is cooled to a temperature more comfortable for the lungs. At the top left section of the water jar in this diagram is the hose. It is not shown in the picture, but the length of the hose is approximately one meter. The smoker puffs on the hose and inhales the smoker from the air chamber. The smoke exhaled by the smoker is clean, thick and aromatic. Generally, people smoke hookah while sitting in groups with their friends on family enjoying their company.

What Do You Smoke Out of a Hookah?

Traditionally people use Hookahs to smoke flavorful tobacco also called shisha. Shisha, nowadays include some or all of the following substances: tobacco, treacle (uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar), honey, sugar, molasses, glycerin, nicotine, dried fruit and distilled water.

Shisha flavors normally have a fruity base like Apple, Banana, or Mango. However offshoots of fruity flavors are now gaining popularity among the smokers and producers likewise. These flavors include Peaches 'n Cream or Banana split, and so on.

These days, there is a wide array of shisha flavors available. Unique flavors are produced because basically every ingredient can be combined in dried, tobacco, glycerin and sweetener.

What is The Source of Hookahs?

The word huqqa is an indian word, which is called "hookah" in English. Abul-Fath Gilani who was a Persian physician built the very first hookah in the 1500's. After growing worried about the health risks of smoking, he produced a system where he passed the smoke through a water basin to be able to 'purify' it. However, it is said that even before he invented it, hookah existed in other parts of Persia. Once it become popular in India it spread all through Pakistan and Turkey. Hookah gained fame throughout the Middle East after getting to Turkey. As it spread through Middle East, it started to become popular in areas of northern Africa. Now, it has become very popular over the world.

As it traveled from Persia to the remaining globe, the hookah gained a lot of names.

Nargile (also pronounced Argilee) - Mainly used in Mediterranean nations

Narguile - used in Spain

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

Sheesha - used by countries in Northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt, and the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf including 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

I Want To Purchase a Hookah, Where Should I Go?

Like several consumer products in the 21st century, hookahs can be purchased in-person or on the internet. Owing to the popularity of hookah, hookah stores and hookah bars have grown in the U.S. You can easily find a hookah shop near you if you live in a populated urban area in the U.S. Hookahs are gaining popularity in the U.S., but they are not as popular here as in the Persian Gulf.

If you don't want to wander around searching for a hookah, then you a purchase one on the Internet from a number of shops online that offer top quality hookahs and shishas.

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

The debate rages on about whether or not hookah smoking is less hazardous than cigarette smoking. People who are in favor of smoking hookah express that the smoke that comes from hookah is cleaner since it is purified through water and that the temperature of the smoke is also moderate. On the other hand, the people against hookah mention that it has all of the harmful and cancer causing chemicals found in cigarettes. Another factor is that a hookah session may last as long as 60 minutes and sometimes even longer while a cigarette goes for only 3-4 minutes. On the other hand hookah is not as addictive as cigarettes. People smoke hookah once in one week or bi weekly for fun while a cigarette smoker smokes cigarettes everyday, multiple times.




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