A Look At Hookah
by John McCree
Used for smoking flavored tobacco, a hookah is device that purifies smoke with a water basin prior to inhalation. The components of a hookah are relatively basic and straightforward, but the craft of making hookahs has been perfected over centuries in and around the Middle East, and most high quality hookahs continue to be produced in this area.
Components
The end of the body is submerged in a water jar through which the smoke produced by burning tobacco passes. The smokes comes out of the bottom of the body and is purified by the water and kept in air chamber over the water. Passing smoke through water cools down the temperature of the smoke and makes it more suitable for the lungs, which is an additional positive side effect of purifying smoke with water. On the top left section of the water jar in this diagram is the hose. It is not shown in the diagram, but the length of the hose is approximately one meter. As the smoker puffs on the hose, the purified smoke exits the air chamber and is breathed in by the smoker through the hose. After inhaling, the smoker exhales neat and aromatic smoke. Generally, people smoke hookah while sitting in groups with their close friends on family enjoying their company.
What Is the Smoke Made of?
Hookahs are traditionally used to smoke flavored tobacco known as "shisha". Today these things are used to make shisha: tobacco, treacle (uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar), honey, sugar, molasses, glycerin, nicotine, dried fruit and distilled water.
Shisha is generally fruit flavor based. But, nowadays most of the popular manufacturers are testing with off-shoots of these fruity tastes, for instance Peaches 'n Cream, or Banana Split.
Adding flavor to tobacco at the time of production has become quite simple and now one can find a range of different flavors. Unique flavors are made because essentially every ingredient can be mixed in dried, tobacco, glycerin and sweetener.
The Origin of Hookahs
The term "hookah" is derived from the Indian "huqqa", a word that originated around the 1500's when the hookah was first designed by a Persian physician, Abul-Fath Gilani. He designed the hookah to create a mechanism to purify smoke by passing it through water, and thus eliminating the many health threats of smoking. But, it is said that even before he invented it, hookah existed in other regions of Persia. Whatever the case, the recognition of the hookah grew throughout India and Pakistan, westward into Iran, Turkey, and Lebanon. In turkey, the Turkish elite class swiftly grew fond of hookah and thereon it spread in to Lebanon, Syria and into regions of northern Africa. It is now gaining popularity among the rest of the globe.
Through its journey, the hookah has picked up several additional names:
Nargile (also pronounced Argilee) - used in a lot of Mediterranean nations from Italy to Turkey to Israel
Narguile - used in Spain
Lula (or lulava) - used in Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina
Sheesha - used in Morocco, Egypt, 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 Wish To Buy a Hookah, Where Should I Go?
Just like many consumer products these days, hookahs can be purchased in-person or online. Since the beginning of this century, the number of hookah shops and hookah bars in the U.S. has exploded. If you reside in or near a more populated urban atmosphere or college town, your chances of finding a hookah shop are much better. Hookahs are gaining acceptance in the U.S., but they are not as popular here as in the Persian Gulf.
If your options are limited, or you just prefer the ease of shopping on the web, there are also many resources available to help you select your hookah pipe and shisha tobacco.
What You Should Know About Health Hazards Before Beginning to Smoke Hookah?
The controversy rages on about whether or not hookah smoking is safer than cigarette smoking. People who are in favor of smoking hookah say that the smoke that comes from hookah is cleaner because it is purified through water and that the temperature of the smoke is also moderate. Critics point out that hookah contains more harmful toxins as compared to cigarettes. It has compounds just like tar, carbonmonoxide and heavy metals. One more argument is that hookah smoking sessions can last 60 minutes or longer, so the amount of smoke inhaled is much greater than cigarette smoking. On the other hand, hookah smoking is considered less addictive than cigarettes, and many hookah smokers do it on a much more casual or social basis, as opposed to many cigarette smokers who typically smoke several cigarettes daily.
Hookah is a superb leisure activity and a superb way to spend some time with friends. If are thinking about buying one for yourself then you should find out more about <a href="http://hookahjoe.posterous.com/what-is-a-hookah">hookah culture</a>.
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New Unique Article!
Title: A Look At Hookah
Author: John McCree
Email: alikhalid_345@hotmail.com
Keywords: hookah, hookah culture, shisha,hobbies, leisure,home, lifestyle
Word Count: 816
Category: Hobbies
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