Can IQOS Help You Quit Cigarettes?

The harm of cigarettes is well known, but quitting smoking is a challenge for most people. This has led to a trend in recent years—using e-cigarettes to quit smoking. From friends around us to celebrities in the entertainment industry, many have tried this, but the results vary. So, is using e-cigarettes to quit smoking reliable?

First, you need to understand one thing—what determines nicotine addiction?

Many people pin all their hopes on e-cigarettes when trying to quit smoking, acting as if they can just let go of control. But you should know that e-cigarettes are at most an auxiliary tool for quitting; they are not that miraculous. If you don’t control yourself, they won’t help. Quitting smoking is essentially about overcoming the addiction to nicotine, and the only person who can determine the direction of that addiction is you. So, what role do e-cigarettes play?

It’s like how people used to pull water from a well with a rope, and later invented the pulley. With a pulley, you still have to exert effort, right? Of course, it’s much easier than just using a rope. E-cigarettes work in a similar way.

Understanding this, we can talk about e-cigarettes. The e-cigarettes I have encountered can be divided into two categories based on their working principles: one is distillation-type e-cigarettes, and the other is heated tobacco products.

The former emphasizes flavor and sweetness, while the latter focuses on the smoking experience, which is quite similar to traditional cigarettes but with a lighter taste. Personally, I think the latter is more suitable for quitting smoking because the smoking sensation is closer to that of traditional cigarettes, making it easier to adapt. The distillation-type is more suitable for those who have never smoked before. The e-cigarette I use is the fourth generation IQOS 3.0, which was just released recently. It uses "heat-not-burn" technology, a typical heated tobacco product. Its tobacco flavor is much lighter than that of traditional cigarettes, so I didn’t like it at first. However, as I continued to use it, I gradually got used to it because the smoking sensation is quite strong, so the lighter tobacco flavor became negligible.

When using e-cigarettes to quit smoking, I think the most effective method is to alternate between the two. After I got the fourth generation IQOS 3.0, I started using it this way, transitioning from primarily smoking cigarettes to now only three or four cigarettes a day. This way, I can see results every day, and it’s not difficult to stick with it.

So, regarding whether e-cigarettes are reliable for quitting smoking, it cannot be generalized. It depends on personal persistence and the choice of e-cigarette. E-cigarettes like IQOS, which closely resemble the smoking sensation of traditional cigarettes, make it easier to quit.

Ultimately, the success of quitting smoking depends on oneself. E-cigarettes only serve as an auxiliary tool, so do not rely on them too much.