Ever wondered what happens in your body just a few minutes after you light that cigarette or use some kind of tobacco? Most people really only consider the long-term risks associated with smoking and tobacco. However, the short-term effects slip in much sooner, and they are far from harmless. In this blog, we outline the short-term effects of nicotine among other immediate side effects of using tobacco.

What are the immediate effects of tobacco?

When tobacco is smoked-or smokeless tobacco is used-the addictive chemical nicotine speeds into the user's bloodstream and rushes to the brain. In a matter of seconds to minutes, a chain reaction starts: your heart rate rises, blood vessels constrict, adrenaline surges-and your body responds.

Because of this rate of onset, the short-term effects of nicotine-and indeed, tobacco use generally-can be seen and felt almost immediately. Let's explore those more in detail.

These are major short-term effects caused by the use of tobacco. I included three specific ones that you asked for, and then added some other useful additional ones that are not on your list.

1. Bad Breath and Yellow Teeth

Some of the more obvious and visible changes include: smoking stains your teeth, gives you persistent bad breath and the smell clings to your clothes and hair. One source lists the short-term effects of tobacco use to include: “Bad breath that doesn’t go away … Yellow or brown stains on teeth. 

Tar and smoke coat teeth and gums even on the first day, and reduce your ability to taste and smell well. 

2. Coughing and wheezing

Tobacco irritates your throat and lungs immediately; either you start wheezing or coughing, or the throat gets irritated with enhanced production of mucus.

Smoke is an irritant to the airways and carries noxious chemicals into the airways with it, making deep breathing uncomfortable.

3. Nausea and Dizziness

It is even possible for one to feel queasy or dizzy even some time after smoking. Dizziness or nausea may be imparted by the nicotine high perhaps combined with less oxygen and narrow blood vessels. "Nicotine … dizziness and light-headedness … nausea."

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Here are other things your body may go through. 

Shortly after using tobacco or nicotine: Increased heart rate & blood pressure Nicotine raises the levels of adrenaline in the body. Your heart beats faster and your blood pressure rises. 

Blood vessels become narrower Impaired oxygen-carrying capacity: carbon monoxide in the smoke combines with hemoglobin and hence reduces the supply of oxygen. In the short term, this may result in fatigue, headache, and reduced exercise tolerance. 

Reduced ability to taste and smell: Tobacco use can quickly blunt your sense of taste & smell. Skin, appearance, and odour changes, The skin can become dry even early in the course, take on the smell of smoke, and changes may begin to show up in the nails. 

Changes in mood, alertness & appetite: Nicotine raises temporary alertness and lowers appetite; it can cause mood swings or restlessness. 

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Why These Short-Term Effects Matter You might think, "These are small, so what?" But each of these effects signals your body responding to a toxic agent. Even brief exposures can start to put your blood vessels, lungs and other tissues on a path to injury. For example, narrowed arteries and increased blood pressure force your heart to work harder. 

The Vedikroots also believe that interference with the dharma of the body can create ripples-even momentary ones-into larger disturbances if they are repeated. What seems small today can magnify over time. And since your body reacts so fast, the advantages to your body of quitting-or avoiding-tobacco can also begin almost immediately: you breathe easier, your sense of taste and smell returns, your mouth cleans up, your heart rate lowers. The sooner you quit, the faster those recoveries start. 

Conclusion

The consequences of a few minute's use of tobacco include bad breath, yellow teeth, coughing or wheezing, nausea or dizziness-and beneath those more obvious changes are the subtler increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, less oxygen, blunted senses, skin changes, appetite shifts and mood changes. Why it matters: Short-term nicotine and tobacco effects indicate that your body is under stress. The good news is: if you stop now, your body begins to heal in short order.