Nicotine, Alcohol, and Greasy Food

College can provide many new habits for students like smoking, heavy binge drinking, and an unacceptable amount of greasy food. All of these things may seem harmless at the time, but the effects that they have on a person's body will eventually show.

A single puff of a cigarette exposes the body to over 4000 chemical compounds and 600 additives. The effects of nicotine are near immediate when it enters the bloodstream through the lungs. Within ten seconds, nicotine reaches the brain and stimulates the secretion of adrenaline; this boosts your heart rate and increases blood pressure. The lungs absorb more than 90 percent of nicotine. With one puff of nicotine, the heart rate increases by ten to 20 beats per minute; blood pressure increases five to ten points. Nicotine makes the heart harder; it restricts the oxygen flow to the body and thickens the blood. This causes the smoker to feel tired.

According to the following timeline from the dailymail.uk, within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, your blood pressure and pulse rate returns to normal and your oxygen levels increase. Within 24 hours, carbon monoxide leaves your body, lungs become healthier, and your risk of heart attack decreases. Within 48 hours, your sense of smell and taste is enhanced. Within 72 hours, breathing is easier because your lung capacity has increased and energy levels increase. Within two weeks to three months, circulation improves, lung function increases 30 percent, and exercising becomes easier. Within three to nine months, the breathing problems that include coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing improve and lung efficiency increases five to ten percent. Within five years, the risks of heart attacks falls to half that of a smoker. Within ten years the risk of lung cancer falls half that of a smoker and your risk of heart attack falls to about the same as someone who has never smoked.

Alcohol intake is another habit that affects college students. Since alcohol is a depressant, it slows down the function of the central nervous system. This blocks messages trying to reach the brain, which can alter the drinker's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision and hearing. But when people abuse alcohol, they are disoriented, confused, lose coordination, slur speech, their reaction times are slowed and act completely out of character.

If a person drinks too much, they can also get alcohol poisoning and are at risk of being sexually active when they normally would not be. There are increased chances of becoming obese and having increased blood pressure. Continued over-drinking into adulthood can damage the liver, heart and brain. In small and appropriate amounts, alcohol can help a person to feel relaxed and less anxious.

Late night studying sometimes calls for unhealthy greasy food. However, greasy food is high in calories and high in fat. The fat affects weight gain, which can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart problems, diabetes and even fatality. Greasy food lacks nutrients. A person's body needs vitamins because without them, skin can become pale, muscle mass might be lost and there is the potential of developing an iron deficiency. Eating too much grease prevents the liver from cleaning out all of the fat. Therefore, the grease builds up in the liver and gall bladder. Because of this, there is the potential to develop gallstones. This leads to excess gas, bloating, irritable bowl syndrome, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation and possibly colon cancer.

There are short term and long term effects that come with nicotine, alcohol, and greasy foods. Many college students turn to smoking and drinking as a way to relax and be social. However, there are healthier ways to relieve stress, such as going for a quick run or finding supportive friends.