Do you take a sniff before going to the gym? Or maybe after? Then you are not alone. About 15 percent of the population between the ages of 16 and 74 use snus daily. Around 670,000 people, according to the National Institute of Public Health. Many of the snus users train. Some more serious than others. And you may have heard that you have to stop sniffing if you want to bet? It’s not so sure. At least not if it’s the condition you’re worried about. Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, has been observed several times with a snuff box, and has admitted the use of snuff in his autobiography. Photo: JASON CAIRNDUFF / Reuters Football professionals sniff It has long been known that several football professionals in the English league sniff. According to the British press, it is Swedish players who have introduced snus to teammates. The use of snus in top football has gone so far that several coaches have been out and warned. Among the most famous active football players who have been seen with snuff, you have: Jamie Vardy striker in Leicester. Swedish Manchester United midfielder Victor Lindelöf Everton player Dele Alli In addition to former national team profile Ashley Cole, with 107 internationals for England. According to Nettavisen, the system man is Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, who was recently seen in the player tunnel when he allegedly took a prize. Snus is illegal to sell in England, but it is legal to store and use it. Photo: Karina Kaupang Jørgensen / news Does not affect fitness There are no clinical studies that show that you get worse fitness from sniffing. – Adding nicotine to the body will narrow the blood vessels and you get less oxygen uptake. And then one would think that the performance was reduced, says Karl Erik Lund, senior researcher at the National Institute of Public Health. But that’s just in theory. – When it has been tested clinically on athletes, you will not find any special changes in the condition. In any case, there are no consistent findings that it reduces any performance. SNUS RESEARCHER: Karl Erik Lund is a drug researcher and senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and has been researching snus since the 1980s. Photo: National Institute of Public Health Gives poorer recovery The label for the snuff boxes states “This tobacco product can be harmful to health and addictive”. There is thus no doubt that the Norwegian authorities warn against snus use, and that snus is considered to increase the risk of a number of health problems. But if you just isolate it to be about fitness. – Is the answer that we do not know completely? – The answer is that, purely theoretically, if you look at the biological mechanisms, you should think that you weaken the condition. But you do not find out when you test clinically. But then there are several things here: – You get poor oxygen uptake when using snus, it means that sports injuries heal more slowly. You have a longer recovery time after you have trained, so if you use snus, it takes longer to get back to the hooks, says Lund. – Sports injuries take longer to heal, simply. Do you notice that the condition is affected by snus? Yes, of course. Got better condition after I quit snus. ? No, do not notice any difference in the condition. ? Notices a little difference, but not enough that I bother to quit. ? Do not know. Hard to say. ? Yes, I actually get better fitness or performance. Resultat Show result More younger snus There are now as many percent of the population who use snus daily in Norway as in Sweden. But among the younger part of the population, there are more who sniff in Norway. – Since 2008, there has been a much stronger growth in the proportion who sniff daily in Norway than there has been in Sweden. Now we are at the same level as our neighboring country, says chief consultant Sindre Mikael Haugen in Statistics Norway. Among young people aged 25–34, 1 in 4 use snus daily in Norway. In Sweden, it is 1 in 6 in the same age group. Does not perform better Snus is not considered to give better performance in sports. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the body that looks at medicines that are on the doping list, has in fact tested whether snus has a performance-enhancing effect. Many people state this as the reason why they sniff. – They get a kick out of snus. It comes from the dopamine effect. That one releases this substance of happiness in the brain, but there was nothing to suggest that it is performance-enhancing. Then it would have been on WADA’s list, says drug researcher Karl Erik Lund. Snus is on WADA’s watch list, but is not seen as performance-enhancing today. Can lose weight Snus is not considered to increase performance. But it is a well-kept secret that snus makes it easier for you to lose weight. And it is considered to be an advantage in many sports such as cycling, cross country skiing and running. According to news’s sources, snus is used in some environments precisely to increase performance. – Many athletes use nicotine to lose weight. Is there anything you’ve heard of? – Oh yes. It’s an old find. Nicotine has a hunger-repellent effect. And that’s how the ancient Indians started chewing tobacco leaves because it drove away hunger, so that’s it. And you also increase the metabolism by nicotine, says Lund.
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– Should think that you weaken the condition – news Nordland
