8 Rarely Known Benefits of Tobacco for Health, Not Just Raw Material for Cigarettes

Kapanlagi.com - Tobacco has long been known as the main ingredient for cigarettes. However, besides that, the benefits of tobacco are actually very good for the health of KLovers' bodies. Tobacco itself is one of the cultivated plants, because tobacco is a seasonal agricultural product that is not included in food commodities, but rather plantation commodities.

Tobacco was once believed to be a sedative and became one of the plants that boosted the economy in America. Because tobacco is used as the main material for cigars or cigarettes. Tobacco itself is a plant that is very sensitive to cultivation methods, planting locations, seasons, weather, and processing methods.

That is why tobacco will not produce the same quality if grown in different places. And it makes tobacco have its own characteristics in each region. But what if the benefits of tobacco are used for other purposes?

What are the benefits of tobacco? According to various sources, here are 8 rarely known benefits of tobacco. Let's check it out KLovers.

1. Treating Insect and Snake Bites

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The first benefit of tobacco is that it can treat insect bites to snake bites. It turns out that people in India believe that nicotine in tobacco can help alleviate pain and assist in drawing out toxins, and can heal wounds from poisonous snake bites.

After the venom is sucked out, the leaf is chewed and placed on the wound, and then tied with a bandage. This method can even be used when stung by insects. And you can do this using fresh tobacco leaves.

2. Treating Flu

Then the next benefit of tobacco is that it can treat flu. Who says tobacco always harms the body, apparently the benefits of tobacco can also be a remedy for flu, KLovers. Still in the Indian method, people in India also believe that tobacco can cure flu diseases such as cough and cold effectively.

However, it's not just tobacco alone, there are other mixtures that make tobacco a herbal remedy. Mix tobacco with leaves from desert plants, or Indian Balsam roots, and Leptotaenia multifida. With this concoction, the people in India believe that it can treat asthma and tuberculosis, and even clean the nasal passages.

3. Assisting in Mental Treatment

Illustration (credit: Freepik)

Not only as a flu medicine, it turns out that tobacco also has the ability to treat someone's mental health, KLovers. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, people who suffer from mental disorders such as ADHD/ADD, schizophrenia, and other disorders may experience positive effects from smoking.

This is because nicotine doses have a short-term normalization effect on electrical activity in the brain. Not only that, those who have Alzheimer's disease also benefit from nicotine doses. According to research, the cognitive ability of patients slightly improves with nicotine.

4. Accelerating Vaccine Production

In fact, there is a wider development for tobacco besides being used as the main ingredient in cigarettes. Yup! It turns out that tobacco also has the ability to accelerate vaccine production. According to a study, tobacco has antigens similar to the influenza virus, making it suitable for vaccine production.

The vaccine production process uses antigens from tobacco, which is faster compared to the actual influenza virus that takes one month to make a vaccine. And this is an extraordinary discovery in the world of research.

5. Environmentally Friendly Fuel

Illustration (credit: Freepik)

Not only can it speed up vaccine production, but other research can also develop vaccines as environmentally friendly fuel. Many studies have found that tobacco can be processed into energy and vegetable fuel or biofuel.

Even in one study, observations were made on tobacco varieties selected for genetic modification to increase oil volume in tobacco seeds. The oil produced by tobacco seeds can be processed into biofuel.

The possibility of an alternative biofuel from tobacco would be a major advancement in reducing environmental impact. Tobacco-based biofuel can reduce CO2 emissions by around 75% more than fossil fuels.

6. Plant Protein Source

Another benefit of tobacco is its ability to become a plant protein source. The nicotiana tabacum tobacco variety is recognized by agronomists and chemists as a unique plant protein source. This tobacco can be easily processed to produce protein that can be used as animal feed, pesticides, cosmetics, and even human food.

In fact, a scientific and health institution in America states that tobacco can be grown and propagated four times more than soybeans or corn. Therefore, the protein produced is also greater and can become a promising protein resource.

7. HIV/AIDS Medication

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Not only is tobacco a common remedy for pain, but it can also be a medication for HIV/AIDS patients. However, this is based on research initiated by Professor Mario Pezzoti. The research revealed that tobacco can produce a drug protein for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, called griffithsin.

The difference is that it is not the tobacco itself that produces the protein, but the tobacco virus. However, this is still being further developed so that tobacco can become a medication for HIV/AIDS patients.

8. Rabies Medication

And the last benefit of tobacco is that it can be a medication for rabies. According to St George's University of London, genetically engineered tobacco plants can be used to produce safe protective antibodies against the deadly rabies virus. This allows for a relatively inexpensive medication option for rabies that will benefit patients in developing countries.

Scientists have successfully produced antibodies in genetically modified tobacco plants that have been proven to neutralize the rabies virus. These new monoclonal antibodies work by preventing the virus from attaching to nerve endings around the bite site and preventing the virus from spreading to the brain.

Monoclonal antibodies are complex proteins that originally come from the immune system, but in this case, they are produced in plants to fight diseases. These antibodies have also been proven to effectively neutralize various rabies viruses.

Those are 8 rarely known benefits of tobacco. It is not just a main ingredient in cigarettes, but tobacco has incredible health benefits and research potential. In fact, tobacco can be used as a material for medicines to treat diseases that are very difficult to cure.

(kpl/dhm)