Swaptober: The Science of the Swap

• Switching from cigarettes to reduced-risk products may lower health risks.
• Nicotine is not the main driver of harm—combustion is the critical factor.
• UK health bodies support vaping as a harm reduction tool for smokers.
• Scientific review ranks nicotine pouches lowest in lifetime cancer risk score.
• Swaptober promotes informed, realistic choices, not perfection or pressure.

Want to try a new alternative? Keep Swaptober going with a 30% discount off any product on Haypp UK. Simply use discount code SWAPTOBER30 at the checkout.

We all know the gold-standard lifestyle: no nicotine, no alcohol, no ultra-processed foods, daily exercise, hydration, and good-quality sleep. But real life isn’t a lab. Swaptober is about meeting people where they are—and helping them make informed, realistic choices.

The goal is to find a better option FOR YOU and make an informed choice about the risks of different nicotine products.

There are more than 100,000 scientific studies on cigarettes. The results are clear: Smoking is bad for your health. But what about other forms of nicotine delivery?

PubMed Publication Counts (as of October 2025)

With the exception of snus, most nicotine products are 21st century innovations. This means that there are fewer studies and long-term data are lacking. But what have scientists learned so far? Let’s take a closer look...

Scientific evidence can be divided into different levels:

• One study might be interesting, but it is still just a single snapshot.
• A systematic review is a comprehensive method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing all relevant research on a specific topic.
• A meta-analysis is a statistical technique to combine the results of multiple studies to produce a single, more precise estimate of the effect.

A 2022 publication describes a systematic review and meta-analysis that wanted to understand the risks of different nicotine products.

• Reviewed 123 studies on 15 nicotine products.
• Assessed lifetime cancer risk and epidemiological data (information to understand the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in populations) for over 40 tobacco-related diseases.
• Created a combined relative risk score for each product, scaled from 0 (no risk) to 100 (cigarettes). The authors propose that reduced risk products are those with a score <10.

*Long-term epidemiological data are lacking

Quitting all nicotine is the best choice for health. But the evidence to date suggests that switching from cigarettes (highest risk product) to a product with a score <10 is a better option that continuing to smoke. Find an option that works for you.

The UK government and public health bodies strongly support vaping as a harm reduction tool for smokers, while taking a more cautious stance on heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches.

ASH (Action on Smoking and Health):

“...while it is plausible that heated tobacco products are less harmful than smoking the current evidence is inconclusive. It is likely that they pose more health risks than vaping, but again evidence remains sparse.”

NHS England:

“E-cigarettes are far less harmful than cigarettes and can help you quit smoking for good.”

UK Health Security Agency: 

“E-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than smoking” and “nearly half the population (44.8%) don’t realise e-cigarettes are much less harmful than smoking.”

Royal College of Physicians' 2024 report reaffirmed that e-cigarettes can prevent “death, disability, and inequalities from tobacco use,” and should be part of national cessation strategies. It also states that:

“switching completely from tobacco smoking to alternative nicotine products such as e-cigarettes has been encouraged in UK health policy to reduce the damage caused by smoking to individuals who smoke and to the people around them exposed to passive smoke.”

ASH:

“Using pouches is likely to be less harmful than smoking tobacco, but more research is needed into their use as a quit aid.”

“Nicotine pouches are not currently well regulated in the UK and are not covered by age of sale restrictions.”

UK Government: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes plans to regulate nicotine pouches, particularly around flavours and packaging that may appeal to youth.

Check out this Haypp article to learn more about the science behind the swap:

• Study: Vapes More Effective Than NRTs for Disadvantaged Smokers

Want to try a new alternative? Keep Swaptober going with a 30% discount off any product on Haypp UK. Simply use discount code SWAPTOBER30 at the checkout.