Some days are just more stressful than others for Nikki Walter. She now depends on a diffuser to give her an extra umph, to get through the day.
“I feel like I have more energy," Walter said. "I know that I can go through the day without a nap.”
She inhales extra B12 into her body through the diffuser.
That’s a bit different from the traditional e-cigarette cartridges, which are well-known for delivering nicotine.
“It is one of the newest fads in vaping," says the American Lung Association’s Senior Scientific Advisor Dr. Norman Edelman. "It is the vaping of vitamins, and like every new fad, there are two questions: does it do any good and does it do any harm?”
Edelman says a whole lot more research is required to truly answer those questions.
Some of the companies selling them claim they’re better at getting the good stuff into your body than using pills or shots. Edelman says that's not necessarily proven.
“The question is, ‘Do they get into your bloodstream and do the job of vitamins,’" Edelman said. "The answer is: we don't know. I mean, there is little to no scientific evidence on that topic.”
There is some evidence B12 may get into the bloodstream from the lungs, but Edelman says that scientific study is decades old. Breathe, a company that produces B12 diffusers, tells Action News it is commissioning a clinical study to further validate previous findings.
However, Edelman says getting too much of vitamins A, D and E could pose new problems.
“Those vitamins tend to stay in your body much longer than the other vitamins, and an excessive amount of those vitamins can cause problems,” he said.
Edelman adds that there’s no way to know yet whether the vitamin vapes can cause long-term damage to your lungs.
These vitamin vapes have adult fans, who are often athletes like Nikki Walter, saying that they wouldn't consider vaping anything else, and believes it's well worth a try.
“It's been life changing for me,” Walter said.
As always, talk to your doctor before adding these products to your daily regimen.
