what is shisha?
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What Is Shisha Made Of?
Tobacco, a sweetener, glycerine and flavourings, heated by charcoal. The pleasant ingredients do not make it safe: the smoke is harmful.
If you want to know what shisha is actually made of, here is the answer: traditional shisha is a mix of tobacco, a sweetener such as molasses or honey, glycerine to keep it moist, and flavourings. It is heated by charcoal, and the resulting smoke contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals. This guide explains, alongside our guide on what shisha is.
Quick answer
Traditional shisha is made of tobacco, a sweetener like molasses or honey, glycerine to keep it moist, and flavourings, giving its sweet, fruity character. It is heated by burning charcoal, not set alight directly. The smoke that results contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals, so despite the pleasant ingredients, shisha is harmful.
What goes into shisha
Traditional shisha is a moist mixture based on tobacco, blended with a sweetener such as molasses or honey, glycerine to keep it moist and produce thick smoke, and flavourings that give the fruity or sweet taste. There are also tobacco free herbal versions, but these still produce harmful smoke when burned. Either way, burning charcoal sits on top to heat the mixture.
What shisha is made of
| Ingredient | Role |
|---|---|
| Tobacco | The base (contains nicotine) |
| Molasses or honey | Sweetener |
| Glycerine | Keeps it moist, makes thick smoke |
| Flavourings | Fruity or sweet taste |
| Charcoal | Heats the mixture |
What the smoke contains
However pleasant the ingredients sound, what matters for your health is the smoke. When the charcoal heats the shisha, the smoke produced contains tar, carbon monoxide and many of the same toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke, plus extra carbon monoxide from the charcoal itself. So the sweet, fruity ingredients do not make shisha safe, the smoke you inhale is harmful.
Shisha is made of tobacco, a sweetener, glycerine and flavourings, heated by charcoal. The pleasant ingredients do not make it safe, the smoke contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxins.
Myths and facts
| Myth | The reality |
|---|---|
| Shisha is just fruit and flavour | It is tobacco based, with sweetener, glycerine and flavourings; the smoke is harmful. |
| Herbal, tobacco free shisha is safe | Burning any material and inhaling smoke is harmful; herbal shisha still produces tar and carbon monoxide. |
| The sweet ingredients make it harmless | The smoke contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxins regardless of the flavour. |
| Only the tobacco matters | The burning charcoal also adds carbon monoxide. |
Frequently asked questions
What is shisha made of?
Traditional shisha is made of tobacco, a sweetener like molasses or honey, glycerine to keep it moist, and flavourings, heated by charcoal.
Does shisha contain tobacco?
Traditional shisha is tobacco based, so it contains nicotine; there are tobacco free herbal versions, but these still produce harmful smoke.
What is the glycerine for?
It keeps the mixture moist and helps produce the thick smoke associated with shisha.
Is the smoke harmful?
Yes, it contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals, with extra carbon monoxide from the charcoal.
Do the sweet ingredients make it safe?
No, the pleasant ingredients do not change the harmful smoke you inhale.
The bottom line
Traditional shisha is made of tobacco, blended with a sweetener such as molasses or honey, glycerine to keep it moist and produce thick smoke, and flavourings that give its sweet, fruity character, with burning charcoal used to heat it. There are tobacco free herbal versions too, but these still produce harmful smoke. Whatever the ingredients, the smoke that results contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals, plus extra carbon monoxide from the burning charcoal, so shisha is genuinely harmful to your health.
More help and related reading
If this guide raised other questions, the Help and Guidance library has plain English answers to many more. The closely related pages below are worth a look, and you can always return to the main hub to browse every topic we cover. If you are unsure which product suits you, our team is always happy to help.
Key things to remember
- Tobacco base (contains nicotine)
- Sweetener such as molasses or honey
- Glycerine to keep it moist
- Flavourings for taste
- Heated by charcoal; smoke is harmful
Why the ingredients can mislead
The ingredient list, fruit flavours, honey, molasses, can make shisha sound almost wholesome, which is misleading. What you actually inhale is smoke, and burning tobacco with charcoal produces tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals regardless of how sweet the original mixture was. The pleasant ingredients shape the taste, not the safety.
Even tobacco free herbal shisha, sometimes marketed as a healthier option, still produces harmful smoke when burned. So when judging shisha, it is the smoke that matters, not the appealing list of ingredients.
Ingredients versus smoke
| What it sounds like | What you inhale |
|---|---|
| Fruit and honey | Tar |
| Sweet molasses | Carbon monoxide |
| Pleasant flavours | Toxic chemicals |
| Moist glycerine | Thick smoke |
| Charcoal heat | More carbon monoxide |
A few more questions
Is tobacco free shisha made of fruit?
Herbal shisha uses ingredients like sugar, glycerine and flavourings instead of tobacco, but it still produces harmful smoke when burned.
Do and don’t
Do
- Understand the smoke is what harms you
- Know herbal shisha still produces harmful smoke
- Be aware the charcoal adds carbon monoxide
- Consider stopping, with free support available
Try not to
- Judge shisha by its pleasant ingredients
- Assume tobacco free means safe
- Believe the water filters out the harm
- Treat a long session as harmless
From mixture to smoke
The journey from a sweet, fruity mixture to harmful smoke is what matters. In the bowl, shisha is a moist blend of tobacco, sweetener, glycerine and flavourings, pleasant enough. But once charcoal heats it and you draw the smoke through the water and inhale, you are taking in tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals, the products of heating tobacco and burning charcoal.
This is why the appealing ingredient list is no guide to safety. The flavour you taste comes from the mixture, but the harm comes from the smoke, and the water does nothing to remove it.
Mixture versus what you inhale
| In the bowl | In the smoke |
|---|---|
| Tobacco | Tar |
| Sweetener | Carbon monoxide |
| Glycerine | Toxic chemicals |
| Flavourings | Charcoal carbon monoxide |
| Pleasant | Harmful |
More questions answered
Does shisha contain nicotine?
Traditional shisha is tobacco based, so it contains nicotine, which is addictive; herbal versions may not, but still produce harmful smoke.
Is the charcoal harmful too?
Yes, burning charcoal produces carbon monoxide, adding to the harm from the tobacco smoke.
Traditional versus herbal shisha
There are two broad types. Traditional shisha is tobacco based, blended with sweetener, glycerine and flavourings, so it contains nicotine. Herbal or tobacco free shisha replaces the tobacco with other ingredients such as sugarcane or fruit pulp, sweetener and flavourings, and is sometimes marketed as a healthier choice.
However, herbal shisha is not safe either. Burning it and inhaling the smoke still produces tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals, and the charcoal adds carbon monoxide regardless. So the type of shisha changes whether there is nicotine, but not the fact that the smoke is harmful.
A couple more questions
Is herbal shisha healthier?
No, it still produces harmful smoke when burned; tobacco free does not mean smoke free or safe.
What makes the thick smoke?
The glycerine in the mixture helps produce the dense smoke associated with shisha.
And finally
Is shisha flavour added separately?
The flavourings are blended into the shisha mixture along with the sweetener and glycerine, giving its fruity or sweet taste.
Does what shisha is made of make it safer?
No, whatever the mixture, the smoke produced by heating it contains tar, carbon monoxide and toxic chemicals.
One more question
Is shisha tobacco the same as cigarette tobacco?
It is tobacco prepared differently, blended with sweetener and glycerine, but it still contains nicotine and produces harmful smoke when burned.
A quick word on safety and the law
Vaping and nicotine products are intended for adult smokers and existing vapers as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes. They contain nicotine unless stated otherwise, which is addictive, and they are not suitable for non smokers, pregnant women or anyone under 18. By law you must be 18 or over to buy vaping products in the UK, and we age verify every order. If you want to stop using nicotine altogether, your local stop smoking service offers free, tailored support.
UK public health bodies advise that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, but it is not risk free, and if you do not smoke the advice is not to start.
This guide is general information, not personal medical advice. If you have specific health concerns, please speak to a GP or pharmacist.
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