Nicotine: Drugs Are Healthy Now?

Nicotine has been all the rage lately with many in the holistic and natural health field claiming that it has way more health benefits than negatives. People are using pouches, patches, gum, smoking, vaping, and any other forms to improve mental focus, reduce inflammation, improve autoimmune symptoms, some even claiming it helps with cancer, and recover from viral infections. Some of these claims may have merit, but the masses using nicotine long-term to “solve” health symptoms likely isn’t the best option.

Nicotine is a chemical compound found in many of the nightshade plants (eggplant, tomato, potato, etc.) but most notably in tobacco. The next highest concentration of nicotine is found in eggplant but this is significantly lower than found in tobacco plants. Dried tobacco leaves are reported to have anywhere from 6-30 milligrams (mg) of nicotine per gram of leaves. Eggplant on the other hand contains 10-20 nanograms (ng) of nicotine per gram. To put that in perspective, you need to eat 857 to 4286 eggplants to get 6-30 mg of nicotine and that’s assuming you absorb all the nicotine in your math book level of eggplants. So, just because there is a tiny amount of nicotine in common foods doesn’t mean taking larger doses is safe.

What Does Nicotine Do to the Body?

Let’s start with the basics, nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the body and triggers the same response as acetylcholine would. Depending on what cell the receptor is on determines what it does. Just because there is a receptor that a compound can bind to doesn’t mean you need that compound. There are also opioid receptors in the body, should we start using “clean” versions of opium? Opioid receptors are stimulated by substances like endorphins that the body naturally makes, just like nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are stimulated by the acetylcholine naturally made in the body.

So now we know how nicotine works in the body. Let’s talk about the effects you might experience.

Nicotine Changes:

Brain chemistry
Immune system function
Cancer cell function
Cardiovascular function

Nicotine and the Brain

Some say there are neuroprotective effects to nicotine because it may help a few cells in the brain. I would argue that there is just as much evidence to support that there are more harmful effects to the brain with nicotine use. Brain chemistry is being changed, receptor function is altering, and the blood brain barrier actually gets weakened with nicotine use. Doesn’t sound very protective does it?

Nicotine acts very similarly to acetylcholine, but it takes longer for the body to break it down and stop it from activating acetylcholine receptors. This leads to desensitization of the receptors meaning you need more nicotine for the same response. Since nicotine binds to and activates the same receptors as acetylcholine it makes sense that you get similar effects to acetylcholine when nicotine is around. Acetylcholine is the main neurotransmitter in the brain used for memory, focus, and learning. So, it makes sense that people feel a better sense of focus and memory when taking nicotine. This is why people with Alzheimer’s improve with nicotine.

Now just hang on a minute. If stimulating acetylcholine receptors fixes a problem, shouldn’t we just improve someone’s acetylcholine levels for the same benefits without the side effects of a drug? Excellent question. It stands to reason that providing the nutrients necessary for acetylcholine production (acetyl-CoA and choline) would help improve cognitive function. In fact it has been found that eating even 1 egg per week lowers your risk for Alzheimer’s by up to 47%. Personally I would prefer to eat eggs and other foods like beef to get my brain working better.

Nicotine also causes changes to other neurotransmitters such as dopamine, GABA, and glutamic acid (glutamate). Dopamine is our reward neurotransmitter, low dopamine is what drives addiction. Nicotine causes an increase in dopamine release which explains the addictive nature of the drug and why people with Parkinson’s may see improvement in their symptoms with nicotine use.

GABA, our calming neurotransmitter, is also released in response to nicotine. This explains why most people report a calming effect from nicotine, but chronic exposure to nicotine lowers GABA release leading to the need for more nicotine to get the same calming effect.

Glutamate, our excitatory or anxiety driving neurotransmitter, is also released in response to nicotine. This glutamate release can explain why some may feel more anxious or irritable when taking nicotine.

On top of all of that, nicotine also increases the inflammation in your brain and weakens the blood brain barrier thus allowing other harmful substances into the brain. I don’t think you can call something that weakens the barrier around your brain protective.

Nicotine and the Immune System

Some people claim that nicotine is good for you because they haven’t had a cold or flu in years since they started, or because certain autoimmune conditions improve with nicotine use. Let’s break down why never getting sick may not be as good as we think and why autoimmune conditions may improve with nicotine use.

The immune system has 2 main “arms” of T-helper (Th) cells to deal with foreign bodies. Th1 cells are mainly released in response to infections (viral, bacterial, fungal, and some parasitic). Th2 cells are released in response to allergens, heavy metals, medications, most parasites, and other toxic substances. Th2 cells are also increased in times of high stress. T regulatory (Treg) cells act as a mediator between these 2 cells to keep them in balance. When our immune system is in balance as one goes up the other goes down. An infection will raise Th1 and lower Th2 while the infection is being killed, then Treg cells bring everything back to balance. In response to an allergen, Th2 increases and Th1 decreases. Th17 is another important T helper cell for this discussion since that is the main immune cell involved in autoimmunity. Th17 cells are often increased due to a chronic infection, allergy, or heavy metal toxicity.

How does all this relate to nicotine? Simple, nicotine inhibits both Th1 and Th17 cell production while increasing Th2 cells. So, essentially you are turning off the infection fighting side of your immune system and making the allergic side of your immune system hypersensitive. Some people will notice allergies improving since nicotine also suppresses other inflammatory chemicals in the immune system. To further complicate this, chronically high Th2 cells can lead to another autoimmune cell known as Th9. Therefore, while your allergies and illnesses may improve for a period of time you are likely trading those symptoms for a different autoimmune condition down the line if you continue nicotine use.

If you prefer to not “sweep the problem under the rug” I wouldn’t suggest suppressing your immune system. There are plenty of ways to naturally balance your immune system so it is functioning extremely well. By the way, anther important function of Th1 cells is fighting off cancer cells.

Nicotine and Cancer

Some are making claims that nicotine can cure cancers such as glioblastoma, the most common brain cancer, within 72 hours. The problem here is that there are multiple studies saying the opposite, that nicotine actually makes this cancer worse and more resistant to treatment.

Nicotine has been show to increase blood vessel growth to cancer cells, cancer cell growth, and metastasis. So if you are taking nicotine and have cancer cells in your body, you are providing the cancer more nutrients, helping it grow faster, and helping it spread to more areas. All the while the nicotine is also lowering the effectiveness of the cell (Th1) that is used to fight off cancer.

According to current research you could say that nicotine works like fertilizer for cancer. I would rather work to keep my immune system as healthy as possible by eating good-quality food, getting great sleep, and exercising regularly. All of which have been shown to improve Th1 and Treg function.

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Nicotine and the Cardiovascular System

Nicotine also affects your cardiovascular system and long term use can contribute to an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and vasoconstriction which reduces your circulation. This causes an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and several other cardiovascular diseases. For men, the reduced circulation caused by nicotine can lead to erectile dysfunction. In both men and women nicotine decreases libido.

Sum It Up!

Nicotine negatively impacts your:

Brain health
Immune system health
Cancer cells
Cardiovascular/heart health

There are a few diseases that see symptomatic relief with nicotine use. However, if you see improvement in any symptoms when using nicotine you are not truly solving the problem. Similar to when someone uses caffeine to make up for a bad night of sleep, or someone takes a blood pressure medication to lower their blood pressure, or an SSRI for their depression, the driving cause hasn’t been addressed. Stopping the medication or drug allows the symptoms to return.

The way I see it, if nicotine helps you, there are 3 problems that need to be addressed: