Smoking is associated with many negative health consequences and no known benefits. With the recent boom in the nicotine industry made by nicotine pouches, it is important to explore whether there are any potential benefits to nicotine use.
Smokeless, Tobacco-Free Nicotine
Nicotine is a stimulant, most associated with tobacco and smoking. In nicotine pouches, nicotine is found in either a synthetic, or nicotine salt form derived from the tobacco leaf, but containing no tobacco. For this reason, using nicotine pouches to satisfy nicotine cravings is far safer from a health perspective, as there is no combustion, inhalation or known carcinogenic compounds present.
Nicotine and Health
Nicotine has been extensively researched and found to, on its own, not cause cancer. This is great news for us who continue to enjoy nicotine by use of nicotine pouches. However, despite not causing cancer, nicotine can exert some negative effects on those who use it. Nicotine is known to be highly addictive and being dependent on any substance cannot be considered healthy, causing anxiety, depression, and irritability upon withdrawal from it. Further, nicotine has been found to cause a range of health complications, including increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased risk of blood clots and stroke, nausea, headaches, and heartburn. However, many other substances including caffeine and alcohol, present a range of health risks. It is a personal choice as to whether you use nicotine and there is a wealth of resources that you can use to educate yourself on the effects.
Potential Benefits of Nicotine
With the health disclaimer out of the way, let us explore some of the benefits of nicotine use. The following items should be interpreted with caution. We at First Line Pods are not suggesting that nicotine is healthy or should be used to improve health.
- Cognitive Enhancement – There is a growing trend in the research of nicotine as a cognitive enhancer. Nicotine has also been considered a ‘nootropic’, meaning “a drug used to enhance memory, or cognitive function”. Nicotine can improve attention, focus, alertness, information processing speed, and sharpen the mind. If you have ever studied or worked with a pouch in your upper lip, these effects will be well known to you!
- Reaction Time – Numerous studies have investigated the effects of nicotine on reaction time and simple choice tasks, finding significant improvements in both areas. Perhaps you should think about popping in a pouch during your next hardcore gaming session!
- Sports Performance – Nicotine use in professional and amateur sport occurs more often than you may think! Nicotine, especially in smokeless forms such as snus and nicotine pouches are widely used in many sports, including baseball, football, ice hockey, and skiing. Many athletes report using nicotine to relax, lose or control weight, and for stimulation. The real research is somewhat mixed, but a few studies have found nicotine to improve strength, time to exhaustion, and endurance, in some cases.
- Weight Loss – Although using nicotine to lose weight as opposed to eating less and exercising would not be healthy, this does not detract from the fact that nicotine can indeed aid weight loss. Nicotine is an appetite suppressant, meaning that using it will make you less hungry. Further, the stimulant properties of nicotine can increase your resting metabolic rate which refers to the number of calories you burn whilst you rest.
- Implicated in Preventing and Treating Neurodegenerative Illness – Nicotine has been found to help protect the brain as it ages and potentially combats Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
If you use nicotine pouches or other smokeless nicotine products, this article should excite you to some of the potential benefits that there are to gain from using nicotine!
