Nicotine – an objective review
When hearing the word “nicotine,” many people have negative associations, but what if we consider nicotine from a different point of view, separately as a substance, without stereotypes and bias?
In touch RISE: Community about nootropics and biohacking. Today we will analyze nicotine as a working tool for a biohacker and look at it from the other side.
What is nicotine and how does it work
Discussing the topic of nicotine is quite difficult, because the association is too deeply embedded in the human mind “Nicotine is poison”. Therefore, I will try to objectively analyze nicotine as a substance.
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in tobacco leaves, used for its psychoactive properties. But only in the last couple of decades has the mechanism of action of nicotine on the brain been revealed, and not only in a negative way.
Unfortunately, much of the literature and research on nicotine/tobacco intentionally conflates the two concepts, leading to erroneous attribution of the harms of tobacco to nicotine. Many harm associations are confounded by past or current tobacco use, for example in this research 2020 about electronic cigarettes.
But when studying pure nicotine, as in the case of patches and gum, the harm turns out to be minimal or completely absent with microdosing or occasional use.
Like all stimulants, nicotine can slightly increase blood pressure and is somewhat addictive, but the risks do not seem to be any more harmful than, for example, caffeine, which everyone reveres and does not consider it a “bad guy.” By the way, caffeine also belongs to the class of alkaloids and also causes addictive and side effects.
Smoking is responsible for 5–6 million deaths per year. The biggest problem with nicotine use is that it can be addictive when taken in higher and more frequent doses. But I think this is already clear and I did not open America to you. Majority research They also show the harm caused by CHRONIC nicotine use.
For example, snus, a form of chewing tobacco, has been studied extensively in Sweden, where it is very popular and is credited with significantly reducing smoking rates in the country, and there is very little evidence that snus is harmful. But today we are not talking about methods to quit smoking.
How does nicotine work?
Nicotine activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (NAC) in the brain. Transfer speeds up signals neurotransmitters, resulting in increased concentration, the amount of information remembered and cognitive functions. What is interesting to us is that most studies have shown that the upregulation of nACCh receptors is dose dependent. Too much nicotine reduces sensitivity of these receptors, and low doses work as a nootropic.
Nicotine also stimulates and regulates the release of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Increases glutamate release and reduces GABA synthesis. Therefore, increased dosages also cause anxiety.
What are the benefits of taking nicotine?
I repeat for those who read diagonally. We consider nicotine in microdosing, and not as a permanent way to solve problems.
Nicotine improves memory
Nicotine binds to presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. And raises release acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin and glutamate.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse conducted a meta-analysis of 41 double-blind placebo-controlled research between 1994 and 2008. The analysis revealed a significant positive effect of nicotine on fine motor skills, vigilance, attention, and reaction speed. And also for temporary and long-term memory.
In a different research conducted in the UK, researchers recruited 60 smokers and 60 non-smokers in a double-blind manner.
Half of the subjects chewed nicotine gum and the other half chewed a placebo before performing a memory task. The results showed that nicotine significantly improved short-term memory. The effect was greater in non-smokers, probably because their receptors were not depleted by nicotine.
Nicotine for the treatment of ADHD
Nicotine has been shown to improve alertness in adult non-smokers and help improve attention deficits in Alzheimer's disease and adults with ADHD.
In double blind research, conducted at a medical center, used nicotine patches to see if they would improve alertness in non-smoking adults without attention deficits. Subjects received 7 mg of nicotine per day via a transdermal patch over a 4.5-hour morning session. Nicotine significantly reduced the number of testing errors.
In a different research nicotine was compared with the effects of Ritalin and placebo in the treatment of ADHD. Nicotine improved performance and reduced errors. It reduced depression and reduced the overall severity of ADHD symptoms.
And finally, another double-blind, placebo-controlled study, which included 6 smokers and 11 nonsmokers with adult ADHD. Nicotine reduced ADHD symptoms, increased energy, and improved reaction time.
Nicotine improves typing speed
5 were carried out consecutive experiments confirming the effectiveness of microdosing nicotine in increasing typing and handwriting speed. The brain processes information faster, gives a signal faster, speeds up psychomotor skills and helps to concentrate.
The latter experiment showed that repeated administration of a single dose of 2 mg nicotine on an hourly schedule over six hours resulted in a significant increase in tapping rate after each dose, without any evidence of acute tolerance. The results show that nicotine can significantly improve the performance of non-smokers on simple motor tasks.
Nicotine also improves and increases handwriting speed. Scientists from Germany noted that nicotine consistently improves psychomotor performance. They recruited 38 smokers and 38 non-smokers to participate in the study.
Both groups received chewing gum containing 0, 2, or 4 mg of nicotine. Subjects were asked to complete a simple writing task. Movement time, speed, and acceleration of handwritten movements were measured. The results showed that nicotine can significantly improve psychomotor performance during real-life motor tasks.
General effects of nicotine:
Nicotine quickly crosses the blood-brain barrier, approximately 20-30 seconds after you put the nicotine lozenge under your tongue. This is one of the fastest-acting nootropics.
Nicotine increases the activity of neurotransmitters, increases alertness, motivation, and mood.
Nicotine improves short-term and long-term memory
Nicotine intake increases alpha waves brain, which are responsible for a relaxed state and good mood.
Nicotine addiction
But we should not forget about the negative effects of nicotine. Nicotine is addictive primarily because it increases dopamine levels in the brain. Smoking tobacco or chewing tobacco is even more addictive. Nicotine can cause heart palpitations, high blood pressure, dizziness, gastrointestinal upset, and headaches. Smoking and e-cigarettes containing nicotine are highly addictive and harmful to health.
This block is especially for those who think that I am too idealizing nicotine, of course this is not so.
How to use nicotine correctly
The key to getting the benefits of nicotine is to use low doses and only occasionally. For example, if you have a deadline, you need to speak at a conference, pass a session, or master a large amount of information in a short period of time. It will also allow you to reduce mood swings and help you concentrate on the task.
Nicotine dosages should not exceed 2 mg per day. In most studies and observations, a dosage of 1-2 mg gives the desired result and does not cause tolerance for our receptors. Frequency of administration during periods of need or from 2 to 4 times a week.
Options for taking nicotine
Nicotine gum, contains approximately 2 to 4 mg. You can divide it into 2 parts if it is 4 mg. The effect of nicotine gum appears after about 10-15 minutes.
+ Pros: easy to buy, inexpensive, fairly quick effect
– Minuses: Most chewing gum contains added sweeteners that are harmful to health.
Nicotine patches
They contain different amounts of nicotine, from 7 to 21 mg, but they can also be divided into small strips. Just cut off ¼ of the patch, the coverage area will be smaller, and so will the dosage. The effect of transdermal patches appears in about 40-50 minutes.
+ Pros: lasts a long time, suitable for people who do not chew properly, for example at a meeting or when giving a speech
– Minuses: It is more expensive, it is inconvenient to cut, it takes a long time to see the effect, and for some it causes irritation on the skin.
Nicotine lozenges
An analogue of chewing gum, but the advantage of them is that they can be dissolved under the tongue, that is, sublingually, so the nicotine begins to work faster. They can also be divided into parts if the dosage is more than you need.
+ Pros: the effect comes faster than from chewing gum, they are cheaper than patches
– Minuses: does not last long, needs to be divided, harmful to teeth
Nicotine spray
A fairly new option on the market, 1 injection under the tongue is approximately 1 mg of nicotine. There are about 100-150 injections in 1 bottle.
+ Pros: the safest way, works quickly, lasts a long time, easy to use
– Minuses: There are no significant disadvantages, except for the price, it’s also a problem to find a normal composition without a bunch of sweeteners and other nonsense.
Conclusions about nicotine
Quoting Paracelsus: “Everything is poison and everything is medicine. Only the dose makes medicine poison and poison medicine.”.
Nicotine is really a good tool for solving certain problems or problems. The main thing is not to turn microdosing into a constant use. In this review, I showed you nicotine from the other side; you shouldn’t demonize it, because in fact, man himself made poison out of nicotine. The atom does not care who uses it and how, some build a power plant, others a bomb.
