I understand tobacco and chew and vapes aren’t good for you, because of all the other shit in there, but is nicotine itself as a chemical bad for you?
In: 166
Nicotine is a poison and a dose of 50-60 mg can kill a 150 lb human. In smaller doses it is a highly addictive stimulant that will have negative long term effects on your circulatory system. This can result in losing toes and fingers and more, as well as receding gums that can result in tooth loss and getting dentures.
Yes nicotine is actually really really bad for you.
Nicotine affects your immune system (I only learned this recently because of my dad). He’s a long time smoker and now he has “all the cancers” (kidney, bladder, pancreatic, skin, colon), but not lung cancer. Seemed strange to be so I started reading. The short version is that nicotine fucks up your immune system so cancerous cells that are normally taken care of by your immune system aren’t taken care of. So smoking is basically inviting cancer to all parts of your body (not just your lungs).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1782971/
Nicotine alters your brain. When you take it, it changes your reward chemical receptors to nicotine receptors. That’s why it’s addictive: it literally replaces happiness.
I’ve read things about nicotine reducing or stopping cytokine storms. The positive feedback loop of inflammation that killed many during covid. Crucify me internet!
Nicotine is a alkaloid poision found in the tobacco plant, which is a member of the Nightshade family of plants, which in the classical era’s were used by some to piosion others. Not all Nightshade plants however are piosionous, as this also includes tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. In low doses, it acts as a stimulant. Low doeses being up to 5mg The Surgeon General reccomends no more than 1 mg a day. The typical cigarette contains anywhere from 11.9 – 14.5 mg of nicotine, of which about 2mg ends up being absorbed by the body. The lower limit does for fatal outcomes is 500mg – 1000mg, or about 13mg per kilogram of body weight. In high amounts such as this, it can act as a paralytic for the respiratory system shutting down the lungs as well as nicotine poisioning or organ failure. Nicotine can also cause birth defects, and affect adolescent brain development in children and people under 20. Not only is it bad for you, it’s also highly addictive making the user come back to it because it spikes dopamine levels. This why cigarette manufactures do not remove it, and actually add it to e-cigarettes and vapes. By making it addictive, people feel a need to keep using it because it triggers the release of dopamine which is a feel good drug in the body. And vapes themselves have other issues with the use of oils in the chemical makeup of the aresol agents used in them. Those oils when inhaled can affect the lungs and coat them in oil causing respiratory issues among other things.
While it is bad on it’s own, nicotine is at just low enough levels in cigarette’s to not be the major cause of cancer from cigarettes or e-cigaretts. It’s use is limited to just enough to make the person addicted and keep them coming back to smoke again and again. As far as Cancer is concerned, in cigarette and e-cigaretts it is normally attributed to tar, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Keep in mind, none of this overall is good for you. And the cigarette industry for decades has funneled money into a smear campaign to downplay the dangers of smoking, and help prevent politicians from banning cigarettes altogether. Even what you read on the internet about nicotine and cigaretts may be a downplayed or washed over source of this information.
Nicotine by itself is a stimulant that raises blood pressure. This by itself will cause negative health outcomes with prolonged use.
Well this is Reddit so I can’t be bothered to give sources BUT nicotine by itself (the chemical) is actual beneficial for us in moderate doses.
And in fact we actually ingest it quite often but only as a trace element in things like tea or potatoes.
But it is good for the brain
Latest Answers