Nicotine Reconsidered: Healing Molecule or Addictive Toxin?

Welcome to Chasing Eden, where we challenge conventional wisdom about health, science, and medicine. I'm your host, Caroline Thompson, and today we’re tackling a taboo topic: nicotine. Despite its reputation, nicotine isn’t the true villain of tobacco—it’s the delivery system.

We’ll explore its potential therapeutic benefits, its presence in everyday foods, Dr. Bryan Ardis’s perspective, and what research—especially from France—reveals.By the end, you’ll have a deeper understanding of nicotine’s complexity—and why the narrative around it may be overdue for a major revision.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Chasing Eden, where we challenge conventional wisdom about health,
science and medicine. I'm your host, Carolyn Thompson, and today
we're tackling a taboo topic, nicotine. Despite its reputation, nicotine
isn't the true villain of tobacco. It's the delivery system.

(00:27):
We'll explore its potential therapeutic benefits, its presence in everyday foods,
doctor Brian Artis's perspective and what research, especially from France reveals.
By the end, you'll have a deeper understanding of nicotine's
complexity and why the narrative around it may be overdue

(00:48):
for a major revision. Let's begin with what nicotine is
chemically and physiologically. Nicotine is an alcaloloid found not only
in tobacco, but in trace amounts in egg plants, tomatoes, potatoes,
and particularly green peppers. That means most of us ingest

(01:12):
small doses every day through common vegetables. Once consumed, nicotine
stimulates nicotinic acidylcholine receptors in the brain and nervous system.
It triggers dopamine, serotonin, and nora epinephrine, boosting mood, attention,

(01:35):
and focus. It acts as an appetite suppressant, with studies
showing it slows gastric emptying and lowers insulin and hunger cues.
Nicotine also modulates immune activity via receptors on immune cells,
potentially calming overactive immune responses. Despite decades of demonization, nicotine

(02:02):
patients have used nicotine patches in experiments for depression, ADHD, Alzheimer's,
and Parkinson's, often with very promising results. Many of these
studies date back prior to birth control pills, when controlled
nicotine could be administered independently of cigarette smoke. Doctor Brian

(02:26):
Artist has taken a contrarian position. Nicotine, he says is
a nutrient, not a poison, when used separately from smoke.
In his YouTube and podcast remarks, he points out that
nicotine in isolation actually elevates focus, it supports immune resilience,

(02:51):
and even eases symptoms in viral illness, notably COVID nineteen.
With out the toxicity of smoke or added chemicals. Doctor
Artists argues that the real danger actually comes from the
combustibles tar carbon monoxide, for maldehyde and other additives, and

(03:18):
not the nicotine itself. Nicotine in patches or lozenges is
largely free of those toxins, making it far safer than cigarettes.
This is very interesting because on doctor Artist's website he
has a whole video discussing nicotine and he goes he

(03:42):
takes a real deep dive. So you got to be
ready for this one because there's a lot of information
to take in. But one of the things that stood
out to me was the French study and COVID nineteen.
So one of the most discussed and controversial nicotine studies
was the French COVID data. A pair hospital study found
that smokers who were over eighty percent less likely to

(04:05):
be hospitalized or develop symptomatic COVID nineteen than non smokers.
So they found that they were eighty percent less likely
to be hospitalized or develop symptomatic COVID nineteen if you
were a smoker than the non smokers of similar age
and sex. Researchers hypothesized nicotine may block Star's CoV two

(04:31):
from binding to receptors or possibly reduce inflammatory over reactions.
In a planned clinical trial that was launched, they used
nicotine patches for healthcare workers and hospitalized patients. They were
hoping to verify a protective effect, but smoking was absolutely

(04:54):
not encouraged. Only patch based consumption was allowed in the study.
While the the hypothesis is very preliminary, it has certainly
sparked a major interest in nicotine's ability for immune modulating capacity.
Yet still experts do caution that tobacco smoke is harmful

(05:17):
and that observational studies don't prove causation, and many concluding
reports have mentioned methodological limitations and possible funding bias. So
here are some known benefits and known risks. Nicotine has

(05:38):
shown potential in several domains cognitive improvement and reaction time, neuroprotection,
potential preventative effect in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's mood regulation. Some
researchers note antidepressant effects in low dose form a diminished

(06:02):
appetite and insulin response that helps individuals manage blood sugar,
but it's essential to acknowledge known downsides addiction potential, especially
when smoked or vaped, cardiovascular overstimulation, heart rate and blood pressure,

(06:24):
sleep disruption, anxiety, and mood swings, especially with long term
or high dose use, teen brain development, interference, risk of
gateway effects in youth. Nicotine is best understood as a
biochemical tool, one that requires respect, medical oversight and caution,

(06:48):
especially in younger users. This is all found in various
articles researched, one of them is very wellmined dot com
and and several other YouTube research as well. So here
are some closing reflections and takeaways, because I like to

(07:08):
give you both sides of the argument and not just
the one that I might be a little bit biased about.
So where does all of this leave us? Okay, nicotine
is not the same as cigarettes. It's found in our food.
The toxins and combustion are the root causes of disease,

(07:29):
not the nicotine molecule itself. Nicotine in controlled, non smoking
context shows potential therapeutic promise. The French COVID studies propose
preliminary question marks, not definitive proof, but they do open
intriguing lines of inquiry. Doctor Artists who I highly recommend

(07:52):
you go to his website and listen to the episode
where he discusses nicotine. The episode is called Let's see
why they want to ban nicotine around the world. Okay,
he has a growing number of biohackers or doctor artists,

(08:15):
and a growing number of biohackers. They encourage the reevaluation
of nicotine not as addiction propaganda, but as a tool
for focus, immune resilience, and perhaps cognitive longevity. There are
a lot of testimonials about the benefits of nicotine and
what it has done for people to give them energy

(08:38):
and health and to help them to breathe better. Even
people are talking about how they are breathing better. People
are claiming that they had long COVID and that they
no longer have it because they started using nicotine patches.
There's a lot of things, a lot of information where
people are talking about using nicotine and what it has

(08:58):
done for them. So what is your takeaway, Well, recognize
the difference between nicotine and smoking. View nicotine as a
contextual compound, not inherently evil. I would say keep an
open mind and stay tuned to the emerging research, but
use discretion. Never expose children or adolescents to nicotine products.

(09:24):
And I just want to thank you for joining my
show today. If this episode broadened your perspective, please subscribe,
leave a review, and share it with someone seeking health clarity.
Until next time, stay inquisitive, stay empowered, and keep chasing
Eden